Roderick Michael Gilbert (April 17, 1936 – February 5, 2024) was an American actor, stuntman and rodeo performer.
Mickey Gilbert | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Roderick Michael Gilbert April 17, 1936 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | February 5, 2024 (aged 87) Camarillo, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, stuntman, rodeo performer |
| Spouse |
Yvonne Yrigoyen (m. 1962) |
| Children | 3 |
Early life and career
editRoderick Michael Gilbert was born in Los Angeles, California on April 17, 1936.[1]
Gilbert was Robert Redford's stuntman in films, from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) through The Old Man & the Gun (2018).[2] In the trailer for The Old Man & the Gun, Redford says that he and Gilbert "were in the same class in the same high school in the San Fernando Valley, and then many, many years later, he showed up in my life again as the stunt double in Butch Cassidy, so from that point on he's been in all my films since."[3]
Some of Gilbert's best known stunt roles are the leap off a cliff into water as Redford's Sundance Kid in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid;[4] jumping from a moving train to a signal for Gene Wilder in Silver Streak; rolling down a hill while mounted on a horse in The Return of a Man Called Horse; and leaping on horseback off a cliff into water in The Frisco Kid.[5] Gilbert also appeared as a horse rider stunt performer in the 1980 TV movie Stunts Unlimited.
Later in his career he worked as a stunt coordinator and second unit director.[6]
Gilbert portrayed the Ripper in the first episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker.[7]
Personal life and death
editGilbert married Yvonne Yrigoyen, whose father was also a stunt performer,[1] in 1962. They had three sons, all of whom are also stunt performers, as are their five grandsons. He died at his home in Camarillo, California, on February 5, 2024, at the age of 87.[1]
Filmography
editSecond unit director/stunts
editAs stunt double
edit| Year | Title | Actor |
|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid | Robert Redford |
| Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here | ||
| 1974 | Blazing Saddles | Gene Wilder |
| 1976 | Silver Streak | |
| 1979 | The Electric Horseman | Robert Redford |
| 2018 | The Old Man & the Gun |
References
edit- ^ a b c "Mickey Gilbert, Stunt Double for Robert Redford and Gene Wilder, Dies at 87". The Hollywood Reporter. February 6, 2024. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
- ^ Udel, James C. (29 August 2019). "Meet Mickey Gilbert, Hollywood's Veteran Western Stuntman". Variety.
- ^ Sundance Kids Reunited. FOX Searchlight. Retrieved November 28, 2018 – via YouTube.
- ^ Mackay, Mairi (25 August 2008). "The Screening Room's top 10 movie stunts". CNN. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
- ^ Freese, Gene Scott (2014). Hollywood Stunt Performers, 1910s-1970s: A Biographical Dictionary (2nd ed.). McFarland. p. 106. ISBN 9780786476435. Retrieved November 28, 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ Crystal, Billy (2013). Still Foolin' 'Em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys?. Henry Holt and Company. p. 149. ISBN 9780805098235. Retrieved November 28, 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ Phillips, Mark; Garcia, Frank (May 12, 2014). Science Fiction Television Series: Episode Guides, Histories, and Casts and Credits for 62 Prime-Time Shows, 1959 Through 1989. McFarland. p. 319. ISBN 9781476610306 – via Google Books.