Victor Monroe Armstrong (born 5 October 1946) is a British film director, stunt coordinator, second unit director, and stunt double—the world's most prolific, according to the Guinness Book of Records.
Career An early role of his before Indiana Jones was in Steptoe and Son episode "The Seven Steptoerai".
The Armstrong doubled for Harrison Ford in the first three Indiana Jones films, Timothy Dalton for Flash Gordon, George Lazenby for the Swiss Alps skiing scenes in the Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and Christopher Reeve in Superman and Superman II. Reportedly, Armstrong looked so much like Harrison Ford that the crewmembers on the films were constantly mistaking him for Ford. This proved useful when Ford injured his back and had to sit out for filming crucial action sequences in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Armstrong filled in for him. The stunt where he jumps from a horse onto a German tank in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was voted one of the top-10 film stunts of all time by a panel of experts and Sky Movies viewers in the UK in 2002. On a private photograph taken on the film set, Ford wrote to Armstrong, "If you learn to talk, I'm in deep trouble!"Vicarmstrong.com Armstrong was unable to work on the fourth Indiana Jones film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, due to commitments to The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. He had discussed, though, possible action sequences with Steven Spielberg during production of War of the Worlds.
Armstrong is a famed stunt coordinator and action unit director, notable for (amongst others) the action sequences of several James Bond films, War of the Worlds and I Am Legend. Armstrong was also the opening scene director on Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
In 1993, Armstrong made his directorial debut with action film Joshua Tree (or Army of One), starring Dolph Lundgren, George Segal, Kristian Alfonso, and Ken Foree.
He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 2003, when he was surprised by Michael Aspel at Pinewood Studios.
In 2012, Armstrong was second unit director for The Amazing Spider-Man. In 2013, he signed on to direct Left Behind, a remake of the series that got released in 2014. His next directorial effort was the true story A Sunday Horse. He also worked on the 2022 Amazon Prime Video series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power as second unit director and action director.
Armstrong is a long-serving member of the British Stunt Register.
Awards In 2001, he received a Technical Achievement Academy Award for "the Fan Descender for accurately and safely arresting the descent of stunt persons in high freefalls".http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/DisplayMain.jsp?curTime=1438457680822 In 2002, he received the BAFTA Michael Balcon Award.
Personal Armstrong is the brother of Andy Armstrong and husband of stuntwoman Wendy Leech, who is the daughter of fellow stunt performer George Leech. He met her while filming Superman II, when she doubled for Margot Kidder).
The couple have four children between them. Armstrong has two children from his first marriage, and Leech has a daughter from her first marriage. They have one daughter together. Vic is uncle to stuntman James Armstrong and film maker Jesse V Johnson
Bibliography His memoir My Life as Indiana Jones, James Bond, Superman and Other Action Heroes: The True Adventures of the World's Greatest Stuntman was published by Titan Books in early 2011.
Filmography Year Title Stunts Second unit director Director 1974 Steptoe and Son Douglas Argent 1978 Superman Richard Donner 1979 Bear Island Don Sharp 1980 Superman II Richard Lester Flash Gordon Mike Hodges 1983 Superman III Richard Lester 1984 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Steven Spielberg 1985 Red Sonja Richard Fleischer 1987 Empire of the Sun Steven Spielberg Million Dollar Mystery Richard Fleischer 1988 Amsterdamned Dick Maas 1989 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Steven Spielberg Henry V Kenneth Branagh 1990 Total Recall Paul Verhoeven 1992 Universal Soldier Roland Emmerich 1993 Last Action Hero John McTiernan 1994 Radioland Murders Mel Smith Black Beauty Caroline Thompson 1995 Cutthroat Island Renny Harlin 1996 The Phantom Simon Wincer 1997 Tomorrow Never Dies Roger Spottiswoode Shadow Conspiracy George P. Cosmatos Starship Troopers Paul Verhoeven 1999 The World Is Not Enough Michael Apted 2000 Charlie's Angels McG 2002 Die Another Day Lee Tamahori Gangs of New York Martin Scorsese 2003 The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Stephen Norrington 2004 Blade: Trinity David S. Goyer Miracle Gavin O'Connor 2005 War of the Worlds Steven Spielberg 2006 I Am Legend Francis Lawrence Mission Impossible III J.J. Abrams 2007 The Golden Compass Chris Weitz 2008 The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Rob Cohen 2010 Shanghai Mikael Håfström 2011 Thor Kenneth Branagh The Green Hornet Michel Gondry 2012 The Amazing Spider-Man Marc Webb 2014 Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit Kenneth Branagh 2015 Eddie the Eagle Dexter Fletcher Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials Wes Ball 2016 Mechanic: Resurrection Dennis Gansel 2017 American Assassin Michael Cuesta 2018 Johnny English Strikes Again David Kerr 2019 Angel Has Fallen Ric Roman Waugh 2022 The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Various 2024 Lift F. Gary Gray
As stunt double Year Title Actor 1978 Superman Christopher Reeve 1979 Bear Island Donald Sutherland 1980 Superman II Christopher Reeve Flash Gordon Timothy Dalton 1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark Harrison Ford 1982 Blade Runner 1983 Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi Never Say Never Again Sean Connery 1984 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Harrison Ford 1989 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1991 Regarding Henry 1992 Patriot Games
As director Year Title 1993 Joshua Tree 2014 Left Behind 2016 A Sunday Horse
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