RIP Ray Austin

British born producer, director, stuntman and coordinator Ray Austin died at his home in Earlysville, Virginia on May 17, 2023. He was 90 years old. Born in London on December 3, 1932. He started his career as a stunt performer on such films as “North by Northwest” (1959) and “Spartacus” (1960). From 1965 to 1967 he served as stunt coordinator on 50 episodes of “The Avengers”. For The Champions he initially became involved as a second unit director, subsequently rising to the position of full director. His work as a television director included episodes of “The Avengers” (1968), “Space: 1999” (1975–1976), “The New Avengers” (1976–1977), and “V” (1984). He directed 50 of the 88 episodes of the Euro-western series ‘Zorro’, which was filmed in Madrid between 1989 and 1992 for the American ABC Family Channel. He has also directed some made-for-TV films, including “The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.” (1983), and some feature films such as “Virgin Witch” (1972) and “House of the Living Dead” (1974). Austin was married from 1976 to actress Yasuko Nagazumi, who performed in some of the series he worked on, notably ‘Space: 1999’. He later divorced Nagazumi and married British producer and writer Wendy DeVere Knight-Wilton in 1984.