MARTIN GRACE:JAMES BOND dangled from a helicopter, fought on the roof of a cable car 1,300ft over Rio, and ran into the bush carrying a deposed president while fighting off the enemy; or rather it was Irish-born stuntman Martin Grace, who has died aged 67, who performed such feats - and not Bond star Roger Moore. Sadly, Grace's role remained largely unknown to cinema audiences.
Martin Grace was born on a farm between Freshford and Lisdowney, and went to the national school in Lisdowney and then to the technical school in Kilkenny. A keen hurler and very athletic, he was captivated by such stars as John Wayne, Roy Rogers and Errol Flynn, who were the heroes of the travelling film shows that came to Lisdowney.
Determined to become an action man, he went to London where he joined various boxing, weight-lifting and fencing clubs, and for a summer had a job in a Butlin's Holiday Camp as an entertainment and sports organiser.
On his return to London he took night classes at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, and joined an action agency which found him employment as the White Knight in the commercial for Supersoft hairspray. Then he more famously got the job as the mysterious man who, after a series of incredible deeds, delivers a box (a rather modest box considering the courageous exploits involved in delivering it), of Cadbury chocolates - "All because the lady loves Milk Tray".
These adverts caught the attention of the stunt co-ordinator of the James Bond films, and Grace was engaged for You Only Live Twice. There was a month's training on the scaling of nets, sliding down ropes and trampoline explosions before being filmed in the volcano that had been built for the Japanese Ninjas' attack.
He worked on Alfred the Great, much of which was filmed in Galway. From the senior stuntman on the film, Grace learned the finer points of accuracy and precision in sword play and in fights. He gained more valuable experience when he toured the Scandinavian countries with The International Stunt Show, whose acts were performed six days a week.
In 1974 he was asked to act as Roger Moore's stunt double in The Spy Who Loved Me. In the car chase on location in Sardinia, he drove a Lotus Esprit at high speed on country roads but was told that whatever he did, he must not scratch or bump the car as it had to go back to the Lotus factory.
For the next 12 years he was James Bond in all the more scary moments in the Bond films, as well as working on Indiana Jonesand on various television series.
He was not unscathed by this challenging lifestyle - his neck was broken while doubling for Albert Finney in Scrooge, and in the making of Octopussy he was seriously injured. He was being filmed by a helicopter as he climbed down from the roof of a moving train while looking through the carriage windows. The stunt co-ordinators had not realised there was a solid wall parallel to part of the track.
He crashed into the wall, and though he could see the bone through a gash in his thigh, he hung on to the train until it stopped. He spent many months in hospital fearing he would not be able to work again, but two years later he was performing stunts on the Eiffel Tower and the Golden Gate bridge.
A most unassuming man, though he appeared in at least 73 films, Martin Grace died in Spain after a cycling accident. He is survived by his daughter Anna.
Martin Ryan Grace, born September 12th, 1942, died January 27th, 2010