Max Kleven, Stuntman, Second-Unit Director on
‘Rollerball,’ ‘Batman Returns’ and ‘The River Wild,’ Dies at 92
A ski jumper from Norway, he also worked on ‘Naked City,’
‘Silent Movie,’ the ‘Back to the Future’ trilogy and ‘Robin Hood: Prince of
Thieves.’
The Hollywood Reporter
By Mike Barnes
May 4, 2026
Max Kleven, the Norwegian-born stunt performer, stunt
coordinator and second-unit director with credits including Our Man Flint,
Rollerball, The Deep and the Back to the Future trilogy, has died. He was 92.
Kleven died Wednesday of heart failure at Henry Mayo
Newhall Hospital, his family announced.
Early in his career, Kleven doubled for Paul Burke on
ABC’s Naked City and for Glenn Corbett on CBS’ Route 66, and he served as the
president of the Stuntmen’s Association of Motion Pictures in the 1970s.
Kleven did double duty performing stunts and directing
scenes on several films, starting with Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) and the
sequel Come Back Charleston Blue (1972) and followed by Rollerball (1975),
Silent Movie (1976), Batman Returns (1992) and The River Wild (1994).
And as an actor on television action series, he showed up
on everything from Rescue 8, Get Smart, The Big Valley, Combat! and The
Invaders to Batman, Star Trek, Mannix, Kojak and Magnum, P.I.
Born on Aug. 16, 1933, in Trondheim, Norway, Kleven spent
his early years on a farm with his mother, Jenny, and a cousin, Joni. He joined
the Norwegian Merchant Marine as teenager and came to the U.S. in 1951; he said
the moment he saw California’s sunshine and palm trees, he knew he never wanted
to leave.
Kleven had been an accomplished ski jumper in his home
country, and when he was spotted sliding down and flying off ramps in
Sugarbush, Vermont, he was recruited to be a stunt performer. According to
IMDb, the first movie he worked on was the Oscar best picture winner Around the
World in 80 Days (1956).
Kleven did stunts for other films including Our Man Flint
(1966), Murderers’ Row (1966), Who’s Minding the Mint? (1967), Charley Varrick
(1973), Back to the Future (1985), Ruthless People (1986), Species (1995) and
Wild Wild West (1999).
His résumé as a stunt coordinator included Book of
Numbers (1973), Dillinger (1973), The Deep (1977), The Changeling (1980),
Footloose (1984) and Sleeping With the Enemy (1991), and he was a second-unit
director on Raid on Entebbe (1976), Runaway Train (1985), Who Framed Roger
Rabbit (1988), Back to the Future Part II (1989) and Part III (1990), Robin
Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) and Spider-Man (2002).
He even got to direct a handful of films.
Kleven’s family said that one of his career highlights
came when Steven Spielberg told him, “I hire you to fix my movies.” (Kleven
worked for the producer on the Back to the Future films, Who Framed Roger
Rabbit, 1980’s Used Cars and 2000’s What Lies Beneath, among other features),
Survivors include his wife, Luz; his daughters, Valli and
Céline; his son, Erik; and his grandson, Hunter.
KLEVEN, Max (Max J. Klevin)
Born: 8/16/1933, Trondheim, Norway
Died: 6/3/2026, Newhall, California, U.S.A.
Max Kleven’s westerns – assistant director, actor,
stuntman:
The Big Valley (TV) 1965 (Dave Williams)
The Virginian (TV) 1968 (Halevey)
The Hard Man – 1957 (townsman)
Billy the Kid Versus Dracula – 1966 (Sandy Newman)
The Good Guys and the Bad Guys – 1969 [stunts]
Zandy’s Bride – 1974 [stunts]
The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox – 1976 [assistant
director]
Almost Heroes – 1998 [stunts]
Wild Wild West – 1999 [stunts]
Back to the Future III – [assistant director]
