In Memoriam of British stuntman Peter Brace (1924-2018)

By: Jon Auty

Published:
2018-10-30

British stuntman and actor Peter Brace, with five James Bond films on his resume and a lot of work with both Sean Connery and Roger Moore, sadly passed away at the ripe old age of 94 on 29th October 2018. Our thoughts goes to Peter's family and friends.

The world's most prolific stuntman, Vic Armstrong, fondly remember Peter and has kindly shared his thoughts with us:

“When I started in the stunt business in 1965 there was a handful of legendary stunt icons that I was in awe of. They were George Leech, Joe Powell, Alf Joint, Bob Simmons, Paddy Ryan and Peter Brace. To say Peter stood tall amongst them was no exaggeration, apart from having an impressive resume going back to the 1940’s Peter was 6ft 4in tall and a very impressive figure of a man.
I first met him on You Only Live Twice when I was a mere Ninja and Peter was part of the elite professionals and I barely had a chance to speak to him.

As the years passed I am proud to say we became good friends and workmates. He was always a very stoic, quiet and deep person but that just concealed the very dry quick wit that he possessed and quick is not an exaggeration, people would find themselves completely brought back to earth in two words from Peter delivered so quietly and quickly.

Peter though apart from his humour had a sense of reality and honesty, he would always say what he thought and if it meant backing someone up and offending others no matter how powerful or influential they were he had no qualms in doing it, this is such a vanishing attribute these days.

Goldfinger, Fury at Smugglers Creek, Four Just Men, Dangerman, A Night to Remember, Blue Murder at St Trinians, Reach for the Sky, Ivanhoe are just a few examples of the diversity of Peters work and I must say knowing Peter I would have loved to have seen him in St Trinians he would not have been able to hide that shy little smirk of his.
Peter is going to be sorely missed by whole generations of Stuntmen to whom he was one of the founding fathers of the stunt business. Rest in Peace Peter and keep that little happy smirk going.”

About British stuntman and actor Peter Brace

Stuntman Peter Brace was a stable part of television and film viewing throughout the last sixty years. You may not be familiar with him, but you will have seen his face in hundreds of top flight Television shows and blockbuster movies.

His was a story that started back in Southwark London in August 1924 and started professionally for him at the age of 23. Dennis Price and Flora Robson were the stars of Holiday Camp, an everyday story of crooked card players, teenage pregnancy and murder on a train. Peter pops up as a non-speaking background artist, but he was hooked. A fine horseman gave him an advantage over some of the other actors approached to work on the 1952 screen version of Ivanhoe which saw him take the part of one of the many archers. He was also inspired by stuntman Paddy Ryan who takes a dive from the top of a tower into shallow water below. A fall of some 70ft. It was here that his thoughts changed to action.

With Television shows like The Prisoner, Danger Man and The Saint with Roger Moore, he cut his teeth on fights and falls. As a good-looking man who could throw himself around he was brought to the attention of Bob Simmons who was looking for performers to work action on the new James Bond adventures. Peter was to be a player on a number of the 007 outings including Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963) and Goldfinger (1964) as the guard Bond, or stuntman Alf Joint, lands on before blowing up the villain’s lair in the pre-title sequence.

You Only Live Twice (1967) saw Peter sliding down ropes as one of the many ninjas during the climactic battle sequence inside the volcano which was built at Pinewood Studios. That same year saw him jumping from one location to another and providing action on the original Casino Royale (1967).

Throughout his career he has made appearances in some of the most loved films with many of the worlds top actors. He worked alongside Richard Burton on Where Eagles Dare (1968), and with Michael Caine on Kidnapped (1971), as one of the horseman. His connection with Bond wasn’t fully over as in 1986 he was to work on Highlander co-starring Sean Connery. In the final showdown with Christopher Lambert’s Connor McCloud, Peter doubles Clancy Brown fighting Andy Bradford as Lambert’s double. His swordsmanship was never in doubt having spent many years with a team of stuntmen, fronted by Max Diamond, who travelled the world jousting and entertaining thousands of people. Bringing the medieval combat to the modern audience. Many of his fellow performers were also very familiar faces. They included Nosher, Dinny and Greg Powell, Cliff Diggins and Terry Richards.

Stuntman Peter Brace

A selection of Peter's work on film and television over the years.

Regardless of being a hitman in Curse of the Pink Panther (1983) or a member of the military police in Force Ten from Navarone (1978), Peter was always a very welcome sight in any production.

With well over a hundred plus credits as an actor and performer Peter Brace will be missed by those who knew his work and by those who had the pleasure of working with him on set.

Peter was 6ft 4in tall and available in 1976 to double a certain hairy Wookie on a sci-fi movie filmed at Elstree Studios. When asked what his least favourite role was he would often say, “dressing up in that bloody dog costume. It was too hot and if you wanted a pee it was a two-man job. Peter Mayhew is indeed a brave man”.

For a fill list of Peter Brace's work on film and television, visit his IMDB page.

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In Memoriam of British stuntman Peter Brace (1924-2018)

About British stuntman and actor Peter Brace

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