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Gene LeBell (1932-2022)

Alias:
Gene Le Bell

Birthplace:
Los Angeles, California, USA

Born:
October 9, 1932

Died:
August 9, 2022

Biography from TheMovieDB

Ivan Gene LeBell (born October 9, 1932) is an American martial artist, stunt performer, actor, and former professional wrestler. Nicknamed "the Godfather of Grappling", LeBell is widely credited with popularizing grappling in professional fighting circles, serving as a precursor to modern mixed martial arts. LeBell has also worked on over 1,000 films and TV shows and has authored 12 books.  In 2000, the United States Ju-Jitsu Federation (USJJF) promoted him to 9th Dan in jujitsu and taihojutsu. On August 7, 2004, the World Martial Arts Masters Association promoted LeBell to 10th Degree and in February 2005, he was promoted to 9th Dan in Traditional Judo by the USJJF.  LeBell served as an inspiration for the character of Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

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Additional information:

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Film Performances

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Film Production

Stunt Coordinator:
1967  The Happiest Millionaire
1968  Don't Just Stand There
1978  The One and Only

Stunts:
1963  4 for Texas
1965  7 Women
1966  Three on a Couch
1966  What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?
1967  The Happiest Millionaire
1968  Don't Just Stand There
1968  Planet of the Apes
1968  The Split
1970  Beneath the Planet of the Apes
1970  There Was a Crooked Man...
1972  Blacula
1972  Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
1973  Cleopatra Jones
1973  Hell Up In Harlem
1973  Walking Tall
1974  99 and 44/100% Dead
1974  Black Samson
1974  Busting
1974  California Split
1974  Earthquake
1974  Freebie and the Bean
1974  The Gambler
1974  The Towering Inferno
1975  Let's Do It Again
1975  The Day of the Locust
1976  King Kong
1976  Rocky
1976  The Big Bus
1977  Black Sunday
1978  Almost Summer
1978  Every Which Way but Loose
1978  I Wanna Hold Your Hand
1978  The Fifth Floor
1978  The One and Only
1979  Americathon
1979  The Fantastic Seven
1979  The Prize Fighter
1980  Airplane!
1980  Bronco Billy
1980  Inside Moves
1981  Smokey Bites the Dust
1982  The Beastmaster
1982  They Call Me Bruce?
1982  White Dog
1983  Heart Like a Wheel
1983  Losin' It
1984  Johnny Dangerously
1985  City Limits
1985  D.A.R.Y.L.
1985  Fletch
1985  Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
1985  Rocky IV
1985  Runaway Train
1986  A Fine Mess
1986  Eye of the Tiger
1986  The Golden Child
1986  The Morning After
1987  Blind Date
1987  Code Name: Zebra
1987  Nightforce
1987  Number One with a Bullet
1987  RoboCop
1987  The Lost Boys
1987  The Running Man
1988  Dead Heat
1988  Mac and Me
1989  Fletch Lives
1989  No Holds Barred
1989  Tango & Cash
1990  Almost an Angel
1990  Darkman
1990  Death Warrant
1990  Dick Tracy
1990  Die Hard 2
1990  Hard to Kill
1990  Internal Affairs
1990  Marked for Death
1990  Men at Work
1990  Problem Child
1990  RoboCop 2
1990  Total Recall
1991  Dutch
1991  For the Boys
1991  Hook
1991  Out for Justice
1991  The Last Boy Scout
1991  Trancers II: The Return of Jack Deth
1991  Write to Kill
1992  Army of Darkness
1992  Night and the City
1992  Patriot Games
1992  Rapid Fire
1993  C.I.A. II: Target Alexa
1993  Conflict of Interest
1994  Blown Away
1994  Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
1995  3 Ninjas Knuckle Up
1995  Ballistic
1995  Jury Duty
1995  Money Train
1995  Steel Frontier
1995  Strange Days
1995  Waterworld
1996  Independence Day
1996  Jingle All the Way
1997  As Good as It Gets
1997  Batman & Robin
1997  Bean
1997  Dante's Peak
1997  Double Tap
1997  Gone Fishin'
1997  Judge and Jury
1997  L.A. Confidential
1997  Liar Liar
1997  The Brave
1997  Trial and Error
1997  Vegas Vacation
1998  U.S. Marshals
1999  Man on the Moon
1999  Mystery Men
1999  Running Red
1999  The Hunter's Moon
2000  Dude, Where's My Car?
2000  The Extreme Adventures of Super Dave
2001  Bandits
2001  The Last Castle
2002  Deuces Wild
2003  Bruce Almighty
2004  Starsky & Hutch
2006  Beerfest
2006  Bottoms Up
2006  Smokin' Aces
2007  Reno 911!: Miami

Utility Stunts:
1963  4 for Texas
1965  7 Women
1966  Three on a Couch
1966  What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?
1967  The Happiest Millionaire
1968  Don't Just Stand There
1968  Planet of the Apes
1968  The Split
1970  Beneath the Planet of the Apes
1970  There Was a Crooked Man...
1972  Blacula
1972  Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
1973  Cleopatra Jones
1973  Hell Up In Harlem
1973  Walking Tall
1974  99 and 44/100% Dead
1974  Black Samson
1974  Busting
1974  California Split
1974  Earthquake
1974  Freebie and the Bean
1974  The Gambler
1974  The Towering Inferno
1975  Let's Do It Again
1975  The Day of the Locust
1976  King Kong
1976  Rocky
1976  The Big Bus
1977  Black Sunday
1978  Almost Summer
1978  Every Which Way but Loose
1978  I Wanna Hold Your Hand
1978  The Fifth Floor
1978  The One and Only
1979  Americathon
1979  The Fantastic Seven
1979  The Prize Fighter
1980  Airplane!
1980  Bronco Billy
1980  Inside Moves
1981  Smokey Bites the Dust
1982  The Beastmaster
1982  They Call Me Bruce?
1982  White Dog
1983  Heart Like a Wheel
1983  Losin' It
1984  Johnny Dangerously
1985  City Limits
1985  D.A.R.Y.L.
1985  Fletch
1985  Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
1985  Rocky IV
1985  Runaway Train
1986  A Fine Mess
1986  Eye of the Tiger
1986  The Golden Child
1986  The Morning After
1987  Blind Date
1987  Code Name: Zebra
1987  Nightforce
1987  Number One with a Bullet
1987  RoboCop
1987  The Lost Boys
1987  The Running Man
1988  Dead Heat
1988  Mac and Me
1989  Fletch Lives
1989  No Holds Barred
1989  Tango & Cash
1990  Almost an Angel
1990  Darkman
1990  Death Warrant
1990  Dick Tracy
1990  Die Hard 2
1990  Hard to Kill
1990  Internal Affairs
1990  Marked for Death
1990  Men at Work
1990  Problem Child
1990  RoboCop 2
1990  Total Recall
1991  Dutch
1991  For the Boys
1991  Hook
1991  Out for Justice
1991  The Last Boy Scout
1991  Trancers II: The Return of Jack Deth
1991  Write to Kill
1992  Army of Darkness
1992  Night and the City
1992  Patriot Games
1992  Rapid Fire
1993  C.I.A. II: Target Alexa
1993  Conflict of Interest
1994  Blown Away
1994  Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
1995  3 Ninjas Knuckle Up
1995  Ballistic
1995  Jury Duty
1995  Money Train
1995  Steel Frontier
1995  Strange Days
1995  Waterworld
1996  Independence Day
1996  Jingle All the Way
1997  As Good as It Gets
1997  Batman & Robin
1997  Bean
1997  Dante's Peak
1997  Double Tap
1997  Gone Fishin'
1997  Judge and Jury
1997  L.A. Confidential
1997  Liar Liar
1997  The Brave
1997  Trial and Error
1997  Vegas Vacation
1998  U.S. Marshals
1999  End of Days
1999  Man on the Moon
1999  Mystery Men
1999  Running Red
1999  The Hunter's Moon
2000  Dude, Where's My Car?
2000  The Extreme Adventures of Super Dave
2001  Bandits
2001  The Last Castle
2002  Deuces Wild
2003  Bruce Almighty
2004  Starsky & Hutch
2005  Mr. & Mrs. Smith
2006  Beerfest
2006  Bottoms Up
2006  Smokin' Aces
2007  Reno 911!: Miami

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TV Performances

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About the Movie Section

Most data and links to images for the Movies section come from TheMovieDB (TMDB).

Additional data for Film Titles come from The Open Movie Database (OMDb).

At least one plug-in comes from IMDb.

Data are -- hey, it's a plural -- subject to the limitations of their sources. (For example, TMDB search results currently max out at 20.) I am limiting myself to free data sources for now. (No, a "free trial" is not free.)

While much of the above data are retrieved directly from outside APIs and other such sources, data from American Film Institute (AFI) and British Film Institute (BFI) were manually entered the old fashioned way into a MySQL database. Re BFI I took the following liberties:

  • I added "runners up" to Top 10 lists, treating them as ties where applicable and numbering them accordingly at the bottom of each list.
  • Regarding those polls wherein "franchise" movies were submitted as one project until BFI's policy changed to regard them separately, I treated them as ties and renumbered the affected lists accordingly (e.g. the Godfather films).

Regarding profile removals and data corrections:

  • If you would like your profile removed from this site, please contact the source of this data directly, TheMovieDB. My assumption is: once it's gone from their site, it should soon be gone from this site.
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  • For additional corrections and profile removals, please e-mail The Open Movie Database (OMDb).

Filtering is applied here to film projects flagged as "adult" by TheMovieDB. Pending "popular demand" I am contemplating a login and profile system with preferences (such as whether to allow adult images to appear) and permissions (such as data entry).

Whereas the overall purpose of this website is to serve as a personal demo/portfolio/workshop of web and data skills, this Movies section is not meant to compete with or substitute for far more definitive movie websites.

Whether or not he still clings to an award which he won in 1986 as a film critic for his college's newspaper, Jeffrey Hartmann is not responsible for the texts of overviews and biographies supplied by external data sources.