Neil was born in London, England but raised in Phoenix, Arizona.
Always wanting to be a cowboy in the movies, Neil had his chance to realize his
dream while working on a film called “Arizona Raiders” starring Audie Murphy. He
was allowed the opportunity to do a stair fall - his first professional stunt - on
the production.
Star Audio Murphy and direct William
Witney wrote letter of application for membership into the Screen Actors Guild
for Neil. Shortly thereafter he moved to
Hollywood
to pursue his careet as a professional stuntman and was asked to join the
prestigious Stuntmen’s Association of Motion Pictures.
In his 42 year (so far) career, Neil has traveled the world
and most of the fifty states in his chosen profession and has had the
opportunity to double for such actors as Roddy McDowall, John Astin, Bruce
Boxleitner, Keith Carradine, Peter Weller, Robert Crawford, Robert Duvall, Ron
Palillo (Harshak on “Welcome Back Kotter), Frank Silvera, Harry Dean Stanton, Rafael Campos, William Smithers, Warren
Oates, Raymond Massey, William Bryant, Sir John Mills, Michale Anderson Jr.,
James Hampton, Michael J. Pollard, Sid Haig, Hector Elizondo, Emilio Estevez,
Rick Schroeder, Warren Stevens, Craig Wasson, and actresses Carol Lynley,
Stephanie Powers and Barbara Hershey to name a few.
It has been his privilege to have worked with and also be
directed by such stalwarts (in the acting part of his career) as Clint Eastwood,
John Huston, Sergio Leone, David Lynch, Howard Hawks, George C. Scott, Warren
Beatty, burt Kennedy, Martin Ritt, Budd Boetticher, Frank Darabont, Paul
Verhoeven, Jonathan Kaplan, Blake Edwards, Ralph Nelson, Monte Hellman, Jack
Nicholson, Gary Sherman, Joe Camp, Ken Kennedy – and the list goes on.
Neil Summers is still active and resides in New Mexico. In a new
phase of his illustrious career, he is the published author of eight books on
the history of feature film and television westerns. He is a popular guest at
Western film festivals across
America
and has been honored by the Southern California Motion Picture Society for his
contributions to film.
