Jackie Cooper (Grave Robber in The Dummy)

Jack Cooper (or Jackie as he was often billed) was born in London in 1923. Standing five foot nine and weighing just over twelve stone Cooper started his career as a body builder and a wrestler. Later he became a professional sky diver before becoming a stuntman[1]. In all Cooper performed stunts on over fifty feature films, as well as TV series such as The Avengers and The Prisoner, often in an uncredited capacity. He specialised in diving stunts and was well known for his ability and precision in this area. He gained notoriety with a seventy five foot dive during the filming of The Crimson Pirate (1952) and followed this with a sixty foot dive into the sea over rocks for the film Helen of Troy (1956). He also completed a sixty foot fall through a window for the film Where Eagles Dare (1968).

Most of his stunt work in films is sadly uncredited though he was credited as an actor in numerous productions usually playing characters who were required to fall, be hit or punched as part of the narrative. For these roles he was occasionally credited as Jackie Cooper. One of his most spectacular big screen stunts was driving a Jaguar XK120 off the end of the ferry bridge at Weymouth for the Hammer film production These Are The Damned AKA The Damned (1963). His most well-known stunt rule is probably doubling for the actor Robert Shaw in the vicious, close quarter fight with James Bond in a train compartment for the climax of From Russia with Love (1963).

His film career began with Captain Horatio Hornblower R N (1951) which starred Gregory Peck as the eponymous naval hero. Cooper followed this appearance with a run of similar swashbuckling adventure films for which he completed stunts; Ivanhoe (1952), The Crimson Pirate (1952) and The Master of Ballantrae (1953) which starred Errol Flynn. The Red Beret (1953) was a British war film that starred Alan Ladd as an American posing as a Canadian so he could join the British Army’s paratrooper regiment during the start of the Second World War. The film was directed by Terence Young who would go on to employ Cooper on several future projects. For the film Laughing Anne (1953) Cooper was credited as “boxer number two” as well as performing stunts for the production.

Helen of Troy (1956) was a big budget period drama directed by Robert Wise, with Sergio Leone as a second unit director. Cooper again performed stunt work though gained no on screen credit for his work. During the rest of the decade Cooper’s notable credits included the wonderful Night of the Demon (1957) for director Jaques Tourner, Richard Flesicher’s sweeping period adventure The Vikings (1958) starring Tony Curtis and Kirk Douglas, classic stiff upper lip disaster flick A Night To Remember (1958) and Peter Seller’s comedy The Mouse That Roared (1959).

Cooper also carved a niche as the ‘go to guy’ if you needed an ethnic looking chap to die horribly on screen, and as such, he played assorted types from Spain or the Middle East. Credits during this period included Exodus (1960) and The Sword of Sherwood Forrest (1960) for director Terence Fisher and Hammer Films. By the end of 1960 Cooper had made his television debut playing the role of 'Second Arab' in 'A Message from a Stranger' (3rd December 1960), an episode of the drama BBC Gary Halliday.

After work on the classic war film The Guns of Navarone (1961) Cooper appeared in a run of Hammer horror films – The Shadow of the Cat (1961), The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) and The Phantom of the Opera (1961) the last two under the direction of Terence Fisher. After work on the war film The Longest Day (1962) Cooper made the under rated Hammer film The Damned (1962) which saw him perform a particular hair raising stunt which has gone down in cinema history. He drove a Jaguar XK120 off the ferry bridge at Weymouth and had to have stitches for a facial wound after smacking his head on the windscreen.

On television Cooper appeared as a thug in The Man of the World episode 'The Runaways' (20th October 1962). He would later also appear in the same series in the episode 'The Enemy' (18th May 1963) as a Chinese soldier. He appeared in The Avengers episode 'What the Butler Saw' (1966) and he had previously had uncredited appearances in the episodes 'Trojan Horse' as the character Brown and 'The Master Minds' as a gymnast. Further highlights include the spoof Bond film Casino Royale (1967) and the official Bond film You Only Live Twice (1967). Cooper would continue his association with the Bond film franchise and supplied stunts for Live and Let Die (1973), stunt driving for The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and general stunt work for Moonraker (1979). He received a rare on screen credit as the fight arranger for 'Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling', an episode of the ITC series The Prisoner. He would also have cast credits for the episodes 'The General' as the second corridor guard and 'Hammer into Anvil' as first guardian.

Having proved his mettle for stunt driving with The Damned Cooper started the 1970s by providing uncredited car and motorbike stunts for a variety of films including cult British horror film Psychomania (1973), The Mackintosh Tosh Man[2] (1973), The Long Goodbye (1973) and John Wayne’s Brannigan (1973). On television he was seen as Ensel in 'The Slaves' (7th February 1973), an episode of the period adventure series Arthur of the Britons.

His appearance in Beasts was a practical one given the rough nature of his character’s murder, but also harked back to his association with Hammer films. The same year as his Beasts appearance Cooper also supplied stunt work for the character of Jack Grimlook to first episode the Southern adventure series Operation Patch (13th June 1976) which was overseen by Don Leaver, the director of the Beasts episode 'The Dummy'. For the James Bond movie Moonraker (1979) Cooper doubled for the burly, bald headed actor Milton Reid for a sixty foot fall from a roof.

The 1980s would see Cooper work on several of the most well regarded films of the decade including The Shining (1980), The Long Good Friday (1980), Superman II (1980), Time Bandits (1981), Krull[3] (1983) and Top Secret (1984). He returned to the Bond franchise for one last time with his work on A View to a Kill (1985). By now Cooper was seventy two years old and obviously his roles became less, even though he was still physically fit and active. In his final years he supplied stunts to Death Whish 3 (1985), Half Moon Street (1986) and Willow (1988). His final screen appearance was in the BBC feature length drama Bad Company (17th May 1993). Jack Cooper passed away in 2010 aged 87.

TV Credits
1960 Garry Halliday – “A Message from a Stranger” (cast as Second Arab)
1961 ITV Television Playhouse – “Private Potter”
1962 Man of the World – “The Runaways” (stunts)
1963 Man of the World – “The Enemy” (as a Chinese Soldier)
1964 The Avengers – “Trojan Horse” (uncredited)
1965 The Avengers – “The Master Minds” (uncredited as a gymnast)
1966 The Avengers – “What the Butler Saw” (stunt double, uncredited)
1967 The Prisoner – “The General” / “Hammer Into Anvil” (as guard)
1968 The Prisoner – “Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling” (fight arranger)
1971 Sykes and a Big Big Show – “Britain’s First Moon Shot”, Doctor Who “The Claws of Axos” (as Axon glob and stunt work)
1972 Doctor Who – “The Sea Devils” (as a marine)
1973 Arthur of the Britons – “The Slaves” (as Ensel)
1976 Operation Patch – “The Deserter” (as Jack Grimlook and uncredited stuntwork), Beasts – “The Dummy” (as Grave Robber), 21 Hours at Munich (stunt coordinator)
1993 Bad Company (stunts)

Film Credits
1951 Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (stunts, uncredited)
1952 Ivanhoe (stunts, uncredited), The Crimson Pirate (stunts, uncredited)
1953 Laughing Anne (as a boxer), The Master of Ballantrae (stunts, uncredited), Paratrooper (stunts, uncredited), Laughing Anne (stunts, uncredited)
1956 Helen of Troy (stunts, uncredited) Zarak (stunts, uncredited)
1957 Robbery Under Arms (stunts, uncredited), Night of the Demon (stunts, uncredited)
1958 The Vikings (stunts, uncredited), A Night to Remember (stunts, uncredited), Son of Robin Hood (stunts, uncredited)
1959 The Mouse That Roared (stunts, uncredited)
1960 Sword of Sherwood Forest (uncredited), Exodus (stunts, uncredited)
1961 The Guns of Navarone (uncredited as German soldier), The Shadow of the Cat (stunts, uncredited), The Curse of the Werewolf (stunts, uncredited)
1962 The Phantom of the Opera (stunts, uncredited), The Longest Day (stunts, uncredited), The Damned (stunts, uncredited)
1963 55 Days at Peking (additional stunts, uncredited), Cleopatra (stunts, uncredited), From Russia With Love (train fight double, uncredited), The Cardinal (stunts, uncredited)
1965 Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (stunts, uncredited), Battle of the Bulge (stunts, uncredited)
1966 Judith (stunt arranger), Cast a Giant Shadow (stunts, uncredited), Khartoum (stunts, uncredited)
1967 Casino Royale (stunts, uncredited), You Only Live Twice (stunts, uncredited), Custer of the West (stunts, uncredited)
1968 Submarine X-1 (stunts, uncredited), Attack on the Iron Coast (stunts, uncredited), Where Eagles Dare (stunts, uncredited)
1969 Alfred the Great (stunts, uncredited)
1970 You Can’t Win ‘Em All (stunts, uncredited), Ryan’s Daughter (stunts, uncredited)
1971 Up Pompeii (stunts, uncredited), Kidnapped (stunts, uncredited)
1973 Psychomania (motor cycle stunts), The Long Goodbye (stunt driver, uncredited), Live and Let Die (stunts, uncredited), Ghosts in the Noon Day Sun (stunts, uncredited), The Mackintosh Man (motor cycle stunts)
1975 Brannigan (stunt driver, uncredited), The Return of the Pink Panther (stunts, uncredited), Journey Into Fear (stunt coordinator)
1976 The Pink Panther Strikes Again (as repair man in deleted scenes), Never Too Young to Rock (stunts, uncredited), The Eagle Has Landed (stunts, uncredited)
1977 The Spy Who Loved Me (uncredited), No.1 of the Secret Service (uncredited), Golden Rendezvous (stunts, uncredited)
1978 Force 10 from Navarone (stunts, uncredited), Caravans (stunts, uncredited), Shalimar (stunts, uncredited)
1979 Moonraker (stunts, uncredited), Avalanche Express (stunts, uncredited)
1980 Superman II (as Dino), ffolkes (stunts, uncredited), The Shining (stunts, uncredited), The Sea Wolves (stunts, uncredited), The Long Good Friday (stunts, uncredited)
1981 Lovespell (stunts), Time Bandits (stunts, uncredited)
1982 Victor Victoria (stunts)
1983 Krull (stunts, uncredited), Curse of the Pink Panther (stunts)
1984 Top Secret! (as Sergeant Kruger uncredited)
1985 Water (stunts), A View to a Kill (stunts, uncredited), Going Undercover (stunts), Death Wish 3 (stunts)
1986 Half Moon Street (stunt double)
1988 Willow (stunts)

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[1] Hollywood Stunt Performers, 1910 – 1970: A Biographical Dictionary (Second Edition) by Gene Scott Freese. Published by McFarland April 2014, page 1825

[2] An actual on screen credit as 1^st Motor Cyclist

[3] OK not all are well respected, though in a way Krull is an important film to the British film industry at the time and had a lot of high hopes pinned to it. Yep it died at the box office and helped to quicken the decline of big budget British film productions