Terry James Leonard (born 1940) is an American stunt performer and second unit director.
Biography Leonard was born and raised in West Allis, Wisconsin, where he was raised on a farm. He attended the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and then transferred to the University of Arizona. He also played college football, was a member of the track and field team, and competed in the 1960 and 1964 Olympic trials for decathlon. From 1964 to 1966, he played minor league American football in the United Football League, the Continental Football League, and the Professional Football League of America. In 1966, he was signed as a halfback by the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. His football career ended that same year when he suffered from a herniated disc.
In need of work, Leonard contacted the stunt performer Chuck Roberson, whom he had watched perform stunts while working as an extra on McLintock! in 1963. Roberson invited Leonard to live with him in Los Angeles. He taught Leonard how to be a stunt performer, including teaching him horse stunts in his back yard. He later trained with the martial artist Joe Lewis and learned to drive race cars so that he could expand his work beyond Western films.
Leonard debuted as a stunt performer by falling from a church steeple in El Dorado (1966). His most famous stunt was during the truck chase sequence in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), when—doubling for Harrison Ford—he jumped from a horse and climbed underneath the truck. Steven Spielberg said that Leonard "took some pretty nasty spills" while filming the sequence. In Romancing the Stone (1984), Leonard drove off a waterfall in a Jeep as Michael Douglas's stunt double. Throughout his career, he has been a close collaborator of John Milius, directing stunts in all of his films.
Leonard has received critical and professional acclaim. In 2003, Leonard received the Golden Boot Award for his work on Western films and the Taurus Lifetime Achievement Award for his stunt work. Writing for The Washington Post, Sharon Waxman called Leonard "one of the most famous and respected stunt coordinators in Hollywood". The Los Angeles Times called him a "legend" in stunt performance.
As of 2008, Leonard lived on a ranch in Agua Dulce, California, and competed in rodeo.
Selected filmography Gangster Squad (2013): stunts, second unit director Cowboys & Aliens (2011): second unit director The Expendables (2010): second unit director The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006): second unit director 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003): second unit director Rush Hour (1998): stunts, second unit director Eraser (1996): second unit director Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995): stunts, second unit director The Quick and the Dead (1995): stunts, second unit director The Fugitive (1993): second unit director Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991): stunts, second unit director Flight of the Intruder (1991): stunts, second unit director The Package (1989): stunts, second unit director Farewell to the King (1989): stunts, second unit director Death Before Dishonor (1987): director Cobra (1986): stunts, second unit director Red Dawn (1984): stunts, second unit director Romancing the Stone (1984): stunts, second unit director Conan the Barbarian: stunts, horse riding double: Arnold Schwarzenegger, second unit director Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): stunts Used Cars (1980): stunts, second unit director Apocalypse Now (1979): stunts Big Wednesday (1978): stunts, second unit director: land
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