Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Exclusive: “Walking Dead” Stuntman Broke His Knee in 2012 on Movie Set, “Cushion Was Moved” For 120 Foot Fall

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EXCLUSIVE

I’ve spoken with a doctor who saw stuntman John Bernecker back in 2012 when he took a much longer — 120 feet- -dive on a movie set and broke his knee cap. The fall — on the set of “The Walking Dead”– that killed him yesterday was 22 feet, but he hit his head.

The doctor, William Garth, tells me that Bernecker’s accident, according to Bernecker, was because “someone moved the cushion” he was supposed to land on. Bernecker was working as a stunt double for actor James Marsden on a movie called “The Loft.”

“His line– maybe like a bungee line– was too long and he told me someone had moved the cushion,” Garth told me. “It was taken out from underneath him. He broke his knee cap. He was very upset about it. I think it gave him trouble for a year.  He was out of work. There was a lot of controversy.”

In the fall that killed him yesterday there are several reports that he missed the fall cushion by several inches.

Garth had nothing but nice things to say about Bernecker, who was 33, and remembered his mother as well.  What a shame. But also, how bizarre. Perhaps an investigation into what happened will shed some light.

 

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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