Grant Page: Legendary Aussie stuntman and star of Stunt Rock dead at 85

If you want to see a wild midnight movie, there’s a little-known Australian movie called Stunt Rock, which might blow your mind. In it, an Australian stuntman named Grant Page (playing himself) visits Los Angeles to do stunts for a TV show and hooks up with a heavy metal band named Sorcery (the band is like KISS if they also did magic). It has many fans, including Eli Roth, who used one of Sorcery’s songs in his Death Wish remake and is prominently featured in an incredible documentary about Australian exploitation films (Ozploitation) called Not Quite Hollywood.

More than anything, this documentary was a loving tribute to Page, who did incredible stunts for almost every cool action film shot in Australia over the last fifty years, including Mad Max, and Road Games (in which he played the mostly unseen villain). Sadly, Mark Hartley, the director of Not Quite Hollywood, broke the news via his Facebook page that Page has passed away at the ripe old age of 85.

“Very sad day with the passing of superstar stuntman and Stud Cola spokesman GRANT PAGE. With charisma to burn and an unforced easy going charm, on screen and off he was the quintessential Aussie male.  Grant happily set himself on fire at the world premiere of my documentary NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD. I sincerely hope that his profile in that film captured (and celebrated) his larrikin can-do fearlessness. I was lucky enough to work with Grant on my next film PATRICK and I was incredibly honoured when he asked me to write a forward to his autobiography. The jaw-dropping (and bone crunching) work he leaves behind in a number of bonafide Oz classics (including MAD MAX, ROADGAMES and THE MAN FROM HONG KONG) should cement his legacy as not just our premiere stuntman, but as an antipodean icon.”

Indeed, Page achieved almost mythical status in the stunt community, famous for his fire effects. Seemingly no stunt was out of the question for Page. If you watch Not Quite Hollywood, some of the more famous talking heads like George Lazenby (who Page doubled in the awesome Man from Hong Kong), Stacy Keach (his nemesis in Road Games), and Quentin Tarantino speak of him with a lot of admiration. Despite his advancing years, Page stayed active in the industry until recently, with him working on Gods of Egypt and Mechanic: Resurrection. In a community that rarely gets the recognition they deserve (give them an Oscar category already), Page was a legend.