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Richard E. Butler (8 May 19363 December 2013; age 77), better known as Dick Butler, was a retired stuntman and stunt coordinator who served as stunt coordinator on the Star Trek: The Next Generation first season episode "Encounter at Farpoint". Six years later he worked as stunt double for late actor Brian Keith on the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine first season episode "Progress", where he doubled Keith's heavy moves against stunt actor Tom Morga and his fall back after he was "shot". For both Trek assignments Butler received no on-screen credit.

Early career ('60s)[]

During his time as football player at the UCLA, Butler went to a casting for Spartacus (1960) and was hired as a background performer, a gladiator. After his last semester he decided to make his goal in the film industry as a stunt performer. Among his stunt work in the '60s was the crime comedy It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963, along with Janos Prohaska, Carey Loftin, Robert Herron, Gary Epper, Dick Crockett, and Paul Stader), the television drama Fade-In (1968), the comedy The Great Bank Robbery (1969), and two episodes of Daniel Boone (1969-1970, with James Doohan and Frank Orsatti).

Butler also worked as stunt coordinator for the first time when he coordinated several episodes of the drama series Adam-12 (1968-1975, starring William Boyett).

The '70s[]

Beside stunt work in films such as Mrs. Pollifax-Spy (1971), What's Up, Doc? (1972, under stunt coordination of Paul Baxley), Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) and Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973), and the action thriller The Towering Inferno (1974), Butler is probably best known for doubling Sean Connery's Mustang Mach1 driving stunts in Diamonds Are Forever (1971, along with Vince Deadrick, Donna Garrett, Nick Dimitri, and Jerry Summers) and Robert Shaw's shark stunts in Jaws (1975, with Frank James Sparks and Dick Ziker).

While still working on Adam-12 until 1975, Butler worked on several more police series. He performed stunts on The Streets of San Francisco and Matt Helm (1975) and served as stunt coordinator on Joe Forrester (1975-1976, with stunts by Gene LeBell and Dick Dial), Police Woman (1974-1978, with Donna Garrett), Police Story (1973-1977, with Hubie Kerns, Jr., Robert Herron, Gene LeBell, and Rick Sawaya), and Salvage 1 (1979).

Further stunt work includes the comedy Freaky Friday (1976), the television drama A Matter of Wife... and Death (1976), the action drama Black Sunday (1977, with stunts by Erik Cord, Bob Minor, and Paul Stader), the drama Stunts (1977, along with Jean Coulter and Bud Davis), the comedy Love and the Midnight Auto Supply (1977), Superman (1978, with Scott Leva and Ellen Bry), and the television drama A Woman Called Moses (1978).

Additional work as stunt coordinator includes the comedy action The Big Fix (1978, with Chuck Hicks) and the comedy The Prize Fighter (1979, with Gene LeBell and Charles Picerni).

The '80s[]

In the '80s Butler served as stunt coordinator for a number of projects including Die Laughing (1980, with Eurlyne Epper-Woldman and Leslie Hoffman), Up the Academy (1980, with Michael Cassidy, Ann Chatterton, and Erik Cord), Tron (1982, starring David Warner and stunts by Tony Brubaker, Gary Epper, Donna Garrett, Billy Hank Hooker, Glenn R. Wilder, and Al Jones), Murder Me, Murder You (1983), and several episodes of Today's F.B.I. (1981-1982), Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983-1987, with stunts by Steve Kelso, Lane Leavitt, and Tom Morga), Mike Hammer (1984-1987, with Greg Barnett, Hubie Kerns, Jr., and Robert Herron), and Houston Knights (1987-1988, with Pat Romano).

As a stuntman he performed in Wholly Moses! (1980), Motel Hell (1980, with Bill Catching, Leslie Hoffman, and Sharon Shaffer), Melvin and Howard (1980), the television comedy Revenge of the Gray Gang (1981), The High Country (1981), Hard Country (1981, with Don Pulford), the musical drama Pennies from Heaven (1981), The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982, with Simone Boisseree, Phil Chong, Jophery C. Brown, Nick Dimitri, Vince Deadrick, Jr., Chris Doyle, Chuck Hicks, Tom Morga, and Kym Washington), My Favorite Year (1982), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), the drama Independence Day (1983), Angel (1984, with Kerrie Cullen and Vince Deadrick), Bachelor Party (1984), Commando (1985, with Joel Kramer and Spiro Razatos), 52 Pick-Up (1986), the action drama Omega Syndrome (1987), Maniac Cop (1988, with Phil Culotta, Corey Michael Eubanks, Matt McColm, Bernie Pock, Spiro Razatos, and John Cade), Cameron's Closet (1988), Midnight Run (1988), Mississippi Burning (1988), One Man Force (1989), Ghostbusters II (1989, with Vince Deadrick, Jr., Bob Minor, and Spice Williams), the horror film Criminal Act (1989), Three Fugitives (1989), Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects (1989, with Buck McDancer, Dennis Madalone, James Lew, Noon Orsatti, and Frank Orsatti), Hit List (1989), B.L. Stryker (1989), Night Life (1989), Johnny Handsome (1989), and Night Walk (1989, with Jim Wilkey).

He also performed stunts in Back to the Future in 1985 on which he worked as stunt driver for the DeLorean. He doubled Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and portrayed Einstein while driving the car. [1]

The '90s[]

Credits as stunt coordinator in the '90s include the television thriller Murder in Paradise (1990), Far Out Man (1990), Spiro Razatos' Fast Getaway (1991), John Paragon's television adventure Ring of the Musketeers (1992, with John Rhys-Davies and Corbin Bernsen), Teresa's Tattoo (1994, with Majel Barrett-Roddenberry), Angus (1995), She Cried No (1996), Top of the World (1997) and The Rage (1997), Inferno (1998, starring Stephanie Niznik), the comedy The Glass Jar (1999), and Mike Hammer, Private Eye (1997-1998) and Team Knight Rider (1997-1998).

In addition Butler continued to perform stunts in films such as the comedy Secret Agent OO Soul (1990), Loose Cannons (1990), The Handmaid's Tale (1990, with Jim Wilkey and Steve Kelso), Total Recall (1990), Maniac Cop 2 (1990), the drama Double Revenge (1990), Masters of Menace (1990, with Christine Anne Baur, Chris Doyle, Nick Dimitri, and Gregg Sargeant), Too Much Sun (1990), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Popcorn (1991), an episode of Hunter (1991, with Joey Aresco, Kelly Curtis, and Chuck Hicks), Hook (1991), 976-Evil II (1992), We're Talkin' Serious Money (1992), AdventureS in Dinosaur City (1992, with Keith Campbell, Chris Durand, and Tim Trella), Universal Soldier (1992), Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992), Mo' Money (1992), Rescue Me (1992), Love Field (1992), Hoffa (1992), Nowhere to Run (1993), Blood In Blood Out (1993), Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence (1993), Twin Sitters (1994), Little Giants (1994), Class of 1999 II: The Substitute (1994), Clean Slate (1994), the mystery film Raging Angels (1995), the thriller Rage (1995), Casino (1995), Last Man Standing (1996), Spy Hard (1996), The Rock (1996), the thriller The Sweeper (1996, with Jeff Cadiente, Denney Pierce, and Chester E. Tripp III), Basquiat (1996), the thriller Pure Danger (1996), The Relic (1997), Back in Business (1997), Con Air (1997), Best Men (1997, with Eliza Coleman, Kurt D. Lott, Lincoln Simonds, and Terry Jackson), Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998, with Laura Albert, Brennan Dyson, and Chris Durand), Renegade Force (1998), Hot Boyz (1999), Hard Time (1999, with Ken Clark, Mark DeAlessandro, Leigh Hennessy, and Joyce McNeal), Inspector Gadget (1999), and Storm Catcher (1999).

Later career (2000s)[]

In his last years in the stunt industry before he retired, Butler performed stunts in the action film Ground Zero (2000, with Cole McKay), the thriller Luck of the Draw (2000, with Joni and Rick Avery, Chris Doyle, Henry Kingi, Jr., and Spiro Razatos), Get Carter (2000), the thriller The Right Temptation (2000), and the comedy Orange County (2002, with Janet Brady and Darlene Ava Williams).

In 2009 he was interviewed and received special thanks on the DVD documentary Looking Back to the Future regarding his work on the film Back to the Future in 1985. A year before, Butler faced a heart surgery but recovered soon. Butler was a lifetime member of the Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures. [2]

Butler passed away on 3 December 2013 at the age of 77.

External link[]

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