Bob Rose (born Robert Theodore Rose; February 4, 1901 – March 8, 1993) was an American actor and stuntman.[1]

Bob Rose
Born
Robert Theodore Rose

(1901-02-04)February 4, 1901
Tennessee, U.S.
DiedMarch 8, 1993(1993-03-08) (aged 92)
Montrose, Colorado, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1915–1979

Early life

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Bob Rose born Robert Theodore Rose in Tennessee was raised in Texas. While working as a jockey he was discovered by Eddie Polo and put into films.[2][3]

Career

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At the age of fourteen, Rose doubled Ruth Roland in a serial and then started racing motorcycles and performing high dives.[4] Rose then doubled actors such as Tom Mix, Buck Jones, Harry Houdini, Eddie Cantor, William Gargan, Ben Turpin, Chico Marx, Mary Pickford, Maureen O'Sullivan, Fay Wray and Buster Keaton among others. He performed stunts to a plane off motorcycles, cars, boats and horses and walked on the wings of planes in flight. Rose wrote the script and appeared in the film Lucky Devils that featured the lives of stuntmen.[5]

Rose was one of the few stuntmen that didn't die in the rapids of the Copper River during the filming of The Trail of '98.[6] Rose also worked in King Kong, She, Thank You, Jeeves!, The Hurricane, Slave Ship, Ali Baba Goes to Town, Mysterious Mr. Moto, The Rains Came, Seven Sinners, Saratoga Trunk, Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Rio Grande, The Quiet Man, Attack, The Alamo, Guns of the Timberland and The Great Race. Rose also appeared on the 1938 radio program Daredevils of Hollywood. Rose was seriously injured in a deadly plane crash with Paul Mantz during The Flight of the Phoenix.[4] Three months later he returned to the set and completed the stunt successfully. Shortly after he doubled Larry Fine on The Outlaws Is Coming. He was one of the founders of the Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures and of the Hollywood Stuntman Hall of Fame.[2]

Death

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Rose died in a nursing home in Montrose, Colorado on March 8, 1993. He was buried at Cory Cemetery in Delta, Colorado.

Filmography

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Television

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References

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  1. ^ "Bob Rose". Western Clippings. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Rose, Bob (2014). Hollywood Stunt Performers, 1910s–1970s: A Biographical Dictionary (2d ed.). p. 1999. ISBN 9780786476435. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  3. ^ Farkis, John. Not Thinkin'... Just Rememberin'... The Making of John Wayne's "The Alamo". BearManor Media.
  4. ^ a b Cline, William C. (1984). In the Nick of Time: Motion Picture Sound Serials. McFarland. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-89950-101-7.
  5. ^ Smith, Jacob (2012). The Thrill Makers: Celebrity, Masculinity, and Stunt Performance. Univ of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-27089-3.
  6. ^ Zmuda, Michael (2015). The Five Sedgwicks: Pioneer Entertainers of Vaudeville, Film and Television. McFarland. p. 163. ISBN 978-0-7864-9668-6.
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