Australian Mad Max stunt man Grant Page has died in a car accident.
The 85-year-old screen legend was driving alone near his home in Kendall on the mid-north coast of New South Wales on Thursday when he hit a tree.
His son Leroy Page told Daily Mail Australia that ambulance and police were at the scene within minutes. No further details of the accident have been released.
Leroy, 49, described his father as a ‘legend’ and said the tragic accident came at a time when Grant was making plans for new projects.
‘He died in very high spirits and he was very motivated. He was very happy.’
World famous Australian ‘Mad Max ‘ stunt man Grant Page has died in a car accident. The 85-year-old screen legend was driving alone near his home on the mid-north coast of New South Wales on Thursday when he hit a tree. Pictured: Grant Page
Grant Page was a pioneer of Australia’s golden age of cinema in the 1970s.
His long list of credits include such action-oriented films as Mad Max (1979), Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985), The Man from Hong Kong (1975) and Roadgames (1981).
Page also had a secondary career as an actor and starred in Deathcheaters (1976) and Stunt Rock (1978).
Pictured: Grant Page in a scene from Stunt Rock (1978).
Page recently worked on George Miller’s films Three Thousand Years of Longing and the Mad Max prequel Furiosa as a stunt performer.
His long time friend and former manager Brian Trenchard-Smith posted a touching tribute to Page on his blog on Thursday.
‘Grant Page was Australia’s pioneer stunt performer and my friend for fifty-two years,’ Trenchard-Smith shared.
Pictured: A Grant Page stunt scene in Mad Max (1979).
‘I will miss him terribly. He was an inspiring man, who lived uncompromisingly.
‘Most people accept that age weighs upon us, gravity holds us down, death awaits us if we dare too much. Not necessarily, said Grant, as he successfully tampered with the laws of physics and probability.’
In the documentary film Not Quite Hollywood, Trenchard-Smith summed up Page’s extraordinary skill and daring.
‘He’s the guy you get to dodge the cars, slide down the cliff on fire, jump into the water and fight the shark.’
Known for extraordinary ability to stage eye-popping stunts with vehicles, Page was famed for a trick known as the ‘transfer’.
Page recently worked on George Miller’s films Three Thousand Years of Longing and the Mad Max prequel Furiosa (star Anja Taylor-Joy pictured) as a stunt performer
This entailed Page climbing out the window of one car into another car travelling side by side at high speed.
He was also famous for leaping off cliffs on fire and his ability to withstand being ‘hit’ by a fast moving vehicle.
Page was survived by his four sons Adrian, 52, Jeremy, 51, Leroy, 49, Gulliver, 47, ex-wife Joy and former partner Ully.
Grant was known as ‘indestructable’ in the film world.
