Excerpts taken from my father's autobiographical notes (from 2019)
Authored by James B. Winburn (edited for grammar by Son of Jim)
■ I learned the most important thing about being a stunt person. Respect all the stunt
people before me and all the people after me. It has been a great career working in the film
and television industry under SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television
and Radio Artists) and AGVA (American Guild of Variety Artists) contracts.
■ There are good stunt coordinators, and there are bad stunt coordinators. Good stunt
coordinators work with the stuntman or woman to get the job done, and no one gets hurt. Then
there are other stunt coordinators that got the job for kissing (ass), but who were never a
stuntman in the first place. Those are the ones you really got to look out for when you work
for them. You have to go the extra mile with your stunt ability so that no one gets hurt or
killed doing a stunt.
■ Question: How many films and television shows have you worked on in your career?
■ Answer: I started in the business in 1964. The number for non-union films is around, plus
or minus, 65. Once I got into SAG and AFTRA, the last count of contracts in my file was somewhere
around 600-plus film and television productions, not counting the live stage shows I did.
■ Question: When did you stop working?
■ Answer: I never did stop working. Even today I do conventions and lectures. I learned so
much over the years working as a stuntman that the information I have, which helped my career,
could be unique to new stunt people in their career. I love giving that information to
upcoming stuntmen. My last job was in 2017. I doubled Stan Lee as a
limousine driver in the
Marvel Hulu series,
Runaways 'Metamorphosis'. A few months later, he past away. He was
a nice man.
■ Chuck Barris, was the creator of
The Gong Show. Chuck also created the
Dating Game, followed by the
The Newlywed Game. In 1976,
The Gong Show was
a great hit. Chuck worked me on 25 shows, doing stunts in front of the camera with him as the show
cut to a commercial. In all the years that I knew Chuck Barris, he was an honest, charitable
guy. He did a lot for me in those years working for him. Every New Year, Chuck would send me a
case of Champagne made in France. Chuck Barris passed away on March 21, 2017 in Palisades, New York.
He was 87 years old.