One of the world’s leading stuntmen, Remy Julienne, who worked on six James Bond films and the classic The Italian Job from 1969, died of 90-year-old Covid-19, friends and family said Friday.
Julienne has been a veteran of more than 1,400 films and TV commercials as an actor or stunt coordinator and has been in intensive care at a hospital in his hometown of Montargis since early January.
‘What probably would have happened has happened. He left us early in the evening (Thursday). “It was predictable, he was on a respirator,” a family member told AFP.
Veteran stunt manager Remy Julienne, pictured, died of Covid-19 at the age of 90. The legend has worked on six James Bond films and has been involved in more than 1,400 films and TV commercials since the 1960s.
One of his most memorable tricks – which made his name in the industry – was this jump between two buildings in the Italian Job
He also arranged this amazing stunt in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only
Julienne was born in 1930 in Cepoy near Montargis.
A French motocross champion, he began his film career in 1964 when he doubled for French actor Jean Marais in the film ‘Fantomas’, in which he had to ride a motorcycle.
“They needed someone who was very controlled,” he said of the experience. “It was finally me. This was the beginning of a great adventure. ‘
His career made him fly over Venice and hang from a tow ladder that hangs from a helicopter and is hit in the face with a pumpkin while riding a motorcycle and numerous car accidents.
He doubles for some of the world’s most famous actors, including Sean Connery and Roger Moore, as well as top French names, including Yves Montand, Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo.
He has worked on a total of six James Bond films, including ‘GoldenEye’ and ‘For Your Eyes Only’, in which he drove a highly customized yellow Citroen 2CV during an unforgettable chase.
Both as an actor and director of stunt series, which became the focus of his later career, Julienne received praise from some of the biggest names in cinema for his precision and creativity.
Remy Julienne, pictured here in March 2002 with Roger Moore at Walt Disney Studios in Paris
In 1989’s License To Kill, he arranged this stunt that destroyed a gasoline tanker. Julienne was known for his belief that the tricks should be genuine and not be dominated by CGI
“He has an incredible scientific understanding. He’s a true scientist, the Einstein of stuntmen, ” French director Claude Lelouch told France Television’s documentary about Julienne’s 50 years in the business.
A believer in real action rather than special effects, Julienne constantly worked to reduce the risks he took during his recordings, but he seriously injured himself early in his career while filming at a Colombian production in Germany. .
When he did not have time to get out of a car before crashing into a ravine, he had a broken ankle that left him in bed for six weeks.
After recovering, he’s going to gain fame from his work for the motor racing scenes in ‘The Italian Job’ with Michael Caine.
“Fear is necessary before and after, but never during,” he once said of his time on film.
His low point in his career was during the filming of the French film ‘Taxi 2’ in 1999, which he supervised, when a cameraman was killed by a car that missed his country place after a jump.
Julienne once talked about his dangerous work and admitted that fear was okay both before and after a stunt, but never during
He was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2007 and imposed a suspended sentence of 18 months, which was later reduced to six months on appeal and an order to pay damages of € 60,000 to the victim’s family.
Julienne also helped police recover from crime.
In 2000, he set up a reconstruction of the death of a British student, Isabel Peake, to try to determine how the young woman was pushed out of a train in Paris.
Julienne said the work ‘was a lot like cinema work, only here we are happy to use dummies, which take a certain pressure off of us’.