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Movie Stunt Pilot To Be Inducted Into Motorsports Hall of Fame |
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Novi, MI – Best known as the motion picture industry's foremost stunt flyer, Paul Mantz will join other air racing greats like Amelia Earhart and Jimmy Doolittle in being enshrined into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America on June 12. Corkey Fornof will present the bronze "Horsepower" statuette to Paul Mantz's grandson, Greg Mantz. Fornof is arguably the top stunt pilot today, with motion picture credits including "Mission Impossible II," "Six Days Seven Nights," "Face Off," "Jurassic Park," and "Octopussy." "Paul Mantz has been a great inspiration in my career having done many stunts that I would still like to emulate," said Fornof. Although Mantz is best known for his stunt flying in motion pictures like "Men With Wings," "Twelve O'Clock High," "Flying Leathernecks," "Flying Tigers," and "The Spirit Of St. Louis," he was also an accomplished air racer. His greatest triumph was winning three consecutive Bendix Trophy Race wins, in which he flew non-stop from Van Nuys, Calif. to Cleveland, Ohio. Mantz died in a movie plane crash while on the set of "Flight of the Phoenix" in 1965 at the age of 62. Other inductees that will join Mantz in being enshrined into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America include: Dale Earnhardt, stock car racing; Gordon Johncock, open wheel racing; Fred Offenhauser, at-large; Eddie Hill, drag racing; Eddie Lawson, motorcycle racing; Brian Redman, sports car racing; and Gaston Chevrolet, historic racing pre-World War II. The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America houses numerous racing and high performance vehicles. The continually changing collection showcases racers and vehicles from the world of Indy cars, stock cars, Can Am, Trans-Am, sprint cars, powerboats, airplanes, truck racing and motorcycles. Among the highlights is the last ever Novi Special Indy car, namesake of the city of Novi, Mich. For more information, please call (248) 349-7223. ### |