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Former Valley stuntman dies in Spain

By Staff

Martin Grace, a former Santa Ynez Valley resident and longtime Hollywood stuntman, has died in Spain.

His death at 67 years old, first reported on a fan site for James Bond movies, was confirmed by friends in the Valley this week. In recent years he had been living in Spain but still visited the Valley.

According to www.mi6.co

.uk, Grace was hospitalized in late January after developing breathing problems at his home in Spain and died Jan. 27 after suffering an aneurysm.

Throughout a long career as a stuntman and stunt coordinator, Grace was probably best known as the stunt double for Roger Moore through most of Moore’s James Bond films, from “The Spy Who Loved Me” in 1977 through “A View to a Kill” in 1985, when Moore left the series, according to www.mi6

.co.uk.

As Moore’s stunt double, Grace took the risks when “James Bond” fought villains atop the Golden Gate Bridge, drove a sports car through narrow, winding streets while chased by a helicopter and motorcycles, hung from the side of a helicopter or fought atop trains or the Eiffel Tower.

During the filming of “Octopussy,” Grace’s pelvis and thigh bones were smashed while he was hanging from the side of a moving train, but he hung on until the train stopped — and after months flat on his back, made a full recovery in time for the next Bond outing, according to the MI6 Web site.

As a stunt performer or coordinator he also contributed to “Superman” (1978), “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981), “Robin Hood” (1991) and “The Truman Show” (1998). Grace also worked sometimes as an actor. In 1997 he was Captain Braga in “Robinson Crusoe,” which featured Pierce Brosnan in the title role.

Over his career, Grace worked on 73 motion pictures and many television programs, including “Monk” and “Heroes.”

According to Grace’s biography on the Internet Movie Database, www.imdb.com, his big-screen career extended from 1965 through 2007.