Richard Virgil Grace (October 1, 1898 – June 25, 1965), known as Dick Grace, was an American stunt

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

who specialized in crashing planes for

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

s. Films that he appeared in include '' Sky Bride'', '' The Lost Squadron'', '' Lilac Time'', and the first

Best Picture Oscar The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards (also known as Oscars) presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the Film producer, producers ...

winner '' Wings''. He served in both

world war A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...

s, bombing

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, as a

B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...

co-pilot with the 486th Bombardment Group. After the Second World War, he operated a charter business in South America. He was married to Crystine Francis Malstrom, a stage actress who appeared in ''Abie's Irish Rose''. He was the author of several books, including ''Squadron of Death'', ''Crash Pilot'', ''I Am Still Alive,'' and ''Visibility Unlimited''. Grace sustained a serious neck injury when he fell out of the cockpit during the filming of ''Wings''. But he made a full recovery and was one of the few stunt pilots of his day who died of natural causes.Lussier, Tim (2004
"Daredevils in the Air - Three of the Greats - Wilson, Locklear and Grace"
, Silents Are Golden

Filmography

as actor

as writer

as stunt pilot

References

External links

*
Article by Dick Grace from ''Modern Mechanics Magazine''
1898 births 1965 deaths United States Army Air Service pilots of World War I American stunt performers Stunt pilots United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II {{aviation-bio-stub