Allan Graf

Cast · Director

Born

December 16, 1949 · Wichita, Kansas, USA

Birth name

Allan Lee Graf

Graf is one of Hollywood's premier second unit directors and stunt coordinators whose 35-year career behind the cameras includes the staging of stunts in over five dozen films while directing second unit action on three dozen features, including such recent films as Todd Phillips' comedy, "Due Date", "The Muppets" (2011, on which he also coordinated stunts) and Phillips' independent feature, "Project X" (2012). A native of Southern California, Graf first made his mark on the gridiron, where he captained the 1967 San Fernando High School city championship team, winning All-American honors. He won a full athletic scholarship to the University of Southern California, and played offensive guard for John McKay's powerhouse Trojans. Graf started on McKay's legendary, undefeated (12-0) 1972 NCAA National Championship team, and was one of the heroes at the 1973 Rose Bowl, when USC defeated Ohio State 42-17. He next played in the 1973 college all-star game against the NFL's undefeated Miami Dolphins at Chicago's Soldier Field. Following graduation, Graf became a free agent with the Los Angeles Rams before joining the World Football League's Portland Storm during their inaugural 1974 season. When the league abruptly folded, Graf tackled a career change when he fatefully won a role as former Chicago Bears player Dick Butkus' stunt double in the 1976 Disney film "Gus", a comic opus about a field goal-kicking mule. Following his debut, Graf worked as a stunt player for several years on a variety of projects, notably Walter Hill's "Southern Comfort", "The Driver" and "The Long Riders", John Carpenter's "They Live", Paul Verhoeven's "Total Recall", "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", "Raising Arizona", "Action Jackson", "S.W.A.T.", "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl", "Independence Day" and, most recently, "Captain America: The First Avenger". He has coordinated stunts on several other projects, including "Punch Drunk Love", "Domestic Disturbance", "Broken Arrow", "Wayne's World", "The Hangover Part II" (the highest-grossing, R-rated comedy of all time), and several of director Hill's actioners, including "Supernova", "Geronimo: An American Legend" and "Wild Bill", on which he also directed the films' 2nd unit. On Hill's 1990 sequel, "Another 48 Hrs.", Graf, as the film's 2nd unit director and stunt coordinator, was the very first stuntman to cannon roll a bus at 60 mph. He subsequently flipped a bus again on the Jean-Claude Van Damme actioner "Nowhere to Run", cannon rolling a 40-foot bus underneath a 60-foot-wide freeway overpass. The former college football great is also one of Hollywood's best-known football coordinators and 2nd unit directors, designing and staging the gridiron action for such films as Oliver Stone's epic "Any Given Sunday", Howard Deutch's comedy "The Replacements", "The Program", "The Waterboy", "Necessary Roughness", "Man of the House", Gary Fleder's football biopic, "The Express", Cameron Crowe's Oscar®-winning "Jerry Maguire" and Peter Berg's acclaimed football classic "Friday Night Lights". His work on "Friday Night Lights" and "The Express" all earned ESPY Awards. To further add to Graf's slate of talents, he has also logged several supporting acting roles, including that of Capt. Turner on HBO's "Deadwood" (again working with Walter Hill) along with many other projects such as "L.A. Confidential" (the abusive husband beaten down by Russell Crowe in the film's early moments), "The Replacements", "Magnolia", "Boogie Nights", "The Doors", "Red Heat", "Another 48 Hrs.", "Poltergeist" and "RoboCop", among dozens of others. Graf penned an original screenplay entitled "Turning the Tide", a football drama which depicts the historic 1970 gridiron contest between McKay's USC Trojans and Bear Bryant's Crimson Tide of Alabama. Graf most recently reteamed with filmmaker Brian Helgeland on "42" after having served as 2nd unit director on his 2001 adventure film "A Knight's Tale", for whom he designed and directed all the jousting sequences.