Stunts Collection

Zazel / Human Cannonball
Zazel at the Royal Aquarium, London. " A beautiful Lady shot from a monstrous cannon." This is thought to be the earliest photograph of a human cannonball act

Stunt / Wall of Death
Wall of Death - Motorcycle rider Fearless Billy Ward riding the wall (picture also shows Dare Devil Marjory Ward )

Handley Page HP W10
A Formation of Alan Cobhams Flying Circus Flying During a National Aviation Day Flypast Date: 1930s

Stunt woman rides through flames on motorbike
Sue, 23, one of a team of stunt women, rides her motorbike through a twenty-foot long tunnel of burning hay bales. Wearing only a T-shirt and hot pants she entered the tunnel at 60 mph

The Promenade Percies
A motorcycle acrobat troupe called The Promenade Percies practise their act involving balance on a trapeze attached to the bike

Clown and Indians of the Olympia Circus, London, 1921
Illustration showing Pimpo the clown and three Red Indians performing horseback stunts in the ring of the Olympia Circus, 1921. Date: 1921

Wall of Death, 1933
WALL OF DEATH Cyclone Jack Cody rides a 1920s Indian Scout 101 on the Drome of Death at Coney Beach, Porthcawl, Wales

Avro 504K
Wing-Walking on an Avro 504K Flying over Fields Date: 1920s

Ordeal by Fire & Water
A stage magician performs a feat of being immersed in fire and water

Hawker Hunter FGA-71
Two RAF Hawker Hunters of 43 Squadron Aerobatic Team Parked Date: 1957

Giant Airship Hangars at Cardington, Bedfordshire with t?
Giant Airship Hangars at Cardington, Bedfordshire with the RAF Black Arrows Aerobatic Formation Display Team Flypast Trailing Smoke Overhead Date: 1960s

Royal Tournament Rehearsal
Life Guards rehearsing a display of bare-back horse-jumping for the Royal Tournament, to be held at Olympia the following week. Date: 1932

High Diving Horse
William Doc Carver (1851-1927) had been mounting a diving horse show since 1894. The rider in this picture is probably his daughter Lorena. Date: circa 1925

Minnie Thompson, Dallas cowgirl in New York
Minnie Thompson from Dallas, Texas, performs horse riding feats outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Central Park, New York. She had won many prizes as a trainer of unbroken horses. Date: 1910

Underwater escapologist - a boy dives into a swimming pool to help a man untie himself from a chair. (1 of 3) Date: 1967

Stunt woman rides her motorbike through a glass plate, shattering it as she speeds through. Date: circa 1970s

A stunt car flies through the air over a row of other cars, watched by spectators. Date: 1960s

A stunt car flies through the air over a bonfire of tyres, watched by spectators standing in the rain. Date: 1960s

Eddie Merton, superstitious stuntman, who always slept in a coffin on the night before a dangerous stunt. Seen here sitting up in the coffin in his hotel bedroom for his morning cup of tea. Date: 1971

Death of a stuntman, Eastbourne
Death of a stuntman at Arlington Stadium, near Eastbourne. John Bell, aged 23, was being towed behind a car on a wooden sledge when, as part of the stunt

Cyclist Vanderwoort loops the loop at the Olympia Music Hall, Paris. Date: 1903

WALL OF DEATH, 1936
WALL OF DEATH Al Johnson rides an Indian Scout 101 on the Wall of Death at Whitstable, Kent Date: 1936

Helene Dutrieu
Hlne Dutrieu (1877 - 1961), Belgian world champion cyclist, automobile racer, stunt driver, cyclist and motorcyclist and pioneer aviator

Flying the Flume at Crystal Palace 1904
French Mademoiselle Dutrien (le fleche humaine), the human arrow, performing at Crystal Palace, London. After riding down a curving track on her bicycle which falls some seventy feet

MAN SHOT FROM GUN
A human shell is seemingly shot from a cannon. In truth, he is propelled by a spring, and the explosion occurs a fraction of a second later... Date: 1884

Hawker Hunter F-6
A Formation of RAF 92 Squadron Hawker Hunter F.6S in Formation Vertical Climb with White Smoke Trails - the 1960 RAF Fighter Command Reserve Aerobatic Team Date: 1960

A Crowd of People Watching a Alan Cobhams Flying Circus?
A Crowd of People Watching a Alan Cobhams Flying Circus National Aviation Day Flypast at Dagenham, UK Date: 1930s

Handley Page HP-33 Clive 1
A Formation of Alan Cobhams National Aviation Day Flypast Aircraft Flying over a Road, Fields and Trees Date: 1930s

Curtiss JN-4D Jenny
A Curtis Jn-4D Jenny Flying Low During an Aero to Auto Transfer at a Barnstormers Flypast Date: 1930s

A Crowd of People Watching a Biplane Aircraft Flypast wi?
A Crowd of People Watching a Biplane Aircraft Flypast with a Wing-Walker Date: 1920s

Mr Robert Wyndham, a One-Armed Stunt Parachutist Jumping?
Mr Robert Wyndham, a One-Armed Stunt Parachutist Jumping from the Wing of a Bi-Plane Flying Date: 1936

Stunt woman cannonball loses her knickers
Liza Knight, an 18-year-old stunt performer from Leicester, felt quite a draught after being shot from a cannon during a rehearsal

Miss Lurline
MISS LURLINE performs in a tank at the Cirque des Champs- Elysees, Paris; she performs acrobatics and even eats, remaining underwater for two and a half minutes at a time Date: 1882

Team of stunt women posing with a stunt bicycle Date: circa 1970s

Stunt cyclists
Keiths Bicycle Track. Cyclists performing on the bicycle track on stage at Keiths Union Square Theatre, N.Y.C

Edward Reddish riding his bicycle off Worthing Pier
Edward J Reddish performs his Great Bicycle Dive off the pier at Worthing, Sussex

Shooting Apple Off Head
A man shoots an apple off a boys head, in the style of William Tell

The Modern Boy front cover - Wing walkers play tennis
Front cover of The Modern Boy featuring an illustration of two men playing tennis on the wings of a plane mid-flight. Date: 1932

Dangerous aerial stunt by Dick Grace
Stunt men undertaking a double leap from aeroplanes for a movie stunt, the film in question being The Lost Squadron. One of the men featured is Dick Grace

Motorcycle stunt riders
Stunt rides on a motorbike and sidecar perform one of their tricks, loosening and throwing away the sidecars wheel while continuing to ride at speed. Date: 1932

Stunt woman rides over wooden plank with a woman underneath. Date: circa 1970s

Motorbike speeding through flames. Date: 1976

Car crashing through front of truck
Car crashing through the front of a truck. (2 of 3) Date: 1976

Motorbike crashing through glazed frame
Motorbike crashing through a glazed frame held up by two women. Date: 1976

All Professionally Made to Order for Quick Shipping