Kenny Bates
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
In 1988, Bates was 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.In 2004, when Bates could not find an existing high-speed camera vehicle that could shoot dynamic, low to the ground car chase sequences, he developed and created his own, the versatile Gas Go-Kart and Electric-Kart so he could film his high-octane action sequences. He later founded PFA Prague Film Associates with producer Tomas Rotnagl.
In 2023, Bates joined the production crew of the upcoming Bollywood film NTR 30.
He is also a frequent collaborator of Michael Bay's, having directed second unit on almost all of his films, including first three Transformers movies, Bad Boys 1, The Rock, Armageddon, The Island, and Pearl Harbor, the latter of which won him a Taurus World Stunt Award for "Best 2nd Unit Director".