Jack Williams (April 15, 1921 in

Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to the ...

– April 10, 2007 in Sylmar, California) was an American

stunt performer A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

and actor specialising in horse stunts and

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

films and television shows.

Biography

Williams's father, George Williams, was a Montana cowboy. His mother, Paris Williams, was a world-champion trick rider on the rodeo circuit and a movie stuntwoman. The Williams family moved to

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...

during Jack's childhood years. He performed his first motion picture stunt on a horse at age 4, being tossed from one rider to another in ''

The Flaming Forest ''The Flaming Forest'' is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Reginald Barker and starring Antonio Moreno and Renée Adorée. The film is based on the novel of the same name by James Oliver Curwood, and was produced by Cosmopolitan P ...

'' a 1926 silent film. Attending the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, Williams was a polo player and returned to motion picture stuntwork in 1936 for ''

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...

'' and ''

The Charge of the Light Brigade The Charge of the Light Brigade was a failed military action involving the British light cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War. Lord Raglan had intended to s ...

''. World War II interrupted his Hollywood career when he served as an officer in the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

that included service as a navigator on a

Landing Ship, Tank Landing Ship, Tank (LST), or tank landing ship, is the naval designation for ships first developed during World War II (1939–1945) to support amphibious operations by carrying tanks, vehicles, cargo, and landing troops directly onto shore with ...

in the

Invasion of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

.McLellan, Dennis. "Jack Williams, 85; stuntman known for horse-riding skills", ''Los Angeles Times'' obituary, April 16, 2007. Williams returned to Hollywood after the war where for six decades he doubled for or worked with many actors. Among the films he provided stunts for were '' The Last Outpost'', '' Bugles in the Afternoon'', ''

Bend of the River ''Bend of the River'' is a 1952 American Western film directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Julie Adams, and Rock Hudson. Based on the 1950 novel ''Bend of the Snake'' by Bill Gulick, the film is about a tough cow ...

'', ''

The Far Country ''The Far Country'' is a 1954 American Technicolor Western film directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart, Ruth Roman, Walter Brennan, John McIntire and Corinne Calvet. Written by Borden Chase, the film is about a self-minded advent ...

'', '' Yellowstone Kelly'', '' Rio Bravo'', '' The Alamo'', ''

The Magnificent Seven ''The Magnificent Seven'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges. The screenplay by William Roberts is a remake – in an Old West–style – of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film '' Seven Samurai'' (itself initially relea ...

'', ''

Merrill's Marauders Merrill’s Marauders (named after Frank Merrill) or Unit ''Galahad'', officially named the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), was a United States Army long range penetration special operations jungle warfare unit, which fought in the South ...

'', '' How the West Was Won'', '' Cheyenne Autumn'', ''

Major Dundee ''Major Dundee'' is a 1965 American Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Charlton Heston, Richard Harris, Jim Hutton, and James Coburn. Written by Harry Julian Fink, the film is about a Union cavalry officer who leads a content ...

'', ''

Cat Ballou ''Cat Ballou'' is a 1965 American western comedy film starring Jane Fonda and Lee Marvin, who won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual role. The story involves a woman who hires a notorious gunman to protect her father's ranch, and la ...

'', '' The Professionals'', ''

Alvarez Kelly ''Alvarez Kelly'' is a 1966 American Western (genre), Western film set in the American Civil War directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring William Holden and Richard Widmark. The picture was based on the historic Beefsteak Raid of September 1864 ...

'', ''

The Sons of Katie Elder ''The Sons of Katie Elder'' is a 1965 American Western film in Panavision, directed by Henry Hathaway and starring John Wayne and Dean Martin. It was filmed principally in Mexico. Plot The four adult sons of Katie Elder – John, who is a fa ...

'', '' The War Wagon'' and many more up to the 1999 film ''

Wild Wild West ''Wild Wild West'' is a 1999 American steampunk Western film co-produced and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and written by S. S. Wilson and Brent Maddock alongside Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman, from a story penned by brothers Jim and John ...

''. On television Williams worked on ''

The Roy Rogers Show ''The Roy Rogers Show'' is an American western television series starring Roy Rogers. 100 episodes were broadcast on NBC for six seasons between December 30, 1951 and June 9, 1957. The episodes were set in the prevailing times (1950s) in the st ...

'', ''

Maverick Maverick, Maveric or Maverik may refer to: History * Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick Aviation * AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design * General Aviation Design Burea ...

'', '' Rawhide'', ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...

'', ''

'', '' Laredo'' and ''

The High Chaparral ''The High Chaparral'' television series, which was broadcast on NBC from 1967 to 1971, is an American Western action adventure drama set in the 1870s. It stars Leif Erickson and Cameron Mitchell. The series was made by Xanadu Productions in ...

''.

Horse training

Williams was inspired by his father, George Williams, a Montana cowboy who could train a horse to fall on cue. Jack recalled, "There was probably no feat I could have imagined that was as fascinating as that. So I took the technique and perfected it."Peeples, Stephen K. "Stunt Double Enjoys Newfound Tranquility", ''Santa Clarita Signal'', April 25, 2005. "He was the top falling-horse stuntman in the business," said stuntman Bob Hoy, who first worked with Williams in 1950. "He had a great horse called Coco, and they were inseparable. The horse had an instinct. A lot of horses will fight you when you get to the spot where they'll make the fall and won't go there. But Coco went there. She was just so great." Said stuntman Joe Canutt: "You can get great falls a lot of times out of horses, but when you're attacking the Alamo, for example, and you've got bombs and cannons going off ... some of them don't work at all. That mare

oco Oco ( eu, Oko) is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_mott ...

consistently got spectacular falls." But beyond doing the falling-horse stunt, Hoy said, "Jack drove stagecoaches, he wrecked wagons, he could transfer from the horse to the train -- he could do anything pertaining to horse work." Coco died at age 33 and was buried on Williams' California ranch.

Filmography

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Jack 1921 births 2007 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American stunt performers Male actors from Butte, Montana Male Western (genre) film actors United States Coast Guard officers United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II