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Curtis Rivers (born 1970) is a British stuntman, [1] stunt coordinator, author, [2] inspirational speaker, [3] [4] and World Record holder. [1] [5]
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Curtis Rivers (born 1970) is a British stuntman, [1] stunt coordinator, author, [2] inspirational speaker, [3] [4] and World Record holder. [1] [5]
Rivers has performed stunts in films such as James Bond, Fury , Thor: The Dark World , Captain America: The First Avenger , Snow White and the Huntsman , Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows , Robin Hood , The Sands of Time , The Wolfman , St Trinian's / St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold , National Treasure: Book of Secrets and The Da Vinci Code .
In movies, Rivers has been a stunt double for Christopher Lee, James Caviezel, Rupert Everett, Mark Strong, Hugo Weaving, Jim Broadbent, Matthew MacFadyen, Patrick Bergin, Martin Kemp, Jimmy Nail, Graham McTavish, and Sam Douglas.
In television, he has been a stunt double for Martin Clunes, Trevor Eve, Stephen Tompkinson, Malcolm Sinclair, James Purefoy, Charlie Cox, Tim Dutton, Nick Brimble, Peter Marinker, and Mark Charnock.
He also doubled for John Barrowman for the first 3 seasons of Torchwood , as well as in Doctor Who , falling backwards 140 feet (43 m) from the British Gas Building in Cardiff for the first episode of Torchwood's second season – "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang".
As well as working as a stunt coordinator, Rivers also works as a Second Unit Director.
He has also performed stunts in the hit HBO series Game of Thrones , in which he received the 2015 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series.
He is the author of two books – Seven Paths to Freedom [6] and The Fearless Path. [7] Both works are self-help books, written to create a positive mindset in their readers. [8] Each book received 100% five-star reviews, with The Fearless Path becoming an Amazon Bestseller in the Guru Chart in December 2017. [8] The Fearless Path went on to receive numerous literary awards, such as 'Body Mind Spirit Book Awards' (1st place) in April 2018, [9] 'International Publishing Awards' (2 x Gold Medal Winner in both the Personal Growth category and the Body / Mind / Spirit category) in September 2018, and the 'Readers Favorite Award' in November 2018, [10] which he received in Miami, Florida.
Rivers also works as a motivational speaker, drawing on experiences in the film and TV industries, his two self-help books, and his two Guinness World Records. [11]
In 2002, he broke world records in parachuting (Longest Parachute Jump) [12] and bungee jumping (Highest Bungee Jump). [5] [13] Both world records required special thermal clothing to cope with the severe sub-zero temperatures at such altitudes. [14] [15]
Bungee jumping, also spelled bungy jumping, is an activity that involves a person jumping from a great height while connected to a large elastic cord. The launching pad is usually erected on a tall structure such as a building or crane, a bridge across a deep ravine, or on a natural geographic feature such as a cliff. It is also possible to jump from a type of aircraft that has the ability to hover above the ground, such as a hot-air-balloon or helicopter. The thrill comes from the free-falling and the rebound. When the person jumps, the cord stretches and the jumper flies upwards again as the cord recoils, and continues to oscillate up and down until all the kinetic energy is dissipated.
A stunt is an unusual, difficult, dramatic physical feat that may require a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually for a public audience, as on television or in theaters or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Before computer-generated imagery special effects, these depictions were limited to the use of models, false perspective and other in-camera effects, unless the creator could find someone willing to carry them out, even such dangerous acts as jumping from car to car in motion or hanging from the edge of a skyscraper: the stunt performer or stunt double.
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 to a daredevil, who performs for a live audience. When they take the place of another actor, they are known as stunt doubles.
Dar Allen Robinson was an American stunt performer and actor. Robinson broke 19 world records and set 21 "world's firsts." He invented the decelerator which allowed a cameraman to film a top-down view of the stuntman as he fell without accidentally showing the airbag on the ground. This was displayed in his fall from the hotel in the movie Stick. The original decelerator can still be seen on display in Moab, Utah.
Hal Brett Needham was an American stuntman, film director, actor, writer, and NASCAR team owner. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with actor Burt Reynolds, usually in films involving fast cars, such as Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Hooper (1978), The Cannonball Run (1981) and Stroker Ace (1983).
A bungee cord is an elastic cord composed of one or more elastic strands forming a core, usually covered in a woven cotton or polypropylene sheath. The sheath does not materially extend elastically, but it is braided with its strands spiraling around the core so that a longitudinal pull causes it to squeeze the core, transmitting the core's elastic compression to the longitudinal extension of the sheath and cord. Specialized bungees, such as some used in bungee jumping, may be made entirely of elastic strands.
Wayne David Michaels is an English stuntman and stunt arranger.
The Late, Late Breakfast Show was a British variety show broadcast live on Saturday evenings from 4 September 1982 to 8 November 1986 on BBC1. It was presented by Noel Edmonds, initially with co-host Leni Harper, and also featured Mike Smith and John Peel. The "Give It a Whirl" segments featured dangerous stunts. Multiple serious injuries resulted from these stunts, including the death of Michael Lush in 1986. The show was cancelled in the aftermath of his death.
Edward Kidd is an English former stunt performer. He was paralysed and suffered brain damage following an accident in 1996. On 15 June 2012 it was announced that he had been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to charity.
Simon Crane is a British stuntman, stunt coordinator, second unit director and film director.
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Felix Baumgartner is an Austrian skydiver, daredevil and BASE jumper. He is widely known for jumping to Earth from a helium balloon from the stratosphere on 14 October 2012 and landing in New Mexico, United States, as part of the Red Bull Stratos project. Doing so, he set world records for skydiving an estimated 39 km (24 mi), reaching an estimated top speed of 1,357.64 km/h (843.6 mph), or Mach 1.25. He became the first person to break the sound barrier relative to the surface without vehicular power on his descent. He broke skydiving records for exit altitude, vertical freefall distance without a drogue parachute, and vertical speed without a drogue. Though he still holds the two latter records, the first was broken two years later, when on 24 October 2014, Alan Eustace jumped from 135,890 feet with a drogue.
Bridge Day is an annual one-day festival in Fayetteville, Fayette County, West Virginia, United States The event is coordinated by the New River Gorge Bridge Day Commission, and is sponsored by numerous companies of both local and international significance. The event, held on the third Saturday every October, commemorates the 1977 completion of the New River Gorge Bridge. On this day, all four lanes of the bridge are closed to automobiles and opened to pedestrians. Estimates have 100,000 people attending the overall event.
Ripcord was an American syndicated television series starring Larry Pennell, with Ken Curtis, which ran for a total of 76 episodes from 1961 to 1963 about the exploits of a skydiving operation of its namesake.
"Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" is the first episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast on BBC Two on 16 January 2008.
Friedrich Harald August Froboess was a German stunt diver, and high diver.
Jochen Schweizer is a German entrepreneur. He founded the eponymous group of companies that offers, among other things, experience vouchers. Schweizer is a pioneer of extreme sports and bungee jumping in Germany. He has worked as a stuntman in films and advertising, set several world records and appears several times in the Guinness Book of World Records. Schweizer also works as a motivational speaker.
Larry "Link" Linkogle is a professional freestyle motocross rider and the co-founder and owner of Metal Mulisha, LLC. Linkogle holds the world record for long-distance motorcycle jumps and has appeared in feature films as a stuntman. He is regarded as a founder of freestyle motocross.
Gary Connery is a British skydiver, BASE jumper, and professional stuntman. Connery has performed stunt-work in numerous films. He has also acted as the stunt-double for Gary Oldman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Rowan Atkinson, and John Hurt. He is acknowledged as the first skydiver to land after a wingsuit jump without using a parachute. He made his first parachute jump at age 23, as part of his army training.
Doug "Danger" Senecal, born March 31, 1962, in Palmer, Massachusetts, is known as Doug Danger. He is an American motorcycle jumping world record holder and stunt performer and Stage 4 cancer survivor who lives in Oak Hill, Florida.