FUNK, Thanks again on your Jack Tyree input!
Jack was a close friend while we served together as Recon Marines. In fact I was his best man in his second wedding and was asked to be his best man in his first which was held in an underwater tank on the Universal lot but I was someplace out of the country doing military stuff.
Somewhere on this computer I have a complete story about Jack's demise but here is some personal stuff that was never mentioned before.
If you've been reading the above posts about "Marines in Hollywood" you might recall that Jack got out of the Corps and moved to LA and got a job as a SCUBA instructor where he met some of the cast and crew from THE VIRGINIAN tv series.
As a result of that meeting he was invited to work at UNIVERSAL STUDIOS and then help set up an organization that would allow the studio to get involved in underwater photography for future major motion pictures. (I failed to mention this earlier.)
It's been a long while back so the following is a bit fuzzy but that 'envolvement' led to the formation of one or two stuntmen's associations .... Stunts Unlimited and Stuntmen's Association.
Jack's first wife was a stunt-lady at Universal, but they still referred to the one organization
as "Stuntmen's Association".
And the story goes that the ladies involved complained so "Stunts Unlimited" was formulated.
I can't recall those details but back in the 60's the stunt guys and gals were a real tight community and were considered to be the 'real men and real ladies' within the movie making industry. And each individual was in full support of each other.
(A couple of years back, I visited the present day office and all the stunt people in the pace were pretty damn young and knew very little about the individuals who started it all in the 60's. I mentioned Jack's name and one stuntman told me that he recalled the name and told me that the stunt business was much different today ... insinuating that a lot of back stabbing was involved at present.) It would be interesting to hear about this from any GETBIGGER who may be involved in the stunt business today.
Women's lib was not a major factor back then, but the few ladies involved worked damn hard and their work was definitely appreciated by the stuntmen as well as the actors who sat b ack while they watched 'themselves' catch on fire or jump from moving airplanes, etc., etc.
If I recall correctly, all of this was going on way before the Univertsal Theme Park was developed and that hill above the back lot was mainly used for jungle scenes and whatever type of outdoor scenes which were required by the script.
Jack was a hard worked and a likeable individual so he had a great reputation within the movie and tv making biz and eventually met a hell of a lot of higher-ups who were always interested in his wellfare.
As a result of the above Jack worked himself up to the top 10% of the guys and gals involved within the stunt business and he seemed to be working constantly. At 6'2" he even doubled for a very smaller DON ADAMS (Get Smart TV series) who did not want to fall off that collapsing bridge that you pass over today when you make that studio tour.
Jack did it and got paid good money. Actually it was simply a matter of getting wet after a very short fall which he did between scenes of another 'role'.
Jack was encourage to attend an acting school and that's where he met Goldie Hawn and they did a couple of acting scenes together as a class assignment and both agreed that whomever got a big break in the movies, would help the other.
Goldie won and kept the promise and I found Jack in some of the movies that she made.
More to follow. Anyone recall the sway backed horse in the SPIN and MARTY TV series? He was one of the stuntmen's gold-mine and retired within a green grassed corral of his own.
