Hollywood stuntman, who was set on fire for famous Pink Floyd album cover, dies at 88
While many may not immediately recognise his name, Rondell’s daring stunt, shaking hands with fellow stuntman Danny Rogers while engulfed in flames for the 1975 album cover, has become legendary.
Ronnie Rondell Jr, the Hollywood stuntman famously set on fire for the front cover of Pink Floyd's iconic Wish You Were Here album, has died at the age of 88.
Rondell passed away on 12 August at a care home in Missouri, according to an online obituary, reports BBC.
While many may not immediately recognise his name, Rondell's daring stunt, shaking hands with fellow stuntman Danny Rogers while engulfed in flames for the 1975 album cover, has become legendary.
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Aubrey Powell, who took the photograph for the album, recalled in 2020 that Rondell had been reluctant about performing the stunt, describing it as "more dangerous than an action scene."
To protect him, Rondell wore a suit and a wig coated in flame material and was covered in a protective gel.
The stunt was completed 14 times; however, on the 15th attempt, a sudden change in wind direction caused the fire to blow into his face, resulting in the loss of an eyebrow and part of his signature moustache.
Powell said, "Ronnie was very gracious about it considering... but as far as he was concerned as a professional in the movie industry it was all in a day's work."
Rondell is survived by his wife, Mary, and his son, also named Ronald.
He hailed from a family of performers; his father, Ronald R Rondell, was an actor and assistant director, known for films including the 1956 adaptation of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days.
Both of Rondell's sons followed in his footsteps, though tragedy struck when his son Reid died performing a helicopter stunt for the TV series Airwolf in 1985.
Born in California in 1937, Rondell landed his first acting role as a teenager in the early 1950s in Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair. His debut as a stuntman came on the TV series Soldiers of Fortune (1955–1957).
Over the decades, he contributed to series including Charlie's Angels, Dynasty, and Baywatch, as well as films like Spartacus, Diamonds Are Forever, and The Karate Kid. One of his most memorable stunts was leaping from a burning pole for the 1963 adventure film Kings of the Sun.
Rondell also worked as a stunt coordinator on films such as Batman and Robin and The Mighty Ducks.
