Alf Joint (1927-2005)

Space:1999 stunt arranger Alf Joint died on 25th July, aged 78. One of Britain’s most famous stuntmen, Joint was also a fencing master and, occasionally, an actor. Perhaps his best known role was as Capungo in the James Bond film Goldfinger (1964) where he engages in a fight with Sean Connery’s Bond in the pre-credits sequence and ends up being electrocuted in a bath. Known as one of the world’s great ‘high fallers’ he doubled for UFO’s Gary Myers (Captain Lew Waterman) as the ‘Man in Black’ in a long-running series of adverts for Milk Tray chocolates. But his most daring stunt was one he arranged and performed in September 1984 at the age of 57, doubling for Eric Porter as Professor Moriarty in a 430ft fall down the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland for The Final Problem, the last episode of Granada’s The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes series.

As an actor, Joint was seen in episodes of Danger Man, The Avengers, Dixon Of Dock Green, The Prisoner, Doctor Who, The Zoo Gang, Spy Trap, Star Maidens, Cribb and Reilly: Ace Of Spies as well as the feature films The Heroes Of Telemark (1965), Witchfinder General (1968), S*P*Y*S (1974) and Brannigan (1975). He also appeared in The Protectors as a taxi driver in The Insider, and in Space:1999 as Steiner in Breakaway, a security guard in Alpha Child, and one of the Psychon Overseers in The Metamorph. More often than not, these roles called upon him to perform some sort of stuntwork, for it was as a stuntman and stunt arranger that he excelled. He performed stunts in episodes of Doctor Who, The Prisoner, The Champions, Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased) and The Protectors, and the films On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1968), Return Of The Jedi (1983), Krull (1983) and Lifeforce (1985). He was also Sean Connery’s stunt double on Goldfinger (1964) and Richard Burton’s stunt double on Where Eagles Dare (1968).

As a stunt co-ordinator, Joint supervised the stunt work on series such as The Adventurer, John Silver’s Return To Treasure Island and London’s Burning, as well as numerous features including Kelly’s Heroes (1970), The Omen (1976), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Superman (1978), Superman II (1980), Outland (1981), The Keep (1983) and Supergirl (1984). Working closely with series stunt co-ordinator Joe Dunne, Joint shared the role of stunt arranger on Space:1999 with various colleagues including Eddie Stacey, Paul Weston and Peter Brayham. He also doubled for Peter Bowles as Balor in the episode End Of Eternity.

Originally published in FAB 53.