Scannain is saddened to learn of the passing of legendary Irish stuntman Bronco McLoughlin.
McLoughlin began his career in 1967, almost by accident, when he discovered that The Viking Queen was being filmed near his home in Wicklow. McLouglin had left Ireland at 16 to work as a cattle rancher in Australia and it was while home 12 years later to visit his father than he got cast as an extra due to his ability to ride horses.
This led to McLoughlin making key contacts in the film industry that would see him land roles as a stormtrooper in George Lucas’ Star Wars, performing stunts on Richard Donner’s Superman, playing a mujaheddin in Rambo III, playing a Thugee in Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, performing stunts on Ryan’s Daughter, playing Nennog in Krull, and famously being tied to the wooden cross that floats over the top of a waterfall in the opening scene of The Mission.
In Clive Barker’s Hellbound: Hellraiser II, because of a neck accident, Kenneth Cranham only wore the Channard Cenobite makeup for one day, McLoughlin played the Channard Cenobite for the rest of the shoot.
He also had roles in a number of James Bond films, as a customs officer in Paul Verhoeven’s Total Recall, performing stunts in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and as stunt coordinator on The Field, Father Ted, and Man About Dog. He most recently worked as a stunts performer on the hit TV series Vikings in his native Wicklow.
McLoughlin was a member of Stunt Register Ireland and was inducted into the Hollywood Stuntmen’s Hall of Fame.