DICKEY BEER

 

Dickey Beer, born in Oegstgeest in Zuid-Holland of the Netherlands on September 16, 1959, has been living in Los Angeles in America since 1996 and provided stunts for films such as 'A Bridge Too Far ', 'An American Werewolf in London', 'Star Wars Episode 6: Return of the Jedi', ‘Superman 3', ‘Curl', 'Never Say Never Again', 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom', 'Top Secret!', 'Supergirl', 'Dune' from 1984, 'Dance with a Stranger’, ‘Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend’, ‘Lifeforce’, ‘Tai-Pan’, ‘Empire of the Sun’, ‘Rambo 3’, ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’, ‘Henry V’, ‘Total Recall', 'Air America', 'Cover-Up', 'Double Impact', 'Rob Roy', 'Daylight', 'Tomorrow Never Dies', 'The Avengers', 'Entrapment', 'Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines', 'Pineapple Express', 'The Stepfather' from 2009, 'Black Water Transit', 'Pete Smalls Is Dead', 'The Bourne Legacy', 'Seven Psychopats', 'Need for Speed‘, ‘Nightcrawler’, ‘xXx: Return of Xander Cage’ and ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’, the TV movie ‘Ivanhoe’ and the mini series ‘Hold the Dream’. In 1979, Dickey was a stunt director of the Indian film ‘The Great Gambler’. He has been a stunt coordinator since 1982, for films such as 'A Time to Die', 'The Little Drummer Girl', 'Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend', 'A View to a Kill', 'Wings of Fame', 'Do Not Disturb’, ‘Into the Sun’, ‘Today You Die’, ‘Black Dawn’, ‘Mercenary for Justice’, ‘Shadow Men’, ‘Flight of Fury’, ‘Urban Justice’, ‘Pistol Whipped’, ‘Against the Dark’, ‘The Keeper’, ‘The Lost Tribe’, ‘Bear’, ‘Death Race 2’, ‘Wolf Town’, ‘Welcome to the Punch’, ‘A Perfect Man’ and ‘The Condemned 2’ and the TV movies ‘The Last Days of Patton’, 'Remember' and 'Lightspeed’. Dickey was also the stunt coordinator of the short film ‘Devil’s Creek’ and a number of episodes in the TV series "ER" and "Inhumans”. He was a stunt arranger in 1984 for an episode of the TV series "Traveling Man”. In 1985, Dickey was the action arranger for the film ‘Wild Geese 2’. He was a stunt double in 1987 for the movie ‘Caught’, in 1990 he was the stunt double of Robert Downey Jr. in the film ‘Air America’ and in 2013 with the movie ‘Bad Words’, for the actor Philip Baker Hall. In 1993, Dickey was the stunt rigger in the movie ‘Cliffhanger’. From 1993 to 2009 he was second unit director for the movies ‘Into the Sun’, ‘Today You Die’, ‘Mercenary for Justice’, ‘Shadow Man’, ‘Attack Force’, ‘Flight of Fury’, ‘Urban Justice’, ‘Pistol Whipped’, ‘Against the Dark’, ‘The Keeper’, ‘The Marine 2’ and ‘The Lost Tribe’ and the TV movies ‘Remember’, ‘Durango’ and ‘Lightspeed’. In 1997, Dickey was a stunt supervisor of the movies ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ and in 2010 at the movie ‘Death Race 2’. In the same year he was assistant stunt coordinator for the movie ‘Starship Troopers’ and in 1998 for the movie ‘Black Dog’. Between 2002 and 2017, Dickey was a stunt driver for the movies ‘Hancock', 'Beyond a Reasonable Doubt', 'Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon', 'Born to Race', 'The Bourne Legacy', 'Need for Speed', 'Horrible Bosses 2' and  xXx: Return of Xander Cage' and the TV series “Stan the Man”. In 2007 he was a stunt advisor for the movie ‘Brutal’. In 2008 Dickey was a executive-producer at the movie ‘Drifter’ and an co-producer in 2010 at the movie ‘Bear’. He himself appeared with roles in the movies ‘Star Wars Episode 6: Return of the Jedi', 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom', 'Tai-Pan' and 'Cutthroat Island', the TV movie 'Remember' and with a guest role in the TV series "Streetwise". Perry from Moov.nl was given the opportunity to interview Dickey Beer for his website during his quick visit to the Netherlands.

 

001.You provide stunts (‘A Bridge Too Far’ from 1977), you are a stunt coordinator (‘Welcome to the Punch’ from 2013), has experience as a

       stunt double (‘Bad Worlds’ from 2013), second unit director (‘The Marine 2’ from 2009) and (executive) producer (‘Drifter’ from 2008). If you

       have to make a choice from all your activities that you prefer what would this be?

       I cannot make a choice here. I really enjoy doing it all. Thereby I am also in the luxury position that I do not have to make a choice.

002.If you watch a movie at home and have to make a choice from the following series which you have worked on yourself, what will this be:

       ‘Stars Wars’, ‘Superman’, ‘James Bond’, ‘Indiana Jones’, ‘Terminator’ or ‘Transformers’?

       In that case I would go for the ‘Indiana Jones’ movie series. I myself have in 1984 contributed to ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ and in 1989

       to ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’. My choice stands out because with these movies the best memories have arisen.

003.You have also acted in a number of projects yourself. How did this come about?

       The fact that I have seen myself acting in a number of projects is because it is all about work as a Stunt Performer. The last time I was shown acting

       was in the movie ‘Cutthroad Island’ from 1995, so 24 years ago. However, I do not exclude that I am in the future acting again. Everything is possible

       in that regard.

004.At what point in your career are you so far the most proud and/or do you keep the best memories?

       I don't have a preference. Every project has its own memories. For the movies ‘The Bourne Legacy’, ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’ and

       ‘Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines’ I was nominated for a stunt work prize in a group context. I personally find those prices totally unimportant.

005.In the meantime you have worked together with Roel Reiné 9 times, 3 times with Steven Spielberg and 2 times with Paul Verhoeven. Can

       you explain what it is like working together with this gentlemen?

       Every person is different and that also applies to these gentlemen. That I already have worked 9 times with Roel together, does not automatically

       mean that with a new production I accessed directly through him. This is different for each project. One time I am approached by the production

       company and the other times directly.

006.There is a fixed stunt team in some countries. How is this for you?

       I put my team together for each project. For example for a movie that contains horses, such as ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ and ‘Indiana

       Jones and the Last Crusade’ I go for riders. While at a movie about car racing such as ‘Death Race 2’ I goes for car drivers.

007.What can we expect from you in the area of showbiz in the future?

       There are some things in the planning, but unfortunately I am not allowed to say anything about this.

 

For more information about Dickey Beer, visit http://www.dickeybeer.com/Home.html.

For the Dickey Beer showreel, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p1HqM6iewQ.

 

Photographer: Ye Rin Mok

 

Interview: Perry Krootjes