Norwegian-born stunt performer and actor, Max Kleven, has passed away at the age of 92. The screen star died on Wednesday from heart failure at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, his family confirmed. Max also had a successful career as a stunt coordinator and second unit director, with credits including Our Man Flint, The Deep and the Back To The Future trilogy. His family highlighted one of his career highlights when Steven Spielberg told him, “I hire you to fix my movies.” Max worked for the
renowned producer on the Back to the Future films, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, 1980’s Used Cars and 2000’s What Lies Beneath, among other features. A ski jumper hailing from Norway, he also contributed to Naked City, Batman Returns and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. At the onset of his career, Kleven doubled for Paul Burke on ABC’s Naked City and for Glenn Corbett on CBS’s Route 66. He held the position of president of the Stuntman’s Association of Motion Pictures in the 1970s. Born on
August 16, 1933, in Trondheim, Norway, Max spent his formative years on a farm with his mother Jenny, and cousin Joni. He later joined the Norwegian Merchant Marine as a teenager and relocated to the US in 1951. Upon his arrival in California and witnessing the daily sunshine and palm trees, he made a vow to never leave, reports the Express . According to IMDb, the first film he worked on was the Oscar best picture winner Around the World in 80 Days (1956). Max
performed stunts for a host of other films including Our Man Flint (1966), Murderers’ Row (1966), Who’s Minding the Mint? (1967), Charley Varrick (1973), Back to the Future (1985), Ruthless People (1986), Species (1995) and Wild Wild West (1999). His CV as a stunt coordinator featured Book of Numbers (1973), Dillinger (1973), The Deep (1977), The Changeling (1980), Footloose (1984) and Sleeping With the Enemy (1991), and he served as a second-unit director on Raid on Entebbe (1976), Runaway Train (1985), Who Framed Roger Rabbit
(1988), Back to the Future Part II (1989) and Part III (1990), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) and Spider-Man (2002). Max leaves behind his wife Luz, his daughters Valli and Celine, his son Erik and his grandson Hunter. Have you joined Threads? Follow Daily Star to keep up to date on all things showbiz here Want all the biggest Showbiz and TV news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our free Daily Star Showbiz newsletter
Max Kleven, Back to the Future, stunt performer, stunt coordinator, second-unit director, Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, heart failure, Trondheim, ski jumper, Steven Spielberg
92 damn. My back hurts just hearing stunt work like that.
So Spielberg hired him to fix his movies and now he’s gone… wild. I always thought stunt guys were basically invisible until something goes wrong.
Wait, he doubled for Paul Burke on Naked City? I swear I thought that was another guy. Also heart failure is kinda vague… like did he die on set or just in the hospital Wednesday?
Back to the Future without the stunt people would’ve looked like a school play lol. The part where it says he vowed to never leave when he saw palm trees is kinda funny though—never leave California, guess he really committed.