‘Halloween Night’: James Winburn, stunt double for Michael Myers, dies at 85

James Winburn, one of Hollywood’s most prolific stuntmen, died on November 19 at the age of 85. at a Los Angeles hospital, according to Deadline. Winburn was suffering a short illness, although the specific cause of his death has not been released.

Winburn has amassed more than 70 titles to his credit as a stunt double, but his most iconic role was when he got behind the mask of Michael Myers on “Halloween night” by John Carpenter. The most memorable scene of him is when Dr. Sam Loomis shot him six times and knocked him off the balcony, in what looked like certain death.

In his prolific career, Winburn has also worked as a stunt double in movies like ‘Tron’, ‘1997: Rescue in New York’ or ‘Fantastic Car’, among many other titles. In addition to voicing Tony Moran in “Halloween Night”, he has done stunts for Stan Lee, Peter O’Toole, George Hamilton, Chevy Chase, Barry Bostwick.

Winburn was a regular at horror film conventions. Monopoly Events, organizer of the convention he attended last month in the UK, posted on social media honoring him, stating that “It was a real pleasure working with James”. This November, Winburn was set to attend the Monster-Mania horror convention in the United States. The organization in charge of running the event also posted a tweet stating so “James has always enjoyed ‘Halloween Night’ fans and really enjoyed meeting everyone”and then extend condolences to his family and fans.

other facets

James Winburn not only performed complicated action scenes, but also dashed behind the cameras at the time, directing three films in the nineties: ‘Miami Beach Cops’, where he also worked as a screenwriter, ‘The Death Merchant’ and ‘Evil Altar’. Stunts aside, he has played fictional roles in several films and in the series ‘Hunter’ and ‘Cagney and Lacey’.