# William H. Burton (stuntman)

William H.. Burton, also known as Billy Burton, is an American stuntman, second unit director, film director, and actor.

## Life and career

Burton was born in 1944 in Culver City. His dad was a horseman and his mom raced horses, and living on a ranch had him operating machinery and driving various vehicles before he was even a teenager. He also confessed that he drove himself to high school when he had no license.
Burton started his work in the stunt business in 1965 with his first film being 1966's Beau Geste thanks to his rodeo and horse work. He later met film director and stuntman Hal Needham, who became his mentor. In 1970, Burton and Needham were among the first members of Stunts Unlimited, alongside Charlie Picerni, Sr., Alan Gibbs, Glenn Wilder, and Ronnie Rondell.
In 1997, Burton served as second unit director on the John Travolta and Nicolas Cage film Face/Off, which was directed by John Woo, which he has stated to be his favorite film that he worked on, especially with the boat chase scene in San Pedro harbor.
Burton served as stunt coordinator and second unit director for Chuck Russell on The Scorpion King, the prequel spin-off to Stephen Sommers' 1999 The Mummy remake and its 2001 sequel The Mummy Returns.
In 2019, Burton was honored with the Taurus Lifetime Achievement Award at the Taurus World Stunt Awards.
Other films he has directed second unit on include Dick Tracy, Hostage, House of Wax, I Spy, and Collateral Damage.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Stunts | Second unit director | Director |
| 1966 | Beau Geste | Yes | No | Douglas Heyes |
| 1973 | Mean Streets | Yes | No | Martin Scorsese |
| 1974 | Blazing Saddles | Yes | No | Mel Brooks |
| 1980 | Smokey and the Bandit II | Yes | No | Hal Needham |
| 1983 | National Lampoon's Vacation | Yes | No | Harold Ramis |
| 1984 | The Cotton Club | Yes | No | Francis Ford Coppola |
| 1985 | Year of the Dragon | Yes | No | Michael Cimino |
| 1986 | American Justice | Yes | Yes | Gary Grillo |
| 1987 | Beverly Hills Cop II | Yes | No | Tony Scott |
| 1987 | Predator | Yes | No | John McTiernan |
| 1990 | Dick Tracy | Yes | Yes | Warren Beatty |
| 1991 | Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man | Yes | Yes | Simon Wincer |
| 1993 | Hard Target | Yes | Yes | John Woo |
| 1995 | Bad Boys | Yes | No | Michael Bay |
| 1996 | The Phantom | Yes | No | Simon Wincer |
| 1996 | Escape from L.A. | Yes | No | John Carpenter |
| 1997 | Money Talks | Yes | No | Brett Ratner |
| 1997 | The Postman | Yes | No | Kevin Costner |
| 1997 | Face/Off | No | Yes | John Woo |
| 1998 | The X-Files | Yes | Yes | Rob Bowman |
| 1998 | Godzilla | Yes | No | Roland Emmerich |
| 1999 | Go | Yes | No | Doug Liman |
| 2000 | The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas | Yes | No | Brian Levant |
| 2001 | American Pie 2 | Yes | No | James B. Rogers |
| 2002 | The Scorpion King | Yes | Yes | Chuck Russell |
| 2002 | Big Fat Liar | Yes | No | Shawn Levy |
| 2002 | I Spy | Yes | Yes | Betty Thomas |
| 2002 | Collateral Damage | Yes | Yes | Andrew Davis |
| 2002 | XXX | Yes | No | Rob Cohen |
| 2004 | Hidalgo | Yes | No | Joe Johnston |
| 2005 | Hostage | Yes | Yes | Florent-Emilio Siri |
| 2005 | The 40 Year Old Virgin | Yes | No | Judd Apatow |
| 2005 | Domino | Yes | No | Tony Scott |
| 2005 | House of Wax | Yes | Yes | Jaume Collet-Serra |
| 2007 | Fracture | Yes | No | Gregory Hoblit |
| 2008 | Untraceable | Yes | No | Gregory Hoblit |
| 2009 | In the Electric Mist | Yes | No | Bertrand Tavernier |
| 2011 | Fright Night | Yes | No | Craig Gillespie |
| 2012 | A Thousand Words | Yes | No | Brian Robbins |
| 2014 | The Homesman | Yes | No | Tommy Lee Jones |