Stunt coordinator, director and actor Jeff Pruitt was born in the mountains of north Georgia and graduated high school in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He grew up racing motorcycles from the age of ten and competed in Karate tournaments – eventually receiving his Black Belt in Tang Soo Do.
While Jeff was in college he began working as a production assistant, camera operator and occasional extra in film and television programs shot in the Atlanta area. Eventually he used his athletic background to become a stunt performer.
Jeff moved to Los Angeles in the eighties and reunited with a director he’d worked with in Georgia and Jeff began choreographing martial arts fights for Hollywood productions. Jeff’s method of combining multiple fast fight combinations with creative stunt falls and wire work with the more acceptable Hollywood style was considered very unorthodox and it took some gradual and persistent persuasion for his work to become acceptable.
After a series of successful action films, Jeff began directing and stunt coordinating a television series called, The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. In this series he mixed the traditional Japanese style of the original Japanese series with some fanciful stunts of his own design. The Mighty Morphin Power Ranger became one of the most successful ventures in Television history.
Jeff has continued to direct, choreograph, rig and coordinate the action sequences for features, music videos, commercials and many television shows – including the wildly popular Buffy the Vampire Slayer series among others.
Jeff has been listed as one of Hollywood’s 100 Most Creative People by Entertainment Weekly magazine and has designed stunt equipment and harnesses that are in use around the world today.
Most people didn’t have camcorders shooting behind the scenes footage back then. Jeff Pruitt did. Here are some old raw VHS clips of Jeff Pruitt kicking and punching star JEFF WINCOTT in MARTIAL LAW 2: UNDERCOVER with stunt buddies PETE ANTICO, CHINO BANAMO and KOICHI SAKAMOTO in MISSION OF JUSTICE.
