The Bumps and Bruises of the Bond Business

The Times Online has a nice little piece on the Powell family, who for the past two generations have done stunt work for the James Bond movies.

The Powell family is among the best-kept secrets in film, having performed Bond’s stunts for more than 40 years. In 20 films, Fred “Nosher” Powell, 80, and Dennis “Dinny” Powell, 76, or Nosher’s sons Greg, 54, and Gary, 45, have helped successive Bonds from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig do the dirty business of making Bond look good.

If that sounds like fun gig, bear in mind that the elder Powells now have badly impaired hearing (after all the gun use), and a history of broken bones. Still, how many people can say, as Gary can, that they’ve personally trashed seven Aston Martin DBSs within two consecutive weeks?

The Family Who Do Stunts for James Bond is a fascinating look-behind-the-scenes story of the evolution of cinema stunt work, and another chapter in the ongoing history of the James Bond films. It’s worth your attention.

Ken Adam and Maurice Binder discuss Bond films, circa 1980

Ken Adam and Maurice Binder gave an interview in 1980 and discussed their work on the Bond films. Much of what they talked about concerned Moonraker. We have to credit “Mr. Wint” on the Commander Bond Web site’s message boards for finding this.