Joe Powell (stunt performer)

Joe Powell (21 March 1922 - 30 June 2016) was a British stuntman and actor.[1] He was known as the "daddy of British stuntmen".[2]

Joe Powell
Powell in the late 1940s
Born
Joseph Augustus Powell

(1922-03-21)21 March 1922
Shepherd's Bush, London, England, UK
Died30 June 2016(2016-06-30) (aged 94)
London, England, UK
Occupation(s)Stuntman, actor
Years active1947-1986
Children4
RelativesEddie Powell (brother)

Early life and career

Powell was born in Shepherd's Bush, London. He joined the British Army and served in the 1st Battalion Royal Fusiliers Cadet Corps. He enjoyed soldiering, and soon after the outbreak of war, when he was still only 17, he joined the Grenadier Guards. To break the monotony of drill and PT he took up boxing with the regimental team, but as the war progressed he was selected for No 4 Special Service (Commando) unit, taking part in the 1942 raid on Dieppe, during which he was briefly knocked out, and in the D-Day invasion. In 1946 he met with the actor Dennis Price which led to him getting a job as an extra at Pinewood Studios.[3] He was sparring at the London's Polytechnic Boxing Club and soon became a founding partner in a stunt team by Captain Jock Easton.[4] Powell performed stuntwork in many films, including The Guns of Navarone (1961), The Longest Day (1962), Cleopatra (1963), Zulu (1964) and Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965). He also participated in several James Bond films. He is listed by The Guardian as having performed one of the 10 best film stunts ever.[5]

Personal life and family

Powell was twice married, first to Marguerite and after to Juliet. Powell is survived by four sons and a daughter.[2] He was the brother of Eddie Powell, also a film stuntman.[6]

Publications

Powell also published a book on his life known as The Life and Times of a Fall Guy.[7]

References
  1. Powell, Joe (2007). The Life and Times of a Fall Guy. Book Guild. ISBN 9781846241109.
  2. "Joe Powell, stuntman – obituary". The Telegraph. 27 July 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  3. "Joe Powell". Retrieved 18 August 2016 – via PressReader.
  4. Joe Powell: “La mia vita dal D-day a stuntman di Hollywood e Cinecittà”
  5. Guardian Staff (22 November 2002). "The 10 best stunts ever pulled". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  6. "Joe Powell and The Man Who Would Be King". www.brothers-ink.com. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  7. "Stuntman talks of fighting Zulus, death-defying dives and being squashed by a horse". www.hastingsobserver.co.uk. Retrieved 10 August 2019.


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