Richard E. Butler

Richard E. Butler , better known as Dick Butler, was a retired stuntman and stunt coordinator who served as stunt coordinator on the first season episode . he worked as stunt double for late actor Brian Keith on the first season episode , where he doubled Keith's heavy moves against stunt actor Tom Morga and his fall back after he was "shot". For both Trek assignments Butler received no on-screen credit.
== Early career ('60s) ==
During his time as football player at the UCLA, Butler went to a casting for (1960) and was hired as a background performer, a gladiator. After his last semester he decided to make his goal in the film industry as a stunt performer. Among his stunt work in the '60s was (1963, along with Janos Prohaska, Carey Loftin, Robert Herron, Gary Epper, Dick Crockett, and Paul Stader), the television drama Fade-In (1968), the comedy The Great Bank Robbery (1969), and two episodes of Daniel Boone (1969-70, with James Doohan and Frank Orsatti).
Butler also worked as stunt coordinator for the first time when he coordinated several episodes of (1968-75, starring William Boyett).
== The '70s ==
Beside stunt work in films such as (1971), (1972, under stunt coordination of Paul Baxley), (1972) and (1973), and the action thriller The Towering Inferno (1974), Butler is probably best known for doubling Sean Connery's Mustang Mach1 driving stunts in (1971, along with Vince Deadrick, Donna Garrett, Nick Dimitri, and Jerry Summers) and 's shark stunts in (1975, with Frank James Sparks and Dick Ziker).
While still working on Adam-12 until 1975, Butler worked on several more police series. He performed stunts on The Streets of San Francisco and Matt Helm (1975) and served as stunt coordinator on Joe Forrester (1975-1976, with stunts by Gene LeBell and Dick Dial), Police Woman (1974-78, with Donna Garrett), Police Story (1973-77, with Hubie Kerns, Jr., Robert Herron, Gene LeBell, and Rick Sawaya), and Salvage 1 (1979).
Further stunt work include (1976), (1976), (1977, with stunts by Erik Cord, Bob Minor, and Paul Stader), the drama Stunts (1977, along with Jean Coulter and Bud Davis), the comedy Love and the Midnight Auto Supply (1977), (1978, with Scott Leva and Ellen Bry), and (1978).
Additional work as stunt coordinator include (1978, with Chuck Hicks) and the comedy The Prize Fighter (1979, with Gene LeBell and Charles Picerni).
== The '80s ==
In the '80s Butler served as stunt coordinator for a number of projects including (1980, with Eurlyne Epper-Woldman and Leslie Hoffman), (1980, with Michael Cassidy, Ann Chatterton, and Erik Cord), (1982, starring David Warner and stunts by Tony Brubaker, Gary Epper, Donna Garrett, Billy Hank Hooker, Glenn R. Wilder, and Al Jones), (1983), and several episodes of (1981-82), (1983-1987, starring Kate Jackson, with stunts by Steve Kelso, Lane Leavitt, and Tom Morga), Mike Hammer (1984-87, with Greg Barnett, Hubie Kerns, Jr., and Robert Herron), and Houston Knights (1987-1988, with Pat Romano).
As a stuntman he performed in (1980), (1980, with Bill Catching, Leslie Hoffman, and Sharon Shaffer), (1980), the television comedy Revenge of the Gray Gang (1981), (1981), (1981, with Don Pulford), (1981), (1982, with Simone Boisseree, Phil Chong, Jophery C. Brown, Nick Dimitri, Vince Deadrick, Jr., Chris Doyle, Chuck Hicks, Tom Morga, and Kym Washington), (1982), (1982), (1982), Independence Day (1983 film)|Independence Day}} (1983), (1984, with Kerrie Cullen and Vince Deadrick), (1984), (1985, with Joel Kramer and Spiro Razatos), (1986), the action drama Omega Syndrome (1987), (1988, with Phil Culotta, Corey Michael Eubanks, Matt McColm, Bernie Pock, Spiro Razatos, and John Cade), (1988), (1988), (1988), One Man Force (1989), (1989, with Vince Deadrick, Jr., Bob Minor, and Spice Williams), the horror film Criminal Act (1989), (1989), (1989, with Buck McDancer, Dennis Madalone, James Lew, Noon Orsatti, and Frank Orsatti), (1989), (1989), (1989), (1989), and (1989, with Jim Wilkey).
He also performed stunts in in 1985 on which he worked as stunt driver for the DeLorean. He doubled , Christopher Lloyd and portrayed Einstein while driving the car. .
== The '90s ==
Credits as stunt coordinator in the '90s include the television thriller Murder in Paradise (1990), (1990), Spiro Razatos' (1991), John Paragon's television adventure Ring of the Musketeers (1992, with John Rhys-Davies and Corbin Bernsen), (1994, with Majel Barrett-Roddenberry), (1995), (1996), (1997) and The Rage (1997), (1998, starring Stephanie Niznik), the comedy The Glass Jar (1999), and (1997-98) and Team Knight Rider (1997-98).
In addition Butler continued to perform stunts in films such as the comedy Secret Agent OO Soul (1990), (1990), (1990, with Jim Wilkey and Steve Kelso), (1990), (1990), the drama Double Revenge (1990), (1990, with Christine Anne Baur, Chris Doyle, Nick Dimitri, and Gregg Sargeant), (1990), (1990), (1991), (1991, starring Charles Hallahan, with Joey Aresco, Kelly Curtis, and Chuck Hicks), (1991), (1992), (1992), (1992, with Keith Campbell, Chris Durand, and Tim Trella), (1992), (1992), (1992), (1992), (1992), (1992), (1993), (1993), (1993), (1994), (1994), (1994), (1994), the mystery film Raging Angels (1995), the thriller Rage (1995), (1995), (1996), (1996), (1996), the thriller The Sweeper (1996, with Jeff Cadiente, Denney Pierce, and Chester E. Tripp III), (1996), the thriller Pure Danger (1996), (1997), (1997), (1997), (1997, with Eliza Coleman, Kurt D. Lott, Lincoln Simonds, and Terry Jackson), (1998, with Laura Albert, Brennan Dyson, and Chris Durand), (1998), (1999), (1999, with Ken Clark, Mark DeAlessandro, Leigh Hennessy, and Joyce McNeal), (1999), and (1999).
== Later career (2000s) ==
In his last years in the stunt industry before he retired, Butler performed stunts in the action film Ground Zero (2000, with Cole McKay), the thriller Luck of the Draw (2000, with Joni and Rick Avery, Chris Doyle, Henry Kingi, Jr., and Spiro Razatos), (2000), the thriller The Right Temptation (2000), and the comedy Orange County (2002, with Janet Brady and Darlene Ava Williams).
In he was interviewed and received special thanks on the DVD documentary Looking Back to the Future regarding his work on the film Back to the Future in 1985. A year before, Butler faced a heart surgery but recovered soon. Butler was a lifetime member of the Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures. 
Butler passed away on 3 December 2013 at the age of 77.
== External link ==
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Category:Stunt department
Category:Stunt performers
Category:DS9 performers
Category:Performers