Okay, I have to tell you guys about my weekend.
This past weekend, June 27th-29th, I was fortunate enough to be living close to the action. The North American General Lee fanclub staged a 25th anniversary Dukes of Hazzard convention and I was there. The first 5 episodes of the series were filmed in Covington, where I grew up and continue to live.
On Friday, fans gathered and toured the original locations of the show. On Friday night, fans gathered at a local sports complex, where a panel of Hollywood stuntmen who worked on the show gathered and did a Q&A with the crowd. They also signed autographs.
On Saturday morning-afternoon, everyone gathered at a local field in town to witness some spectacular stunt driving that included a chase, a car flip performed by veteran stuntman Al Wyatt, Jr. and the mighty car jump seen below. I also got to meet John Schneider's (Bo Duke) mother. She was very friendly and welcoming of the praise we all gave her son.
We then trekked over to Covington's historic town square to meet and greet other Dukes fans. I grew up on the show and though I consider myself a big fan, some of these people are extreme. There were at least 25-30 General Lees in attendance (original and replicas), several late 70s Plymouth Furys (the police cars from DoH), one Starsky & Hutch Ford Torino, and about 4-5 1982 Pontiac Trans-Ams (K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider-style).
On Saturday evening, we gathered at the Holiday Inn in the neighboring town (it's where the cast stayed when the show was being filmed in Covington in 1978) and admired each others souvenirs, relaxed and drank some cold beer, while we listened to stuntman Corey Eubanks (see below) tell some crazy set/stunt stories from his 22-year career.
On Sunday afternoon, more excitement on the Square, as the stuntmen signed some more items before heading home, while fans gathered for one last meeting.
All in all, it was a tremendous weekend that I will never forget.
Corey Eubanks, the stuntman that performed the jump, was able to launch the General Lee a distance of 125.5 ft. Almost immediately after this picture was taken, the front end tipped forward, made impact with the ground and the car did a horizontal 180° left turn and landed on its wheels facing the crowd. Eubanks came out uninjured, though the same cannot be said for the car.
Eubanks got his start on The Dukes of Hazzard and has doubled for Stallone in Cobra, De Niro in Backdraft and Cruise in Far and Away. More recently, he was Clive Owen's stunt driver in Season 2 of the BMW Film's series The Hire and the guy that crashed the suped-up BMW into the water barrells in 2 Fast 2 Furious during a big highway race. These past couple of weeks, he's been stunt doubling for Ben Stiller in Starsky & Hutch.
This weekend, I also got to meet several other Hollywood stuntmen, some who have been in the business for 30+ years. One of them, named Henry Kingi, is almost 60 years old (though he doesn't look it), was the stuntman who drove that Pontiac Grand Am out of the office building in Lethal Weapon 4. He also most recently was the stunt driver in the Ferrari in and Hummer Bad Boys 2 (see the trailer).
Another one of the stuntmen, named Russell Solberg, just returned from Vancouver where he did some police car stunts in John Woo's Paycheck starring Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman.
The other stuntmen in attendance this weekend included Gary Baxley, Ted Barba, Jack Gill and others whose names I cannot recall.
This past weekend, June 27th-29th, I was fortunate enough to be living close to the action. The North American General Lee fanclub staged a 25th anniversary Dukes of Hazzard convention and I was there. The first 5 episodes of the series were filmed in Covington, where I grew up and continue to live.
On Friday, fans gathered and toured the original locations of the show. On Friday night, fans gathered at a local sports complex, where a panel of Hollywood stuntmen who worked on the show gathered and did a Q&A with the crowd. They also signed autographs.
On Saturday morning-afternoon, everyone gathered at a local field in town to witness some spectacular stunt driving that included a chase, a car flip performed by veteran stuntman Al Wyatt, Jr. and the mighty car jump seen below. I also got to meet John Schneider's (Bo Duke) mother. She was very friendly and welcoming of the praise we all gave her son.
We then trekked over to Covington's historic town square to meet and greet other Dukes fans. I grew up on the show and though I consider myself a big fan, some of these people are extreme. There were at least 25-30 General Lees in attendance (original and replicas), several late 70s Plymouth Furys (the police cars from DoH), one Starsky & Hutch Ford Torino, and about 4-5 1982 Pontiac Trans-Ams (K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider-style).
On Saturday evening, we gathered at the Holiday Inn in the neighboring town (it's where the cast stayed when the show was being filmed in Covington in 1978) and admired each others souvenirs, relaxed and drank some cold beer, while we listened to stuntman Corey Eubanks (see below) tell some crazy set/stunt stories from his 22-year career.
On Sunday afternoon, more excitement on the Square, as the stuntmen signed some more items before heading home, while fans gathered for one last meeting.
All in all, it was a tremendous weekend that I will never forget.
Corey Eubanks, the stuntman that performed the jump, was able to launch the General Lee a distance of 125.5 ft. Almost immediately after this picture was taken, the front end tipped forward, made impact with the ground and the car did a horizontal 180° left turn and landed on its wheels facing the crowd. Eubanks came out uninjured, though the same cannot be said for the car.
Eubanks got his start on The Dukes of Hazzard and has doubled for Stallone in Cobra, De Niro in Backdraft and Cruise in Far and Away. More recently, he was Clive Owen's stunt driver in Season 2 of the BMW Film's series The Hire and the guy that crashed the suped-up BMW into the water barrells in 2 Fast 2 Furious during a big highway race. These past couple of weeks, he's been stunt doubling for Ben Stiller in Starsky & Hutch.
This weekend, I also got to meet several other Hollywood stuntmen, some who have been in the business for 30+ years. One of them, named Henry Kingi, is almost 60 years old (though he doesn't look it), was the stuntman who drove that Pontiac Grand Am out of the office building in Lethal Weapon 4. He also most recently was the stunt driver in the Ferrari in and Hummer Bad Boys 2 (see the trailer).
Another one of the stuntmen, named Russell Solberg, just returned from Vancouver where he did some police car stunts in John Woo's Paycheck starring Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman.
The other stuntmen in attendance this weekend included Gary Baxley, Ted Barba, Jack Gill and others whose names I cannot recall.
