Member of the U.S. Olympic equestrian team.
Member 82nd Airborne (Master Jump Wings)
TV Series Stunts: The Lawman, Surfside Six, 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, Maverick, The FBI, Tombstone Territory, Ripcord, King of Diamonds, The Andy Griffith Show, Green Hornet, Danger is My Business, Get Smart, Batman, Laredo, The Virginian, Chips, Gunsmoke, Gilligan's Island, McHale's Navy, The Donna Reid Show, Happy Days and Pony Express.
Feature Movie Stunts: A Fine Madness, Sol Madrid, Ballad of a Gunfighter, Double Trouble, The Alamo, Welcome to Hard Times, Caprice, Hombre, How the West was Won.
Stars appeared with or doubled for:
Henry Fonda, John Wayne, James Arness, Ken Curtis, Elvis Presley, James Stewart, Paul Newman, Bruce Lee, Doris Day, Bob Denver, Walter Brennan, Joey Bishop, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sally Davis Jr., Marty Robbins, Sean Connery, Milton Berle, Jack Benny, Adam West, Shelly Winters, Bob Conrad, Broadrick Crawford, Peter Brown, John Russell, Tab Hunter, Slim Pickens, James Gardner, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Lorne Green and 'Walkin' Talkin' Charley Aldridge to name a few.
Highlights:
I drove the Black Beauty car for Bruce Lee on the TV series "The Green Hornet".
On Caprice (1967) I doubled Ray Walston for a nine story balcony fall. Doris Day shot me from the ledge. I used a mat, 1X6 boards, cardboard boxes and a saw horse. The director told me not to turn over, but come in straight. I landed on the back of my head and broke the boards, boxes and saw horse. I got a standing ovation from the director, cast and Doris Day. That stunt won the stunt of the year!
In the mid-1960's, I spent weekends as a stunt performer at Apacheland Studios in Arizona.
Jerry Vance quotes:
"The man I owe my success to and I'll always be in his debt is Charlie Aldridge, the man who named me, and to this day I consider one of the greatest guys and underrated talents in show business."
"Back in the day, stuntmen were called into a room with the casting director. Sometimes the producer looked you over, and the ones that looked more like an actor: hair color, height, weight, etc., got the job. They gave you a time and place, and never told you what the stunt was. You were only as good as your last job, and somehow I managed to last 40 some years in the craziest profession on earth. Yes, I prayed to the man upstairs and I never would have made it without his help."
"The movie I worked on with Elvis, was Double Trouble."
"I would like to give a big thank you to Hank. The public knew this fine actor as Henry Fonda, but the stuntmen called him Hank out of respect. I had the honor of working with Hank in the movie "Welcome to Hard Times".
"Another actor who was respected by all that worked with him, was Paul Newman. In the opening shot of 'Hombre', I come riding over the hill and get yanked off the horse. Paul likes the shot and it meant the world to me."
"I had the chance of a lifetime to work with the actor Walter Brennan in the movie 'Who's Minding The Mint?' He became my idol and mentor. He was one of the best actors in the world. He never missed a line or cue, and could steal a scene with a smile. Talk about westerns, he wrote the book on how to make them work."
