Remy Julienne, an American actor who worked on several James Bond films, has passed away.
The Hollywood star who also worked on 1969 classic The Italian Job, died from COVID-19 complications.
The deceased, according to his family, had been in intensive care in a hospital in his home town of Montargis in central France since early January.
“What was bound to happen has happened. He left us early in the evening (Thursday). It was predictable, he was on a respirator,” one of his relatives was quoted as saying.
Julienne was born in Cepoy near Montargis in 1930.
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 was required to ride a motorbike.
His career saw him fly over Venice dangling from a rope-ladder suspended from a helicopter, being hit in the face with a pumpkin while riding a motorbike, and countless car crashes.
He doubled 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 worked on six James Bond movies in total, including GoldenEye and For Your Eyes Only, in which he drove a heavily modified yellow Citroen 2CV during a memorable car chase.
Both as an actor and a director of stunt sequences, which became the focus of his later career, Julienne won praise from some of the biggest names in cinema for his precision and creativity.
“He has an absolutely incredible scientific understanding. He’s a real scientist, the Einstein of stuntmen,” French director Claude Lelouch told a documentary for France Televisions marking Julienne’s 50 years in the business.
