Frank Clarke

Frank Clarke was a stunt pilot and actor. Born near Paso Robles, California, he learned to fly after moving to Venice and became a Hollywood aerial performer. He bought a surplus Curtiss JN-4 and gained notice in 1919 by transferring between aircraft in midair, a feat newspapers called a first. He won the lead in the flying serial Eagle of the Night in 1928. His most prominent role was Leutnant von Bruen in Hell's Angels (1930), and he doubled for von Richthofen in combat scenes. Clarke operated camera aircraft and took part in stunts for over a dozen movies in the 1930s and 1940s, doubled for actors including James Cagney, and was a charter member of the Associated Motion Picture Pilots. He was involved with The Flying Deuces (1939) and made an uncredited appearance in Walk Softly, Stranger (1950). In World War II he served in the Air Force and rose to major while teaching pilots. He died in 1948.