A look back at the career of American director and stuntman Buddy Van Horn, born on August 20, 1929 in Los Angeles and passed away in the same city on May 11, 2021.
Buddy’s career began in 1950, in a B-grade Western movie. The movie was called I Killed Geronimo, directed by John Hoffman. The stuntman is 21 years old this year. His rise to prominence began with his presence in Walt Disney’s very popular 1957 Zorro series. He is a student of Guy Williams, who plays the title character. Buddy Van Horn is the man who, in the credits, causes the Tornado to retreat under thunder, a cult image. His horsemanship skills help greatly with the masked rider’s falls. A highly appreciated, outstanding work.
Meeting with Clint Eastwood
The classic and famous career of the famous Clint Eastwood does not leave anyone indifferent. She has influenced the entire industry and the global vision the world has about cinema. We can cite some movies like Bird, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Pale Rider or more recently American Sniper, Gran Torino or even Invictus. In short, Clint Eastwood, with his career, talent and pioneering spirit, is a star that world cinema will never forget.
You should know that Buddy Van Horn helped Clint a lot in many movies. They met in 1955, on the set of Arthur Lubin’s film Madame Coventry. Clint Eastwood has a small role in this film. In later years, Buddy doubled Gregory Peck, Jimmy Stewart and Lee Marvin.
The real collaboration between Clint and Buddy began in 1967, on the set of A Sheriff in New York. From this film, the duo would make over thirty films together. Buddy would accompany Eastwood, whether as an actor or even a director, from 1967 to 2011 . The latest is J. Edgar with Leonardo DiCaprio. Initially a simple stuntman, Van Horn eventually became a stunt coordinator. He would be an actor in The Man from the High Plains, coordinator of Million Dollar Baby and Clint’s understudy in many films.
Van Horn, director
Buddy will then try his hand at directing. He’ll make three movies and will obviously cast his favorite actor: Clint Eastwood. He would direct It’s Going to Knock in 1980, followed by Inspector Harry’s Final Target and Pink Cadilla c in 1988.
Buddy Van Horn worked on many cinematic classics, such as Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus in 1960, and two Michael Cimino films as stunt coordinator: Journey to Hell in 1960. 1979 and Heaven’s Gate in 1980.
Stuntmen and directors have contributed a lot to the cinema of Clint Eastwood and many other directors and actors. He passed away at the age of 92, leaving behind an illustrious career.