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Kenny Bates

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American actor and second unit director

Kenneth W. Bates is an American stuntman, film producer, second unit director, and actor, best known for his work with Steven Spielberg, Michael Bay, and Jerry Bruckheimer.

Life and career

Bates was born in southern California and from a young age, Bates was drawn to the world of stunts, setting the stage for a career that would break boundaries and records alike.

In 1988, Bates served as the stunt double for Alan Rickman in the film Die Hard during the scene where the latter's character, Hans Gruber, falls to his death. Bates then became one of few stuntman to win an Academy Award for such a feat.

Bates next served as stunt coordinator and second unit director (uncredited) on the 2001 film Training Day for Antoine Fuqua.

In 2015, Bates founded PFA Prague Film Associates with producer Tomas Rotnagl.

He is also a frequent collaborator of Michael Bay's, having coordinating the stunts and directed second unit on almost all of his films, beginning with Bay's feature directorial debut Bad Boys and continuing all the way up to 2019 with 6 Underground. Among the films the two worked on together include the first three Transformers movies, The Rock, Armageddon, The Island, and Pearl Harbor, the latter of which won him a Taurus World Stunt Award for "Best 2nd Unit Director".

Other films Bates has directed second unit on include Bad Company, The Italian Job, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Con Air, G-Force, Babylon A.D., and Fast Getaway.

Filmography

Year Title Stunts Second unit
director 		Producer Director
1988 Rambo III Yes No No Peter MacDonald
Die Hard Yes No No John McTiernan
1989 Star Trek V: The Final Frontier Yes No No William Shatner
1990 Another 48 Hrs. Yes No No Walter Hill
Die Hard 2 Yes No No Renny Harlin
1991 Fast Getaway Yes Yes No Spiro Razatos
1992 Lethal Weapon 3 Yes No No Richard Donner
1993 Loaded Weapon 1 Yes No No Gene Quintano
1994 The Crow Yes No No Alex Proyas
On Deadly Ground Yes No No Steven Seagal
Class of 1999 II: The Substitute Yes No No Spiro Razatos
The Shadow Yes No No Russell Mulcahy
The Mask Yes No No Chuck Russell
Street Fighter Yes No No Steven E. de Souza
1995 Bad Boys Yes Yes No Michael Bay
1996 The Rock Yes Yes Associate producer
1997 Con Air Yes Yes Associate producer Simon West
1998 Armageddon Yes Yes Associate producer Michael Bay
2001 Pearl Harbor Yes Yes Associate producer
The Fast and The Furious Yes No No Rob Cohen
Training Day Yes Yes No Antoine Fuqua
2002 Changing Lanes No Yes No Roger Michell
Bad Company Yes Yes Associate producer Joel Schumacher
The Hours No Yes No Stephen Daldry
2003 The Italian Job Yes Yes No F. Gary Gray
The Movie Hero Yes No No Brad T. Gottfred
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre No Yes No Marcus Nispel
2005 The Island Yes Yes Associate producer Michael Bay
2006 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning Yes No No Jonathan Liebesman
2007 Transformers Yes Yes Co-producer Michael Bay
Rush Hour 3 Yes No No Brett Ratner
2008 Babylon A.D. Yes Yes No Mathieu Kassovitz
2009 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Yes Yes Co-producer Michael Bay
2010 G-Force Yes Yes No Hoyt Horatio Yeatman Jr.
2011 Transformers: Dark of the Moon Yes Yes Co-producer Michael Bay
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol Yes No No Brad Bird
2013 Pain and Gain Yes Yes No Michael Bay
2014 Kingsman: The Secret Service No Yes No Matthew Vaughn
2016 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi No No Co-producer Michael Bay
2018 The Catcher Was a Spy Yes Yes No Ben Lewin
2.0 Yes Yes No S. Shankar
2019 Saaho Yes Action unit director Action unit producer Sujeeth Reddy
6 Underground Yes Yes No Michael Bay
2023 Joel D. Wynkoop's 187 Times the Movie No No Yes Joel D. Wynkoop

References

  1. "Kenny Bates Personal Life, Career, Wife, Net Worth, Measurements". 12 July 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  2. "Ken Bates in Die Hard". Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  3. "Training Day - Variety". 31 August 2001. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  4. "About us - PFA Prague Film Associates". Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  5. "6 Underground: Taking "Bayhem" to the Limit". Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  6. "KENNY BATES / STUNT COORDINATOR". Los Angeles Times. 28 June 1998. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  7. "Winners and Nominees 2002 - Taurus World Stunt Awards". 31 January 2002. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  8. "An Oral History of Transformers Director Michael Bay". 27 June 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  9. "Ken Bates - Turner Classic Movies". Retrieved 31 October 2024.
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