|
|
Change Your Life! |
"Titanic" and "Braveheart" fall guy dies |
|
News |
|
|
July 3, 2000
LONDON(AP) - British stuntman Terry Forrestal, a veteran of Hollywood blockbusters like "Titanic" and "Braveheart," died in a jumping accident in Norway on June 10, news reports said. He was 52.
For 15 years, Forrestal was one of Europe's leading film stunt co ordinators, designing and executing action sequences for a series of leading directors. His British credits include "The Full Monty,"
"Trainspotting," and "Elizabeth." Born in Chesterfield, central England, Forrestal was educated at a Roman Catholic school in north London. After his mother's death, he abandoned plans to go to university, and set off to travel the world.
Deeply affected by the suffering of the poor in India, he returned home to take up medicine, but founded he was unsuited to academic life.
In 1975, he joined Britain's Territorial Army and later served in the elite Special Air Service, seeing service in Northern Ireland. In the mid-1980s, he quit for the film world and was soon among the top in his profession, undertaking everything from diving and parachuting to motorbike stunts and horse effects.
Early credits include "Greystoke," "Memphis Belle" and "Mona Lisa." In 1996 he made headlines when he checked out of a Danish hotel in a cloud of smoke, plunging 90 feet (30 meters) from the roof on to an airbag to promote the video release of the James Bond film, "Goldeneye."
Forrestal also helped train young stuntmen and women and was in the process of setting up an equestrian center for stunt horses at Angel Grange, his estate west of London.
He died while parachuting from the 3,000-foot (900-meter) Kjerag cliff in Lysefjord, Norway, a practise known as base jumping.
He landed badly on a ledge 2,000 feet (600 meters) down, injuring his legs, and while waiting for rescue, launched himself from the ledge, but there was insufficient height for his parachute to open properly.
Forrestal, who was not married, is survived by two sisters. Funeral details were not available.
|