At an assisted living facility in Austin, Texas, Gary Kent, a well-known actor, director, and stuntman who is credited with aiding Quentin Tarantino in the making of the film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, passed away unexpectedly on Thursday. He was 89 years old.
Who was Gary Kent?
Gary Kent, who was born on June 7, 1933, in Walla Walla, Washington, began his cinematic career in his youth by making roles in movies like Battle Flame in 1959. He also had appearances in a variety of low-budget films during the 1960s, including The Black Klansman (1966) and The Savage Seven, a film about motorcycles.
He acted as Bruce Dern’s stunt double in the cult classic Richard Rush exploitation film Psych-Out from 1969. Kent’s filmography was strengthened by the first Peter Bogdanovich film, Targets (1968), starring Boris Karloff, as well as the highly-liked drive-in movies of the time, Hell’s Bloody Devils (1970), The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant (1971), and Angels’ Wild Women (1972).
Although Kent made a few brief acting cameos at the time, it was his stunt work from the 1960s to the 1990s that left a lasting mark on Hollywood. Major cinema pictures including Hells Angels on Wheels, The Return of Count Yorga, Freebie and the Bean, Color of Night, and Bubba Ho-Tep as well as television shows like The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Green Hornet, and Daniel Boone benefited from his excitement and action.
Brad Pitt’s character Cliff Booth, a stuntman in Tarantino’s 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, was based on Kent’s life and profession, according to Joe O’Connell’s biographical documentary Danger God, which was published in 2018.
Hal Needham, a stuntman and director, was also influential, but Kent’s interactions with Bruce Lee on The Green Hornet’s set and his encounters with the Charles Manson Family during the late 1960s Spahn Ranch film shoots stand out as particularly noteworthy connections between Kent and the character of Booth.
The Pyramid, a 1976 movie that Kent wrote and directed, was just published in the book TCM Underground: 50 Must-See Movies From the World of Classic Cult and Late-Night Cinema. Shadows & Light: Journeys With Outlaws in Revolutionary Hollywood, Kent’s autobiography, was released in 2009.
Kent leaves behind four grandchildren and six children. According to the Austin Chronicle, his family plans to sprinkle his ashes in the Pacific Ocean in accordance with his desires.