RIP David Lea

 

Batman stuntman Dave Lea dead at 67: Hollywood staple worked with Michael Keaton, Mickey Rourke and Sylvester Stallone during his over 40-year career

 

Daily Mail

By Alesia Stanford

August 11, 2022

 

One of Hollywood's most successful stuntmen has died.

Dave Lea, who worked as a stunt double for Michael Keaton on Batman and Batman Returns passed away Saturday. He was 67-years-old.

A posting on his Facebook page read, 'It is with deep sorrow, that we announce the passing of Dave Lea on 6th August 2022 at (5:55 pm) following a short illness.

'He passed on surrounded by his loved ones. Your kind words and wishes are appreciated at this time. Dave, you were a fighter to the end. R.I.P'

Although the post calls his death the result of a short illness, TMZ has quoted a source who said the cause of death was cancer. 

According to the biography posted on DaveLea.com, the hardworking actor began studying martial arts when in his early teens and he traveled the world to learn from masters such as Dan Inosanto who trained under Bruce Lee, and Joseph Cheng of Wing Chun fame.

He also studied with Grand Master Leong Swee Lun of Shaolin 5 Animals in Malaysia.

The London born artist's goal was to work in television and film and to that end he got a recurring role on the long running UK drama EastEnders, without ever having taken an acting class.

He soon got the opportunity to audition for Keaton's stunt double in 1989's Batman.

 He was hired to work with Keaton again in the 1992 film Batman Returns, and with Val Kilmer as the caped crusader in the Batman Forever. He provided uncredited stunts for Batman and Robin with George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Chris O'Donnell.

Lea made his first on-screen appearance as an actor in Tango And Cash as Sonny.

The film starred Kurt Russell and Sylvester Stallone, and in addition to his on-screen presence, Lea was hired to train, choreograph and fight Stallone.

The film was panned by critics, but an award for Best Fight Sequence put the multitalented trainer on the map.

He continued to work regularly for the next 30 years training stars such as Ben Affleck, Tom Cruise, Sandra Bullock, Michelle Pfeiffer and many others.

Lea also studied dance.

On making action scenes look realistic, the in-demand teacher explained, 'Action is like dancing! Turn the music on and dance. The best action moves are the ones that simply appear in the choreography. You don’t look for them, you feel them.'

The dedicated actor and trainer kept working until the end, working as a stunt double for Mickey Rourke in Commando, and as a stunt coordinator for the upcoming Everything Will Be Fine in the End.

LEA, David

Born: 1955 – London, England, U.K.

Died: 8/6/2022, U.S.A.

 

David Lea’s westerns – stunts, actor:

Almost Heroes – 1998 [stunts]

Wild Wild West – 1999 [stunts]

The Outlaw Johnny Black – 2022 (cowboy) [stunts]