Record-breaking stuntman Rocky Taylor spills all on 62-year career: "It's dangerous work"

After 62 years in the business, Rocky Taylor is one of Hollywood’s most prolific stars.

But you may not even realize you’ve seen him in some of your favourite movies and TV shows.

Rocky has enjoyed the longest career as a stuntman, with hundreds of credits to his name on IMDb over the last six decades.

The London-born performer, now 79, has jumped from burning buildings, crashed cars, been shot, and even been punched in the face by Batman.

As well as a long list of acting jobs, Rocky has performed stunts or acted as a stunt coordinator on the likes of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Spider-Man: Far from Home, Skyfall, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Parts 1 and 2.

You might have seen him in Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and the Indiana Jones movies, as well as classics like Minder, The Sweeney and The Champions.

But as Rocky says, a good stuntman is never really seen.

“I can watch a scene and know when it’s me and when it’s them – I know that but the public doesn’t,” he told us as he looked back on his career.

I’m not supposed to be seen, because if they see me they know it’s not the actor, which is wrong.

Rocky sort of fell into the stunt business by accident.

His late father Larry was also an actor and stuntman, and worked on the likes of Zulu, Lawrence of Arabia and Cleopatra.

Rocky was working on 1961 film The Young Ones, which starred Cliff Richard, when an unexpected opportunity came along.

He explained: “I was a black belt in judo, and from that I came into the stunt business, doing stuff that other people couldn’t do in them days.

“I could throw myself around the floor because of my judo experience.

“Ray Austin, who was a stunt coordinator, knew my dad and asked him if I could double for Steed on The Avengers.

I put the suit on and the hat and they said they couldn’t tell the difference between me and Steed.

“They said, ‘You have got the job now’. It was three or four years’ work, which was fantastic.

“I really had a great time, met loads of people and I realized what a stuntman was because I didn’t know what one was when I was at school.

“All of a sudden I became a stuntman and it went on from there.”

Rocky became a go-to guy for car and motorbike stunts, and even rode horses and did jousting.

“I was very fortunate to be in the business because of my father, obviously, but I went my own way without my father’s help,” he said.

“I was a black belt in judo for a long time so I knew how to fall properly, I knew how to run and dive and hit the wall without hurting myself, which other people couldn’t.

I’ve lived a full life as a stuntman and I’m very happy.

He added: “I wasn’t a stuntman, I learned how to be one on the job.

But it’s dangerous work. A stuntman’s not a stuntman ‘cause he kisses girls – it’s a dangerous job.

“It’s difficult to get into the business now because you have to be great at what you do from the beginning.

“I wasn’t great at first. I learned to be great.”

Rocky is also the first stunt actor to double for two James Bonds in one year after standing in for Sean Connery in Never Say Never Again and Roger Moore in Octopussy, both in 1983.

And he’s used his stuntman skills to help charity too.

In 2011, Rocky took on a series of stunts for a campaign for Remember A Charity, which aimed to build awareness about the importance of gifts in Wills to UK charities. After all, who better than a stuntman could convey the importance of having a Will?

The stunt series was broadcast live and saw Rocky re-enact a death-defying leap from Battersea Power Station and smash his way into the record books by setting the record for the largest breakaway glass structure smashed by a car (23.91 m²; 257.36 ft²), landing upside down on a row of cars below. 

His actions typified Rocky’s bravery, while spreading the word about the opportunity for people to look after the good causes they care about alongside their loved ones in their Wills.

Rocky has penned a book about his career, entitled Jump Rocky Jump, which film hardman Ray Winstone wrote a foreword for.

“I was very lucky,” Rocky said. “All of a sudden I became a very high profile stuntman and I worked with a lot of big stars.”

There’s no one quite like Rocky Taylor.

If you love watching records being broken you should check out our Records Weekly series on YouTube...

Want more? Follow us on Google News and across our social media channels to stay up-to-date with all things Guinness World Records! You can find us on Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Snapchat Discover.

Don't forget to check out our videos on YouTube and become part of our group chat by following the Guinness World Records WhatsApp channel.

Still not had enough? Click here to buy our latest book, filled to the brim with stories about our amazing record breakers.