Raymond Austin (5 December 1932 – 17 May 2023) was a British television and film director, television writer and producer, and stunt performer and actor who worked in both the United Kingdom and the United States.
Life and career
Austin was born in London on 5 December 1932. He started his career as a stunt performer on such films as ''
North by Northwest
''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 American spy thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason. The original screenplay written by Ernest Lehman was intended to be the basis for ...
'' (1959) and ''
Spartacus
Spartacus (; ) was a Thracians, Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the Slavery in ancient Rome, escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major Slave rebellion, slave uprising against the Roman Republic.
Historical accounts o ...
'' (1960). From 1965 to 1967 he served as
stunt coordinator
A stunt coordinator, usually an experienced stunt performer, is hired by a TV, film or theatre director or production company for casting stunt performers. Their job is to arrange the casting (stunt players and stunt doubles) and performance of s ...
The Champions
''The Champions'' is a British espionage thriller/science fiction/occult detective fiction adventure television series. It was produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company, and consists of 30 episodes broadcast in the UK on ...
'' he initially became involved as a
second unit director
A second unit is a discrete team of filmmakers tasked with filming shots or sequences of a production, separate from the main or "first" unit. The second unit will often shoot simultaneously with the other unit or units, allowing the filming s ...
, subsequently rising to the position of full director.
His work as a television director included episodes of '' The Avengers'' (1968), ''
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'' is a British private detective television series, starring Mike Pratt (actor), Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope respectively as the private detectives Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk. The series was created by Denn ...
'' (1969–70), '' Space: 1999'' (1975–76), 4 episodes of ''
Vega$
''Vegas'' (stylized as ''Vega$'') is an American crime drama television series starring Robert Urich that aired on ABC from September 20, 1978, to June 3, 1981, with the pilot episode airing April 25, 1978. ''Vegas'' was produced by Aaron Spel ...
'','' The New Avengers'' (1976–77), and '' V'' (1984). He directed 50 of the 88 episodes of the series ''
Zorro
Zorro ( or , Spanish for "fox") is a fictional character created in 1919 by American Pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashin ...
'', which was filmed in
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
between 1989 and 1992 for the American
ABC Family
American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...
channel. He had also directed some made-for-TV films, including ''
The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.
''The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair'' is a 1983 American made-for-television action-adventure film based on the 1964–1968 television series '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' starring Robert Vaughn and David McCall ...
'' (1983), and some
feature film
A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...
Virgin Witch
''Virgin Witch'' is a British horror sexploitation film directed by Ray Austin and starring Ann and Vicki Michelle, Patricia Haines and Neil Hallett. A prospective model and her sister join a coven of white wizards.
The film was shot in ...
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...
states that "In 1965, Dame
Diana Rigg
Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg (20 July 1938 – 10 September 2020) was an English actress of stage and screen. Her roles include Emma Peel in the TV series ''The Avengers (TV series), The Avengers'' (1965–1968); Countess Tracy Bond, Teresa di ...
(UK) became the first western actress to perform
kung fu
Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...
on Television when the combat choreographers Ray Austin (UK) and Chee Soo (UK/China) worked elements of the martial art into her fight scenes on '' The Avengers''. Certificate presentation was done on '' The New Paul O'Grady Show''."
Personal life and death
In 1976, Austin married actress Yasuko Nagazumi, who performed in some of the series he worked on, notably '' Space: 1999''. His step-daughter,
Miki Berenyi
Miki Eleonora Berenyi (born 18 March 1967) is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known as a member of the alternative rock band Lush and currently a member of Piroshka and the Miki Berenyi Trio.
Biography
Early life
Beren ...
of the band Lush, describes her relationship with him in part 1 of her memoir ''Fingers Crossed''. He later divorced Nagazumi and married British producer and writer Wendy DeVere Knight-Wilton in 1984; they later lived in Earlysville, Virginia, US.
Austin died at his home in Virginia on 17 May 2023, at the age of 90.
Television
Stunts
* ''
Highway Patrol
A highway patrol is a police unit, detail, or law enforcement agency created primarily for the purpose of overseeing and enforcing traffic safety compliance on roads and highways within a jurisdiction. They are also referred to in many countri ...
North by Northwest
''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 American spy thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason. The original screenplay written by Ernest Lehman was intended to be the basis for ...
Spartacus
Spartacus (; ) was a Thracians, Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the Slavery in ancient Rome, escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major Slave rebellion, slave uprising against the Roman Republic.
Historical accounts o ...
Have Gun – Will Travel
''Have Gun – Will Travel'' is an American Westerns on television, Western television series that was produced and originally broadcast by CBS on both television and radio from 1957 through 1963. The television version of the series starring Ri ...
'', 1957–63 (performer)
* ''
Peter Gunn
''Peter Gunn'' is an American detective fiction, private eye television series, starring Craig Stevens (actor), Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn with Lola Albright as his girlfriend, lounge singer Edie Hart. The series was broadcast by NBC from Sept ...
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
''Saturday Night and Sunday Morning'' is the first novel by British author Alan Sillitoe and won the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award.
It was adapted by Sillitoe into the 1960 film of the same name starring Albert Finney, directed by ...
Tarzan
Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer.
Creat ...
'', 1963 (stunt performer)
* ''
Tom Jones
Tom Jones may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer
*Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist
*''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...
'', 1963 (stunt arranger)
* ''
Cleopatra
Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...
'', 1963 (stunt arranger)
* ''
The Dirty Dozen
''The Dirty Dozen'' is a 1967 war film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Lee Marvin, with an ensemble supporting cast including Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Ralph Meeker, ...
'', 1967 (stunt performer)
* '' The Avengers'' (arranger)
Tom Jones
Tom Jones may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer
*Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist
*''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...
The Champions
''The Champions'' is a British espionage thriller/science fiction/occult detective fiction adventure television series. It was produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company, and consists of 30 episodes broadcast in the UK on ...
'', 1968
* ''
Journey to the Unknown
''Journey to the Unknown'' is a British anthology television series, produced by Hammer Film Productions and 20th Century Fox Television. It aired on ABC from September 26, 1968, to January 30, 1969.The Ugliest Girl in Town'', 1968–69
* '' Department S'', 1969 (4 episodes)
* ''
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'' is a British private detective television series, starring Mike Pratt (actor), Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope respectively as the private detectives Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk. The series was created by Denn ...
Shirley's World
''Shirley's World'' is a television series aired first by ABC during the 1971–72 television season. The sitcom was co-produced by the British ITC Entertainment and American producer Sheldon Leonard, with English producer-director Ray Au ...
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries
''The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries'' (re-titled ''The Hardy Boys'' for season three) is an American television mystery series based on the '' Hardy Boys'' and ''Nancy Drew'' juvenile novels. The series, which ran from January 30, 1977, to Ja ...
Barnaby Jones
''Barnaby Jones'' is an American detective fiction, detective television series starring Buddy Ebsen as a formerly retired investigator and Lee Meriwether as his widowed daughter-in-law. They run a private detective firm in Los Angeles, Califor ...
'', 1978 (1 episode)
* ''
Sword of Justice
A sword of justice is a ceremonial sword that is used to signify a monarch's supreme judicial power. In some cases, this may have been an executioner's sword that was no longer used for executions, becoming instead a ceremonial one.
The Crown ...
'', 1978 (2 episodes)
* ''
Vega$
''Vegas'' (stylized as ''Vega$'') is an American crime drama television series starring Robert Urich that aired on ABC from September 20, 1978, to June 3, 1981, with the pilot episode airing April 25, 1978. ''Vegas'' was produced by Aaron Spel ...
'', 1978–81
* ''
Salvage 1
''Salvage 1'' is an American science fiction series that was broadcast for 16 episodes (of the 20 produced) on ABC during 1979. The series was based on the pilot film, ''Salvage'', broadcast in early 1979.
Premise
Salvage operator Harry Broder ...
Hart to Hart
''Hart to Hart'' is an American mystery television series that premiered on August 25, 1979, on ABC. The show stars Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, respectively, a wealthy couple who lead a glamorous jetset ...
'', 1979–80, 1984 (5 episodes)
* ''
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...
'', 1979
* ''
From Here to Eternity
''From Here to Eternity'' is a 1953 American romantic Drama (film and television)#War drama, war drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann and written by Daniel Taradash, based on the 1951 From Here to Eternity (novel), novel of the same name by J ...
'', 1980
* ''
The Love Boat
''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Wilford Lloyd Baumes that originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1977, to May 24, 1986. In addition, three TV movies aired before the regular series pre ...
Simon & Simon
''Simon & Simon'' is an American crime drama television series that originally ran from November 24, 1981, to September 16, 1989. The series was broadcast on CBS, and starred Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker as two disparate brothers who ope ...
'', 1982 (2 episodes)
* ''
Tales of the Gold Monkey
''Tales of the Gold Monkey'' is an American adventure drama television series broadcast in prime time on Wednesday nights by ABC from September 22, 1982, to June 1, 1983. Debuting the year following the release of ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'', ...
'', 1982 (
pilot episode
A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...
)
* ''
The Mississippi
The Mississippi River is the primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota ...
'', 1983–84
* ''
The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.
''The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair'' is a 1983 American made-for-television action-adventure film based on the 1964–1968 television series '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' starring Robert Vaughn and David McCall ...
Airwolf
''Airwolf'' is an American action military drama television series. It centers on a high-technology attack helicopter, code-named '' Airwolf'', and its crew. They undertake various exotic missions, many involving espionage, with a Cold War the ...
'', 1984 (1 episode)
* ''
The Fall Guy
''The Fall Guy'' is an American action-adventure television series produced for ABC and originally broadcast from November 4, 1981, to May 2, 1986. It stars Lee Majors, Douglas Barr, and Heather Thomas as Hollywood stunt performers who moonl ...
Zorro
Zorro ( or , Spanish for "fox") is a fictional character created in 1919 by American Pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashin ...
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'' is a British private detective television series, starring Mike Pratt (actor), Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope respectively as the private detectives Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk. The series was created by Denn ...
Shirley's World
''Shirley's World'' is a television series aired first by ABC during the 1971–72 television season. The sitcom was co-produced by the British ITC Entertainment and American producer Sheldon Leonard, with English producer-director Ray Au ...
Hart to Hart
''Hart to Hart'' is an American mystery television series that premiered on August 25, 1979, on ABC. The show stars Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, respectively, a wealthy couple who lead a glamorous jetset ...
Airwolf
''Airwolf'' is an American action military drama television series. It centers on a high-technology attack helicopter, code-named '' Airwolf'', and its crew. They undertake various exotic missions, many involving espionage, with a Cold War the ...
Shirley's World
''Shirley's World'' is a television series aired first by ABC during the 1971–72 television season. The sitcom was co-produced by the British ITC Entertainment and American producer Sheldon Leonard, with English producer-director Ray Au ...
Zorro
Zorro ( or , Spanish for "fox") is a fictional character created in 1919 by American Pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashin ...
''
Film
Stunts
* ''
North by Northwest
''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 American spy thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason. The original screenplay written by Ernest Lehman was intended to be the basis for ...
Spartacus
Spartacus (; ) was a Thracians, Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the Slavery in ancient Rome, escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major Slave rebellion, slave uprising against the Roman Republic.
Historical accounts o ...
'', 1960 (stunt performer)
* ''
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
''Saturday Night and Sunday Morning'' is the first novel by British author Alan Sillitoe and won the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award.
It was adapted by Sillitoe into the 1960 film of the same name starring Albert Finney, directed by ...
Cleopatra
Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...
'', 1963 (stunt arranger)
* ''
Tom Jones
Tom Jones may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer
*Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist
*''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...
'', 1963 (stunt arranger)
Director
* ''
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
''Saturday Night and Sunday Morning'' is the first novel by British author Alan Sillitoe and won the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award.
It was adapted by Sillitoe into the 1960 film of the same name starring Albert Finney, directed by ...
'', 1961 (
second unit
A second unit is a discrete team of filmmakers tasked with filming shots or sequences of a production, separate from the main or "first" unit. The second unit will often shoot simultaneously with the other unit or units, allowing the filming s ...
Virgin Witch
''Virgin Witch'' is a British horror sexploitation film directed by Ray Austin and starring Ann and Vicki Michelle, Patricia Haines and Neil Hallett. A prospective model and her sister join a coven of white wizards.
The film was shot in ...