Fortunately, the tide has now turned, but in the past stunt men and women often played a rather unsung supporting role in public perception. Pat E. Johnson, one of the greatest in his field, has now passed away. His wife confirmed the stuntman’s death via Facebook. Johnson was 84 years old.
Pat E. Johnson has worked as a stuntman on more than 36 films, including the 1973 action milestone ‘The Man with the Deathclaw’, now one of the best-known films by martial arts legend Bruce Lee. Johnson himself also makes a small appearance in the film. In the 1970s and 1980s, Johnson also worked as a stuntman and choreographer with other action icons such as Chuck Norris (“The Bulldozer”) and Jackie Chan (“The Big Brawl”).
As a stunt choreographer, Johnson also left his mark on the ‘Karate Kid’ series and was responsible for coordinating the fights not only in the first part, but also in the two subsequent sequels (as well as ‘The New Karate Kid’, which appeared in 1995). So it was Johnson who performed the legendary crane kick Ralph Macchio developed.
As a stunt choreographer and/or coordinator, Pat E. Johnson also worked on William Friedkin’s “Living and Dying in LA”, “Every Head Has a Price” with Steve McQueen, Paul WS Anderson’s “Mortal Kombat”, the mega-blockbuster ‘Wild Wild West’ with Will Smith’ and the ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ trilogy from the 1990s.
Author: Pascal Reis
Source : Film Starts
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