James Bond World Record smashed

Legendary 007 stuntman has broken a Guiness World Record title to highlight importance of charitable legacies. Legendary Bond and Hollywood movie stuntman Rocky Taylor (64) has today (Tuesday 13 September) broken one of the Guinness World Records previously held by the 007 franchise – Largest breakaway glass structure smashed by a car. Rocky  jumped a spinning car at speed through a huge sheet of glass and crash landed at the O2 Arena, London, this afternoon. The stunt marks Remember A Charity Week (12 – 18 September) which aims to encourage more people, after they have looked after friends and family, to leave a gift to charity in their will. The previous record for the Largest breakaway glass structure smashed by a car was set on the 2002 film Die Another Day, in which Taylor also appeared. This is his second 007 record; Rocky, who lives in Cobham, Surrey, is also the only stuntman to double for two Bonds in same year (1983 - Roger Moore in Octopussy and Sean Connery in Never Say Never Again). The previous record for the stunt was created during the filming of the ‘Ice Palace’ scene in Die Another Day when Pierce Brosnan drove an Aston Martin through a glass panel which was 8ft 3.5in high by 5ft 4.5 wide. To break the record, Rocky steered a fortified BMW 5 Series up a 3.5m ramp, hurtling through the air at a height of 12ft, before smashing through a giant 6m by 4m glass wall constructed of panes larger than before - luckily with both car and Rocky intact. Remember A Charity, the charity consortium behind the death defying stunt, screened the stunt live on Facebook to draw attention to the importance of leaving gifts to charity in wills. Rocky Taylor’s close association with the Bond franchise stretches back to 1962, when he appeared in the film Dr No with Sean Connery. He went on to feature in every James Bond film up to Casino Royale as a stuntman, body double and actor. Sean Connery has described Rocky as “without a doubt the complete professional in his chosen field”, whilst Roger Moore felt he is “one hundred percent professional and exceedingly brave'. Commenting on the record attempt, Rocky Taylor said: “I have been involved in the James Bond movies for most of my career, so it seemed fitting to break a world record from a film I have appeared in.” Rob Cope, Remember A Charity’s Director, said: “Rocky is the perfect ambassador for us as no one knows the importance of writing a will more than a stuntman who puts their life on the line every day. But more than that, Rocky’s eye-catching stunts are really helping draw attention to such a vital, but often forgotten, source of income for charities – legacy gifts. Most charities wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the generous gifts left to them in people’s wills. If just a further 4% of people in this country left a small gift to their favourite charity it would raise an additional £1billion a year for good causes, which is a phenomenal amount of money.” Rocky Taylor has been a movie stuntman for 50 years, appearing in over 500 films and TV shows including The Avengers, Titanic, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter. Far from retiring, he is currently juggling his role with Remember A Charity with filming the new Brad Pitt film, World War Z.