A sad start to 2012...Master swordsman, Bob Anderson, died earlier this week and the news broke on Monday.
(http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=32771)
Anderson was an Olympic Fencer who became a renowned Hollywood fight choreographer. His first movie was Master of Ballantrae, a film that starred Errol Flynn. He went on to work on many other films, including serving as the fight double for Darth Vader in the original Star Wars movies (you know, the good ones...). He choreographed the fights in Highlander and you can see him as the Immortal dueling MacLeod in the underground garage.
Perhaps his most powerful fight was the duel between Mandy Patinkin and Cary Elwes in The Princess Bride. It's widely considered one of the most elegant bits of swashbuckling ever filmed.
Anderson also worked on the Lord of the Rings and described Viggo Mortensen as one of the most natural swordsmen he ever trained. Anderson's name was attached to The Hobbit which will be released next year.
Bob Anderson was 89.
