View Full Version : pilot actors....
Aileron Roll
1st Mar 2004, 13:54
With the Academy Awards just out for the year, who do you think has acted as a pilot very well, or quite bad !
A couple that come to mind....... (good)
Sam Sheppard who played Chuck Yeager in the Right Stuff (I think he got an Oscar for this)
Robert Redford in The Great Waldo Pepper
Tom Selleck in High Road To China
...and all the guys in Piece Of Cake did quite well from memory !
witchdoctor
1st Mar 2004, 18:18
The guy who played Stryker in the Airplane movies - most convincing pilot I've ever seen!:} (Although I've never seen any of the lads miss their mouth with a drink!!!).;)
Brilliantly observed movie.
Iron City
1st Mar 2004, 21:58
John Wayne. "Flying Leathernecks" "High and the Mighty" "Flying Tigers"
Bud Abbot and Lou Costello "Pair of Aces"
Think that hits the high and low points.
BEXIL160
2nd Mar 2004, 00:41
Jimmy Stewart ....Twice
1) The Spirit of St. Louis
and
2) Flight of the Phoenix
Oh, and he was an operational (and instuctor) pilot on the B17 for real
One of my Heros
Rgds BEX:ok:
Philip Whiteman
2nd Mar 2004, 01:29
Steve McQueen in The War Lover
Not sure if he was pilot qualified at the time they shot the film - or at least the flying parts of the film - at Bovington aerodrome. However, he is seen checking the turbocharger impellers for free rotation in prefilighting the Fort one scene and, despite the usual trembling yoke stuff (no doubt demanded by the director) he looked like a pilot.
Great lines from the film, as the McQueen/Robert Wagner B-17 climbs out of cloud:
Wagner (P2): "Look at that beautiful dawn, Buzz"
McQ (P1): "Dawns are for copilots..."
Simtech
2nd Mar 2004, 01:34
Kenneth More as Douglas Bader.
Bexil, I thought that James Stewart did his operational flying on B-24s?
willbav8r
2nd Mar 2004, 01:38
I believe Steve McQueen flew his Stearman out of Santa Paula in California....
All the actors in Dambusters get my vote.
MLS-12D
2nd Mar 2004, 07:35
It appears that Simtech is correct: see here (http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/wwii/js.htm) and here (http://www.af.mil/news/airman/1097/airmai11.htm). Stewart was a B-17 instructor in the 'States, though.
I agree that Kenneth Moore and Steve McQueen were both great.
Cliff Robertson is such a pro-aviation actor-pilot that I'd like to give him an honourable mention, although his acting style has always seemed wooden to me.
pigboat
2nd Mar 2004, 10:21
Cliff Robertson used to own a Spit.
There's John Travolta, of course with a couple of aircraft including a Boeing 720 and a GII, and Harrison Ford owns a Beaver and a helicopter among other aircraft.
Woomera
2nd Mar 2004, 13:15
Not forgetting a real pilot who built his own aircraft (and airline), Howard Hughes! :O
Iron City
2nd Mar 2004, 21:26
And he built Jane Russel's bra. Talk about engineeing!
and of course Martin Shaw owns a Stearman....
pigboat
4th Mar 2004, 10:28
IC, I thought that was an early project of Bechtel Engineering.;)
Lu Zuckerman
4th Mar 2004, 11:26
To: Iron City & Pigboat
Speaking of Jane Russel I used to see her walking her dog(s) when I was on my way to high school. At the time she was married to Bob Waterfield of the Cleveland Rams.
:E :E Childhood fantasy :hmm:
Lukeafb1
4th Mar 2004, 19:28
MLS-12D,
Prepared to be proved wrong here. But I seem to remember reading somewhere, that Cliff Robertson was a qualified captain on 707s and occasionally flew for a U.S. airline when he wasn't making a film.
MLS-12D
5th Mar 2004, 06:27
Luke,
That's the first I've heard of it, but you could be correct.
Just a thought: are you perhaps confusing him with John Travolta (who definitely flies his own 707 and is an honourary captain for Qantas: see here (http://www.707sim.com/jt2.html)).
Cheers,
MLS-12D
treadigraph
5th Mar 2004, 08:52
Nicholas Lyndhurst (Rodney Trotter) and Derek Griffiths (Playschool)
Also one of the Lady Weather Forecasters... Helen Young?
atb1943
6th Mar 2004, 22:20
I've jotted down:
Christopher Reeve (once upon a time)
Treat Williams
Patrick Swayze
Tom Cruise (ha)
John Denver (most promising new actor 1977)
and I may not forget
Sheila Scott
cheers
atb1943
BEagle
6th Mar 2004, 22:53
Holly Hunter wriggling her little jeans-clad bum into a B-26 in 'Always'......
Sir George Cayley
7th Mar 2004, 04:41
Thanks!
Holly Hunter .......phwooor
B26 .......double phwooor
Sir George Cayley
Human Factor
7th Mar 2004, 05:47
Helen Young (weather lady) is married to a BA pilot.
Also, mention of Sam Shepherd in The Right Stuff brought to mind Chuck Yeager in a cameo role as 'Fred' in the same film.
Aileron Roll
8th Mar 2004, 14:03
Human Factor, I have this film on DVD somewhere, who was 'Fred" ?
BEagle
8th Mar 2004, 22:27
'Fred' was the old-timer who hung out in Pancho's bar. He gives a wry smile when the visiting 'suits' make a derogatory comment about 'Yeager'! I think that his only line in the movie was to offer one of them a whisky?
Lukeafb1
9th Mar 2004, 00:27
MLS-12D,
No, I'm not confusing him with Travolta.
I seem to remember probably 10 years (or more) ago, that there was something in one of the TV schedule mags (probably TV Times) at the time when one of his old aviation films was on.
Don't remember the title of the film, but he played a 707 captain. I'm sure that the blurb mentioned that he flew the same type of aircraft for American Airlines or TWA, in his "spare time".
Volume
9th Mar 2004, 14:16
John Travolta in ´Look who´s talking´
Humphrey Bogard in ´Chain Lightning´
(I love that quote, when he, playing a test pilot, says to his boss something like "Then it was OK to build planes which had flaws, it was war time. But today there is no excuse for building a plane which is not perfect !" He should tell this today´s plane manufacturers :} )
Bud Spencer in ´All the way boys´
Simtech
9th Mar 2004, 14:40
On a lighter note, Peter Graves as Captain Clarence Oveur in "Airplane!"
"We have our clearance, Clarence"
"Roger, Roger. What's our vector, Victor?"
"Huh?!"
:E
Fris B. Fairing
11th Mar 2004, 10:51
I always used to enjoy Glenn Ford in "Fate is the Hunter".
Then there was that jet powered DC-6!
Extend the thread to include air traffic controllers and Lloyd Bridges wins hands down for "Flying High/Airplane"
max roll rate
15th Mar 2004, 08:38
what about David Carradine in cloud dancer , i have been trying to find out if he did do some of the flying in the film , maybe someone here might know ?
Aileron Roll
15th Mar 2004, 10:28
CLOUD DANCER !
Yep great film, must be some of the best Pitts flying on film... iv used it to show students about rate of turn where the Piper Arrow (i think) was out turning the Mustang.
I don t think Carrodine did the flying himself, but spent afew hours getting "rung out" in the back cockpit. There was a good article about how they did it in an American Flying Magazine years ago, ill see if I can find it and will scan you a copy !
Michael Dorn, who plays 'Worf' in Star Trek owns and flies a Lockheed Jetstar and a T-33 and used to own an F-86
ShyTorque
15th Mar 2004, 21:52
Mel Gibson, as a flying boat pilot in "Tales of the Golden Monkey" was unbeatable (his co-pilot, a Jack Russell terrier with an eye-patch, was even better. He could bark once for yes and twice for no).
For example, in one episode, flying out of sight of land, somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Gibson was asked over the radio for his position. He looked out of the window at the waves and gave a lat and long!! Now that takes some doing. :hmm:
jetjackel
16th Mar 2004, 06:59
Cliff Robertsons protrayal of the DC8 Captain with the drinking problem is well done in "The Pilot", with good cockpit and flying sequences on the "8".
Rod Taylor also did a good movie called "The Hell With Heroes", about post WW 2 guys flying overseas with surplus DC3 etc. Not bad. Claudia Cardinale added to it.
Best all time is John Wayne in "The High and the Mighty", his character having been displaced with failed airlines etc and at the end of his career. Even includes P.A.C.E. situation.
Lu Zuckerman
16th Mar 2004, 14:38
To: ShyTorque
The pilot of the Grumman Goose was not Mel Gibson. For the life of me I can't remember the actors name but it wasn't Mel Gibson.
Steven something or another comes to mind.
:E :E
Stephen Collins was the lead in Tales of the Golden Monkey
For Goose fans, go to The Gneech's Goose Page (http://members.aol.com/thegneech/goose.htm) which has a lot of (old but) valuable info, including links to other Goose and Golden Monkey stuff.
fernytickles
17th Mar 2004, 02:14
Harrison Ford was recently announced as the chairman of EAA's Young Eagles: www.youngeagles.org
Eric Mc
18th Mar 2004, 21:53
Jimmy Stewart also acted as a pilot in "Strategic Air Command".
Homer Simpson gets to fly (and crash) a Wright Flyer in an episode of "The Simpsons".
Brian Marshall in "Buccaneer".
Roy Marsden in "Airline".
Mike Pratt in "The Brothers".
Robert Conrad in "Baa Baa Black Sheep".
Rock Hudson in "A Gathering of Eagles".
James Garner in "The Great Escape".
corsair
19th Mar 2004, 01:54
I read the other day that Jimmy Stewart once flew a B52 on a bombing mission over Vietnam as a Brigadier General. He 'flew' the B36 and B47 in 'Strategic Air Command' too. I wonder did he do that in real life?
Anyone remember 'Spencer's pilots''. A hokey TV series in the Seventies, I think. Some good flying in it I seem to remember. Probably Art Scholl. I was a bit young to remember the details.
Eric Mc
19th Mar 2004, 07:47
I remember "Spencer's Pilots" - a sort of airborne "Starsky & Hutch" from around 1977/78.
A Catalina featured quite regularly in it.
Other actor/pilots:
Clark Gable - "Test Pilot"
Dean Martin - "Airport"
Charlton Heston - "Airport '75"
There was also an American children's animated series made around 1970/71 called "Dusty and the Skyhawks". It wasn't that bad actually, the drawings were realistic as were the planes (very similar in style to today's "King of the Hill"). The aircraft were usually well drawn and accurate "modern" general aviation types- such as the Cessna 172 Skyhawk from which the programme got its name
Chimbu chuckles
19th Mar 2004, 09:23
Yes Jimmy Stewart was command rated on the early boeing jet bombers. After active service as a bomber pilot with the 8th in Europe he remained active reserve and flew the B36 and B47....and I have read somewhere that he did fly some missions over VN in a Buff....amazing character.
Chuck.
EricMc: It was Sideshow Bob who stole a Wright Flyer, although Homer did once masquerade as a pilot to driink, got volunteered to a flight and wound up retracting the undercarriage while stationary... D'oh!
Eric Mc
19th Mar 2004, 10:40
Of course you're correct. And he crashed it too from what I remember. Therefore, we should be adding Kelsey Grammar (Spl?)to the list.
Boss Raptor
19th Mar 2004, 13:15
Always - Hi Y'all Holly has been mentioned - but Richard Dreyfuss and John Goodman reminded me of me and another bloke I used to instruct with, in that order...
max roll rate
19th Mar 2004, 20:22
Always: what a top film ,has to be one of the best openings in any flying film , great flying and great humor
rubbersidedown
20th Mar 2004, 03:17
Regarding Jimmy Stewart,
An aviation magazin in early 90's had a more detailed story about his flight experience. If my poor brain remember it right, PIC in B-24 in combat, SIC B-17 non combat, PIC B-47 in early 50's but never in B-36 (but did of course get some stick time during shooting of SAC). His B-52 flight in Nam was mentioned, it was a one time only as a non duty crewmember!
Lukeafb1
23rd Mar 2004, 11:11
I suppose you could add Jerry Lewis in "The Family Jewels". A shortish vignette, about a strange looking character who flew a group of harpies to Vegas in a tri-motor.