Clive Curtis

Clive Curtis is a British stunt performer, stunt coordinator^[1] and actor who was Ricco Ross' stunt double as Private Frost in the 1986 film Aliens,^[2][3] although he was not credited for this role. Curtis was also Yaphet Kotto's stunt double as Parker in the 1979 film Alien, although his scenes were cut from the final film.^[4] Other notable films Curtis has appeared in include Superman II (1980), Batman (1989), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011) and several films in the James Bond series.^[5]

Work

Alien

The end sequence of the film was to be a big fight scene between the Alien and Yaphet Kotto as Parker, whom Curtis doubled for. However, after shooting the sequence, the "powers to be" decided not to use it for fear of upstaging the image of the Chestburster bursting from Kane's chest, thus it was not used.^[4]

Aliens

When Curtis was offered the job on Aliens, it was a job he very much wanted to do and he felt totally comfortable with what was required of him as he had done fire jobs before. Curtis was on set for about a week before he did his job, thus feeling like "a part of the team." Curtis found the camaraderie on set "to be absolutely magical." and thought that "We had a wonderful team of people."^[2]

According to call sheet number 6, Curtis was responsible for the fire stunt (Sc. 92) filmed on October 7, 1985,^[3][2] which Curtis said he "could foresee it would look spectacular,".^[2] For the stunt, Curtis did not wear a breathing apparatus, but wore a fire suit with the costume on top.^[2] He was set alight then had to find his way (acting all the time) completely blinded by the flames and not breathing for about 15 feet before hitting the railing which stood about 3-4 feet in height before falling approximately 8 feet on to the section to be put out by his colleagues.^[2] According to Curtis, "If my memory serves me right, I do believe we had either two or three takes."^[2]

Filmography

Trivia

• Owing to the relatively small pool of talented stuntmen in Great Britain during the 1980s and early 1990s, Simon Crane, Clive Curtis, Nick Gillard, Mark Anthony Newman, Eddie Powell, Roy Scammell, Trevor Steedman and Tip Tipping often worked together on high-profile action films made in the UK during that time. Many of these films were shot at Pinewood Studios.
• Curtis is one of few people to have worked on both the "official" Eon James Bond series and Warner Bros. competing 1983 Bond film Never Say Never Again.

Gallery

See Also

• Denise Ryan — Stunt double for Cynthia Dale Scott on Aliens.

External Links

• Aliens Archive | Aliens | Interviews | Clive Curtis
• Clive Curtis - ACTION DIRECTOR - STUNT CO-ORDINATOR - STUNT PERFORMER
• Clive Curtis - Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology
• Clive Curtis - IMDb

References