Max Kleven, a Norwegian stuntman, stunt coordinator and second unit director known for his films, has died. «Our Man Flint» , «Rollerball» , «"Depth"» and trilogies «Back to the Future» . He was 92 years old.
Cleven died Wednesday of heart failure at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, his family said.
More from The Hollywood Reporter
-
«"Are you all going to rush to my defense?" Piers Morgan criticized London's SXSW festival over the speaker ban scandal.
-
The world premiere of the final episode of the Cape Fear series will take place at Fantasia Fest 2026 (exclusive)
-
A man in a wheelchair made the film he always wanted to see: "Get Up!"«
Early in his career, Cleven understudy Paul Burke in the TV series "Naked City"« on ABC and Glenn Corbett in the series "« Highway 66 »" on CBS, and in the 1970s he served as president of the Motion Picture Stuntmen's Association.
Cleven combined two roles: performing stunts and directing scenes in several films, starting with «Cotton Comes to Harlem » (1970) and its sequel «Come Back Charleston Blue» (1972), and then «Rollerball» (1975), «Silent Movie» (1976), «Batman Returns» (1992) and «The River Wild» (1994).
And as an actor who starred in television action films, he appeared in a variety of projects, from «Rescue Eight» , «"Smart smart guy"» , «Big Valley» , «"Combat action!"» и «"Invaders"» to «Batman» , «Star Trek» , «Mannix» , «Kojak» и «"Magnum, Private Detective.".
Kleven was born on August 16, 1933, in Trondheim, Norway. He spent his early years on a farm with his mother, Jenny, and cousin, Joni. As a teenager, he joined the Norwegian merchant navy and came to the United States in 1951. He says that as soon as he saw the Californian sun and palm trees, he knew he'd never want to leave.
Cleven was an experienced ski jumper in his home country, and when he was spotted gliding and soaring off the ramps in Sugarbush, Vermont, he was hired as a stuntman. According to IMDb, the first film he worked on was the Oscar-winning Best Picture film. «Around the World in 80 Days » (1956).
Kleven has performed stunts in other films as well, including «Our Man Flint» (1966), «Killer's Row» (1966), «"Who looks after the mint?"» (1967), «Charlie Varrick» (1973), «Back to the Future» (1985), «Ruthless People» (1986), «"Types"» (1995) and «Wild Wild West» (1999).
His credits as a stunt coordinator include the films "« Numbers » (1973), «Dillinger» (1973), «"Depth"» (1977), «Changeling» (1980), «Free Legs» (1984) and «Sleeping with the Enemy » (1991), and he also worked as a second unit director on films "Assault on Entebbe"« (1976), «Runaway Train» (1985), «Who Framed Roger Rabbit» (1988), «Back to the Future Part II» (1989) and Back to Future 3"» (1990), «Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves» (1991) and «Spider-Man» (2002).
He even had the chance to direct several films.
Cleven's family said one of the highlights of his career was when Steven Spielberg told him, "I'm hiring you to fix my movies." (Cleven worked with the producer on the films «Back to the Future» , «Who Framed Roger Rabbit, «Used Cars» (1980) and «What lies behind» (2000), as well as other paintings).
Surviving are his wife Luz; daughters Valli and Celine; son Eric; and grandson Hunter.
The Best of The Hollywood Reporter
-
New York City Film and TV Locations: 47 Iconic Spots Worth Visiting.
-
All Scream films, rating
-
12 Darkest Movies for That Lost Week After Christmas
Subscribe to the THR newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.