This is the first biography of a Hollywood legend. Iowa-born Jock Mahoney was an elite athlete and U.S. Marines fighter pilot prior to falling into a film career. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest stuntmen in movie history, having taken leaps and bounds for Errol Flynn, John Wayne, Randolph Scott, and Gregory Peck. Mahoney was one of the first stuntmen to successfully move into acting as the popular star of the 1950s television westerns Range Rider and Yancy Derringer and twice played Tarzan on the big screen, presenting a memorable portrayal of an educated, articulate, and mature jungle lord that was true to author Edgar Rice Burroughs' original vision. Filming in real jungles around the world took a physical toll on Mahoney that transformed him from leading man to burly character actor. He also had to overcome the effects of a major stroke but true to his tough guy nature rose above adversity to resume his life's many adventures. Mahoney was beloved by fans at conventions and appearances until his untimely demise in 1989 from a stroke-caused motor vehicle accident.

Both brawls and elaborate martial arts have kept movie audiences on the edges of their seats since cinema began. But the filming of fight scenes has changed significantly through the years - mainly for the safety of the combatants - from improvised scuffles in the Silent Era to exquisitely choreographed and edited sequences involving actors, stuntmen and technical experts. Camera angles prevented many a broken nose. Examining more than 300 films - from The Spoilers (1914) to Road House (1989) - the author provides behind-the-scenes details on memorable melees starring such iconic tough-guys as John Wayne, Randolph Scott, Robert Mitchum, Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Clint Eastwood, Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris and Jackie Chan.

Robert Mitchum was-and still is-one of Hollywood's defining stars of Western film. For more than 30 years, the actor played the weary and cynical cowboy, and his rough-and-tough presence on-screen was no different than his one off-screen. With a personality fit for western-noir, Robert Mitchum dominated the genre during the mid-20th century, and returned as the anti-hero again during the 1990s before his death. This book lays down the life of Mitchum and the films that established him as one of Hollywood's strongest and smartest horsemen. Going through early classics like Pursued (1947) and Blood on the Moon (1948) to more recent cult favorites like Tombstone (1993) and Dead Man (1995), Freese shows how Mitchum's nuanced portrayals of the iconic anti-hero of the West earned him his spot in the Cowboy Hall of Fame.

Character actor Richard Jaeckel worked five decades in Hollywood alongside the industry's biggest names. Noted for tough-guy portrayals, he appeared in such classic westerns and war films as Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), The Gunfighter (1950), 3:10 to Yuma (1957), and The Dirty Dozen (1967). Bringing strength and integrity to his roles, he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Sometimes a Great Notion (1970). A World War II veteran and Merchant Marine, he was respected in the surfing and fitness communities for his ageless athleticism. His performance as Turk in Come Back, Little Sheba (1952) was groundbreaking for iron-pumping actors wanting to be taken seriously for their dramatic abilities. This revealing portrait of the life of a working character actor covers Jaeckel's noteworthy career through each of his film and television appearance, from Guadalcanal Diary (1943) to Baywatch (1994). Recollections and behind the scenes stories from those he knew and worked with offer an in-depth look at the dedication and professionalism it takes to make it in Hollywood.