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STUNTS, STARS & LEGENDS - April 2014

 

Stunts, Stars And Legends: Roydon Clark
Artwork and articles by John Hagner (Artist of the Stars)

Roydon Clark is from Dayton, Pennsylvania. He spent his summer around the Hudkins stables in Burbank, near Warner Bros. Studios. The Hudkins family took him in and he earned money taking care of the livestock. He began cowboying at Republic Studios and worked with stunt legends Ben Johnson and Chuck Roberson.
It was before Republic put Roy Rogers under contract under the directorship of Joe Kane. Roy worked in westerns and several movies including “Ride the Man Down”. In the Warner Bros. movie, “Montana”, Roy doubled for Errol Flynn and worked on seven Wayne films, including, “Fighting Kentuckian”, “Undefeated” “The Conqueror” as well as “She Wore A Yellow Ribbon”, and “The Shootist”. He also doubled for Clark Gable. Roy went on to double for James Garner in the Warner Bros. TV series, “Maverick” and was his stunt double for 40 years. He was kept occupied at that studio as well as others, in “Colt .45”, “Badlands of Montana”, “A Distant Trumpet”, “Bandolero”, “Little Big Man” and TV series like “Cheyenne”, “Sugarfoot”, and “Bronco”. In other feature films, he worked at 20th Century-Fox on “Towering Inferno”, “Bonnie and Clyde”, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (of which the opening scenes were filmed in Moab).
Roydon Clark is an honored inductee in the Hollywood Stuntmen’s Hall of Fame and was footprinted for posterity, adding his prints to more than 400. He has been a supporter of the Hall of Fame since its beginning in 1973.
The Hollywood Stuntmen’s Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to preserving the history of the stunt profession and to honoring stunt people everywhere.

Dennis Madalone

An American stunt-coordinator turned musician. He was one of my stunt students back in the 1970s, when I operated my “Stunts Galore Academy”, in Palmdale, California.
Dennis is probably best known for his work on three of· the “Star Trek” spin-offs- “Star Trek: the Next Generation”, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and “Star Trek: Voyager” in 2002, he released his song and music video,
a tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks, titled, “America We Stand As One”. The song and video have since become an internet phenomenon. Thanks to Northwest Middle· School in Travelers Rest, S.C. Northwest has helped make “America We Stand As One” an internet phenomenon. Dennis was footprinted in cement along with actor William Katt, who starred in the television action comedy series, “Greatest American Hero”, in which· Dennis was stunt coordinator and double for Katt.

Anyone wishing to make a tax-deductible donation may do so by sending check or money order to 81 W. Kane Creek Blvd. #12, Moab, Utah 84532. Phone is 435-260-2160.


Movies Made in Moab

Con Air (1997)

Starring: Nicolas Page, John Cusack, John Malkovich
Director: Simon West

Filmed on location in Moab, at Dead Horse Point State Park, Canyonlands National Park and at Monument Valley.


Story: Gulf War veteran and former Army Ranger Cameron Poe (Nicolas Page) is sentenced to a maximum security federal penitentiary for using excessive force and killing a drunk man who attempted to assault his pregnant wife, Tricia. Eight years later, Poe is paroled on good conduct, and eager to see his daughter Casey whom he has never met. Poe is to be flown back home to Alabama, on a C-123K known as Jailbird, where he will be released on landing. Several other prisoners, including his diabetic cellmate and friend Mike “Baby-O” O’Dell, and criminal mastermind Cyrus “The Virus” Grissom, as well as Grissom’s right-hand man, Nathan “Diamond Dog” Jones, who are being transported to a new Supermax prison. DEA agent Duncan Malloy wishes to have aboard one of his agents, Willie Sims, disguised as a prisoner to coax more information out of drug lord Francisco Cindino before he is incarcerated. Vince Larkin, the U.S. Marshal overseeing the transfer, agrees to it, but is unaware that Malloy has armed Sims with a gun.
Further into the story ... Cyrus soon discovers Poe’s true identity and prepares to kill him after shooting “Baby-O” in the stomach. Malloy, having tracked down the Jailbird after being led astray by the transponder, opens fire on it, disabling an engine, and causing the aircraft to lose fuel. When Larkins tells Malloy about Poe’s identity as a parolee, Malloy orders the gunner to hold fire. They both order the Jailbird to land at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas but a lack of fuel forces them to crash-land on The Strip instead,destroying landmarks and ripping the plane apart, the fuselage ending up at the lobby of the Sands Hotel. Amidst the chaos, Poe is thanked by both “Baby-O” and Sally for his help. Cyrus, Diamond Dog and Swamp Thing escape on a fire truck. Larkin and Poe spot them and give chase, eventually killing all three escapees. Jones being hit by a motorbike, Swamp Thing hurtling through the windshield and being run over, and Cyrus’ head crushed by a pounder in a construction site. Poe finally reunites with Tricia and meets his daughter after he expresses his full trust in Larkin.
All of the surviving convicts are recaptured, except for Garland Greene, who escapes and is last seen playing craps in a casino while a police officer finds the doll in the wreckage.

If interested in learning more about the Hall of Fame, please contact John Hagner (Founder) at 435 260-2160.
email: johnhagner@hotmail.com
Hall of Fame website: www.stuntmen.org

John Hagner (Founder) is also the Artist of the Stars.
His Celebrity Portrait Drawings are available at telephone 435-259-7000,
Mailing address: 50 W. 400 N, Moab, Utah 84532.
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