Dar Robinson

Dar Robinson was a legendary American stunt performer and actor. He spent thirteen years working in the motion picture industry. During this time, he broke 19 world records. He also achieved 21 "world's firsts," meaning he performed feats never before accomplished.

Robinson was known for his incredible athletic skill and his ability to innovate new safety methods. His work allowed filmmakers to capture breathtaking action on screen. He became one of the most respected names in Hollywood stunt work.

Robinson developed his physical abilities during his childhood in Los Angeles, California. His father, Jess Weston Robinson, ran a business called the Gymnastic Supply Company. Dar spent much of his time helping at the company. He became an expert on the trampoline at a very young age. In fact, he appeared on the cover of Life Magazine at age thirteen.

This early mastery of movement prepared him for a career of extreme physical challenges.

To perform his dangerous feats, Robinson often had to invent his own equipment. He created a device known as a decelerator. Traditional stunts often used large airbags to catch a falling person. However, an airbag in the frame could ruin a top-down camera shot. The decelerator used dragline cables to slow the performer down instead.

This allowed a cameraman to film a high fall from above without seeing the safety equipment on the ground. He demonstrated this technology during his fall in the film Stick. The original decelerator is preserved in Moab, Utah.

Robinson's career was defined by massive, record-breaking falls. In 1973, he performed a 100-foot jump from a cliff into a river for the film Papillon. In 1979, he set a world record by free-falling from a helicopter onto an airbag. He also performed a famous stunt involving the Grand Canyon. In that feat, he drove over the edge and used a parachute to land safely.

These moments required precise timing and immense courage.

Some of his most famous work involved massive structures. In 1982, he acted as a stunt double for Christopher Plummer in the film Highpoint. For this stunt, he performed a 700-foot free-fall from the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada. The CN Tower is the tallest free-standing structure in the world. In 1981, he fell 220 feet from the Hyatt Regency Hotel for the film Sharky's Machine. This remains the highest free-fall stunt ever performed from a building for a commercial film.

Robinson was also a pioneer in cable jumping. He returned to Toronto to attempt a world record cable jump from the CN Tower. This was for a television documentary titled The World's Most Spectacular Stuntman. An initial test with a weight equal to his own mass failed when the braking mechanism broke. However, he eventually completed the jump on August 12, 1980, despite high winds and bad weather. He was listed in the 1988 Guinness Book of Records as the highest-paid stuntman for a single stunt.

Despite the danger, Robinson was a meticulous planner. He never broke a single bone during his thirteen-year Hollywood career. Sadly, he died on November 21, 1986, while filming Million Dollar Mystery at Glen Canyon. He was riding a motorcycle when he went past a turn and off a cliff.

His death was a significant loss to the film community. His legacy lives on through the many films that honor him.

Many filmmakers chose to dedicate their work to his memory. The films Lethal Weapon and Cyclone both include dedications to Robinson. In 1988, a documentary titled The Ultimate Stuntman: A Tribute to Dar Robinson was released. This film helped ensure that his contributions to cinema would not be forgotten. He remains a central figure in the history of motion picture stunts.