By In the film stunt community, few are more legendary than Australian stuntie Grant Page. Sadly, Page has passed away at the age of 85 according to The Daily Mail.
Page was reportedly driving alone near his home on the mid-north coast of New South Wales on Thursday when his car hit a tree.
Page’s son Leroy says an ambulance and police were at the scene within minutes, and it happened whilst Grant was making plans for new projects. Leroy says: “He died in very high spirits and he was very motivated. He was very happy.”
Page was a pioneer of Australia’s golden age of cinema in the 1970s with his credits including multiple “Mad Max” films as well as “The Man from Hong Kong,” the Dennis Hopper-led “Mad Dog Morgan,” the Jamie Lee Curtis-led “Roadgames” and acting in films like “Stunt Rock” and “Deathcheaters”.
Page was especially known for climbing out the window of one car into another car, travelling side by side at high speed, leaping off cliffs on fire, being hit by fast-moving vehicles and more.
Page was from a time when stunts were done on the smell of an oily rag and was quite dangerous. As producer Hal McElroy explained in the 2008 Ozploitation genre documentary “Not Quite Hollywood,” one 1970s Aussie film in which Page worked involved “high-speed car chase sequences on open highways. Without any traffic control, without police permission, without anything… we just shot ’em.”
Said documentary features Page frequently and is a must-see for film fans. Friend, filmmaker and former manager Brian Trenchard-Smith posted a tribute to Page on on Thursday saying:
“Most people accept that age weighs upon us, gravity holds us down, death awaits us if we dare too much. Not necessarily, said Grant, as he successfully tampered with the laws of physics and probability.”
Page, who most recently worked on George Miller’s “Furiosa” as a stunt performer, is survived by his four sons, ex-wife and former partner.
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