The Damn Dirty Geeks are very fortunate to be joined by our second PLANET OF THE APES franchise veteran, renowned actor, stuntman and stunt coordinator Bobby Porter. We had such a great time talking with Bobby about his appearance as Cornelius in BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES and many more of his films, that this episode is Part 1 of 2 shows featuring our star guest.

Bobby Porter, as you’ll soon hear, is one of the most charismatic, positive and inspirational people you could meet. Not only does Bobby have dozens of fascinating and fun stories to share with listeners, but he always places these tales in context of influential moments of growth and achievement in his life.

Part 1 of our visit with Bobby covers the start of his stunt performer career, how his size that led him to double for child actors in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE and ACE ELI AND RODGERS OF THE SKIES lead him to an opportunity to play young Cornelius, the son of Roddy McDowall’s Caesar in BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES. Bobby shares his secret of how he ensured his Cornelius closely resembled his father through a secret appliance trick McDowall used in his performance.

Bobby Porter on the Planet of the Apes

by Damn Dirty Geeks

Subscribe and listen to this episode: Download | iTunes | iHeartRadio | Google Play Music | Stitcher

Bobby also shares stories of his part in the Disaster genre boom of the 1970s, doubling for young actors Eric Shea in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE and Mike Lookinland in THE TOWERING INFERNO. Porter worked in many Disney live action films thereafter, along with stunt work in notable films including E.T. THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL, BLADE RUNNER before starting his stunt coordinator career in THE TOY. Yet Bobby continued his stunt performances for many years, with one of his most notable “appearances” doubling as John Connor during the flood channel motorcycle chase in TERMINATOR 2.

PART 2 of our podcast episode with Bobby Porter is coming soon, so stay tuned.

To get early access to Damn Dirty Geeks episodes before we publish them to the public, sign up for the DDG Newsletter. It’s free, we won’t spam you, and you’ll be the first to learn about new DDG episodes and special events, including our plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of PLANET OF THE APES in April 2018.

Bobby Porter portrays young Cornelius in a pivotal thematic moment in BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES.

(L to R): Natalie Trundy as Lisa, Roddy McDowall as Caesar, and Bobby Porter as Cornelius in BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES.

Bobby Porter being transformed into Cornelius by makeup artist Jimmy Phillips, about whom Bobby shares a tender, impactful story in our podcast.

From BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES: (L TO R) Roddy McDowall as Caesar, Austin Stoker as McDonald, Paul Williams as Virgil, Bobby Porter as Cornelius, and Noah Keen as Abe.

Bobby Porter as Cornelius stands up for higher ape principles in a scene from BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES.

Bobby Porter as Cornelius gets cornered up in a tree by General Aldo in a climactic scene from BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES.

Bobby Porter extended his participation in the APES franchise, playing two character roles in the PLANET OF THE APES television series, seen here as Remus in the 1974 episode 'The Good Seeds'.

A reunion of APES actors with France Nuyen, Ron Harper, Bobby Porter, H.M. Wynant, Natalie Trundy, Lee Delano, Lou Wagner, Booth Coleman and Austin Stoker.

Box cover art for the vintage 1974 Planet of the Apes board game, featuring Roddy McDowall as Caesar, Natalie Trundy as Lisa, and Bobby Porter as Cornelius.

Actor Bobby Porter, who played Cornelius in BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES poses with a Fox promotional "GO APE!" marathon poster.

A tense scene from THE TOWERING INFERNO in which Bobby Porter doubled for Mike Lookinland in the harrowing stairwell climb.

Bobby Porter doubling Mike Lookinland's character in a stunt shot from THE TOWERING INFERNO.

The flood channel chase scene from TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY in which Bobby Porter doubled for actor Edward Furlong as John Connor races his motorcycle to evade the T-1000 in a semi cab.

The flood channel chase scene from TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY in which Bobby Porter doubled for actor Edward Furlong as John Connor gets a lift from another stunt performer doubling Arnold Schwartzenegger.

In addition to being a prominent stunt performer in the industry, Bobby Porter is also a marathon enthusiast, having run over 50,000 miles... so far!

Several of the 50,000-plus miles Bobby Porter has run were spent atop the Great Wall in China.

Bobby Porter appears at Monsterpalooza 2016 to promote MAKING APES, an upcoming 2018 documentary MAKING APES: THE ARTISTS WHO CHANGED FILM, directed by William Conlin and executive produced by Tom Burman.

The Damn Dirty Geeks go ape in his episode: (front row) Frank Dietz, Bobby Porter, Frank Woodward; (back row) Jack Bennett and Scott Weitz.

The DDG crew are captivated by Bobby Porter's fascinating and inspirational stories of his life and career thus far.

SHOW NOTES:

As Bobby Porter tells us, when doubling for Eric Shea in 1973’s ACE ELI AND RODGERS OF THE SKIES, he wore makeup to better resemble the child actor in flying shots, thus becoming the first stuntman to wear appliances to resemble an actor for the camera. Bobby also holds the World Record for the greatest age difference between stuntman and the actor he doubled in a scene.

To get the latest updates on the documentary MAKING APES: THE ARTISTS WHO CHANGED FILM, you can like their official Facebook page.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Of course, the DDG recommend all APES fans own the entire Planet Of The Apes Legacy Collection via Amazon.

You can also see Bobby Porter in Planet of the Apes – The Complete TV Series (1974) via Amazon.

APES fans might also collect Return to the Planet of the Apes – The Complete Animated Series via Amazon.

Great news for APES gamers: the new Monopoly: Planet of the Apes edition is now available via Amazon.

Also new is IDW Games Planet of the Apes Adventure Board Game via Amazon.

0 Comments

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

Bobby Porter on the Planet of the Apes – Part 2 | Damn Dirty Geeks - […] whom we hope will return for a third episode as MAKING APES makes its release in 2018. Listen to…

Frank Dietz

JACK BENNETT

TRISH GEIGER

Scott Weitz

Frank Woodward

RATE OUR EPISODES!

Now you can rank our podcast episodes and articles by clicking the circled stars below on the right. Our highest rated shows are automatically featured on the website main page, so make your vote count today!