Facebook/Dave Lea
Dave Lea, Michael Keaton‘s stunt double in one of the most successful runs of the “Batman” franchise, has died.
A source close to Dave tells TMZ … the longtime Hollywood stuntman died as a result of cancer. Dave passed Saturday at 5:55 PM surrounded by loved ones … a statement posted to his page calls him “a fighter to the end.”
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Dave did all the stunts and fighting for Keaton’s version of Bruce Wayne in 1989’s “Batman” and 1992’s “Batman Returns.”
With a background in martial arts, Dave traveled the globe, studying under some of the greatest martial arts teachers of all time … including Grand Master Leong Swee Lun of Shaolin 5 Animals in Malaysia, Joseph Cheng of Wing Chun and Dan Inosanto, who trained under Bruce Lee.
Dave’s first movie gig was “Tango & Cash,” where he trained and choreographed fights for Sylvester Stallone. He worked closely with Sly again on “Demolition Man.”
Other actors who got fighting training and choreography from Dave … Ben Affleck, Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Scarlett Johanson, Sandra Bullock, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Colin Farrell, Ashley Judd, Michelle Pfeiffer and Dennis Quaid, just to name a few.
Dave was 67.
RIP
