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Paolo Rigoni- The first death on a Bond set

MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
edited December 2013 in Bond Movies Posts: 5,080
Somebody replied to a comment I made about fatalities on film sets, concerning, to my surprise, a stuntman who died during the ski and bobsleigh chase in For Your Eyes Only. There had been previous accidents on a Bond set before (most notably Johnny Jordan, YOLT, but his death wasn't during the filming of a Bond film), but, as far as I am aware, Paolo Rigoni's (the stuntman) death is the only one to have occurred on a Bond set. I was shocked to learn this, as I had never seen it reported or talked about before. Why was it so sparsely reported, I wonder? I see no thread for it either.

Comments

  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Wow, I have never heard this either! Could he have died during the big jump Bond makes while Kriegler is trying to get a shot at him? It's been a while since I last saw the film, so my memory is fuzzy on it.
  • WillyGaloreWillyGalore
    Posts: 6,396
    I remember hearing this story from years back. I think the stuntman was driving the bobsled when it overturned. Last day of filming that sequence I understand.
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    edited December 2013 Posts: 5,080
    0BradyM0Bondfanatic7 wrote:
    Wow, I have never heard this either! Could he have died during the big jump Bond makes while Kriegler is trying to get a shot at him? It's been a while since I last saw the film, so my memory is fuzzy on it.

    I believe that he was actually in the bobsleigh, which capsized with him trapped underneath, and it continued down the track. It really is horrific. This was after scouring the internet, and it is mentioned on IMBds trivia for FYEO.
  • WillyGaloreWillyGalore
    Posts: 6,396
    There is also this:

    http://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/movies/fyeo_production.php3
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    MayDayDiVicenzo wrote:
    0BradyM0Bondfanatic7 wrote:
    Wow, I have never heard this either! Could he have died during the big jump Bond makes while Kriegler is trying to get a shot at him? It's been a while since I last saw the film, so my memory is fuzzy on it.

    I believe that he was actually in the bobsleigh, which capsized with him trapped underneath, and it continued down the track. It really is horrific. This was after scouring the internet, and it is mentioned on IMBds trivia for FYEO.
    Wow. I'm surprised it isn't more widely discussed. Considering that the Bond franchise has a long history (especially at that time) of crazy stunts, we're fortunate that no more casualties arose during the filming of the movies. One case where things could have drastically gone wrong is the cliff jump in TSWLM's PTS, to name just one example. I commend these men and women for what they do because they put their lives on the line every single day they shoot an action scene. That takes guts.
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    edited December 2013 Posts: 5,080
    0BradyM0Bondfanatic7 wrote:
    MayDayDiVicenzo wrote:
    0BradyM0Bondfanatic7 wrote:
    Wow, I have never heard this either! Could he have died during the big jump Bond makes while Kriegler is trying to get a shot at him? It's been a while since I last saw the film, so my memory is fuzzy on it.

    I believe that he was actually in the bobsleigh, which capsized with him trapped underneath, and it continued down the track. It really is horrific. This was after scouring the internet, and it is mentioned on IMBds trivia for FYEO.
    Wow. I'm surprised it isn't more widely discussed. Considering that the Bond franchise has a long history (especially at that time) of crazy stunts, we're fortunate that no more casualties arose during the filming of the movies. One case where things could have drastically gone wrong is the cliff jump in TSWLM's PTS, to name just one example. I commend these men and women for what they do because they put their lives on the line every single day they shoot an action scene. That takes guts.

    I completely agree. I've seen somewhere that the stunt in the PTS of TSWLM nearly went very wrong, when one of the skiis nearly got tangled up in the ropes of the parachute (I believe you can see this in the film).

    Cassandra Harris' stunt double also got injured during the filming of FYEO. It seems that FYEO has quite a death trap of a production.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    What happened to Cassandra? Was it during the scene where the Countess gets run over?
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    edited December 2013 Posts: 5,080
    0BradyM0Bondfanatic7 wrote:
    What happened to Cassandra? Was it during the scene where the Countess gets run over?

    EDIT; I have misread the sentence. It was Harris' stunt double who was injured in the dune buggy scene.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    edited December 2013 Posts: 28,694
    MayDayDiVicenzo wrote:
    0BradyM0Bondfanatic7 wrote:
    What happened to Cassandra? Was it during the scene where the Countess gets run over?

    EDIT; I have misread the sentence. It was Harris' stunt double who was injured in the dune buggy scene.

    I was going to say, I didn't think they'd let her shoot that scene without a double.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    WillyGalore wrote:
    I remember hearing this story from years back. I think the stuntman was driving the bobsled when it overturned. Last day of filming that sequence I understand.

    Yes, that is correct.
  • GerardGerard
    Posts: 5,994
    I remember reading about it at the time of FYEO's release (in the german magazine "Cinema"). And I was surprised not to see it mentioned in the making of feature in the Ultimate Edition DVD of the movie. Strange, that.
  • boldfingerboldfinger
    Posts: 5,767
    MayDayDiVicenzo wrote:
    as far as I am aware, Paolo Rigoni's (the stuntman) death is the only one to have occurred on a Bond set.
    During the shooting of the pts for QOS a stuntman was killed, wasn´t he? I guess those accidents are nothing the producers are too proud of, hence the dvd features leave them out.

  • Suivez_ce_parachuteSuivez_ce_parachute
    Posts: 2,015
    boldfinger wrote:
    During the shooting of the pts for QOS a stuntman was killed, wasn´t he?
    Craig stated he was making a remarkable recovery. The shooting of that PTS was a nightmare, several cars were lost and not all drivers were lucky, surely it has some consequence with the final result that is so derided here...

  • Pierce2DanielPierce2Daniel
    Posts: 4,409
    Didn't someone loose a leg shooting YOLT?
  • Suivez_ce_parachuteSuivez_ce_parachute
    Posts: 2,015
    Yes, and he died while shooting another movie 3 years later...
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    Posts: 5,080
    Pierce2Daniel wrote:
    Didn't someone loose a leg shooting YOLT?

    Yeah, that was Johnny Jordan.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,183
    Johnny Jordan's case sounds pretty painful. To have a rotor blade cut into your leg... :(

    And given the stuff he continued to do after this accident: there's true bravery for ya!
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,124
    DarthDimi wrote:
    Johnny Jordan's case sounds pretty painful. To have a rotor blade cut into your leg... :(

    And given the stuff he continued to do after this accident: there's true bravery for ya!

    I think being a stuntman is a vocation. They literally live by and for it. So Jordan kept on doing what he felt he was born to do.
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