Gene LeBell

Gene LeBell

Birth : 1932-10-09, Los Angeles, California, USA

History

Ivan Gene LeBell (born October 9, 1932) is an American martial artist, stunt performer, actor, and former professional wrestler. Nicknamed "the Godfather of Grappling", LeBell is widely credited with popularizing grappling in professional fighting circles, serving as a precursor to modern mixed martial arts. LeBell has also worked on over 1,000 films and TV shows and has authored 12 books. In 2000, the United States Ju-Jitsu Federation (USJJF) promoted him to 9th Dan in jujitsu and taihojutsu. On August 7, 2004, the World Martial Arts Masters Association promoted LeBell to 10th Degree and in February 2005, he was promoted to 9th Dan in Traditional Judo by the USJJF. LeBell served as an inspiration for the character of Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Profile

Gene LeBell

Movies

The Ronda Rousey Story: Through My Father's Eyes
This documentary chronicles former Olympian and UFC champion Ronda Rousey's ascent to iconic status in the world of mixed martial arts.
Fury of the Fist and the Golden Fleece
The Boss
When the Fist found a mystical gold fleece jacket, he became the biggest porn star of the 1970s. But in the ‘80s, he’s on the cusp of eviction from a run-down studio apartment, having lost his gold fleece and his mojo along with it. When a local street thug named Superfly enters the diner where Fist works, robbing his customers, Fist and friends fight back. And thus begins a wild adventure, as Superfly’s bosses come to collect from Fist, sending him on a journey that unravels a conspiracy to sell meat pumped full of estrogen, which threatens to emasculate men.
I Am Bruce Lee
Self
Bruce Lee is universally recognized as the pioneer who elevated martial arts in film to an art form, and this documentary will reveal why Bruce Lee's flame burns brighter now than the day he died over three decades ago. The greatest martial artists, athletes, actors, directors, and producers in the entertainment business today will share their feelings about the one who started it all. We will interview the people whose lives, careers, and belief systems were forever altered by the legendary "Father of Martial Arts Cinema". Rarely seen archival footage and classic photos will punctuate the personal testimonials. Prepare to be inspired.
From Mexico With Love
Referee
A washed-up trainer takes a self-destructive young boxer under his wing.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Utility Stunts
After five (or six) years of vanilla-wedded bliss, ordinary suburbanites John and Jane Smith are stuck in a huge rut. Unbeknownst to each other, they are both coolly lethal, highly-paid assassins working for rival organisations. When they discover they're each other's next target, their secret lives collide in a spicy, explosive mix of wicked comedy, pent-up passion, nonstop action and high-tech weaponry.
Cellular
Driving Instructor (uncredited)
A young man receives an emergency phone call on his cell phone from an older woman. She claims to have been kidnapped – and the kidnappers have targeted her husband and child next.
Bruce Almighty
Stunts
Bruce Nolan toils as a 'human interest' television reporter in Buffalo, N.Y., but despite his high ratings and the love of his beautiful girlfriend, Bruce remains unfulfilled. At the end of the worst day in his life, he angrily ridicules God—and the Almighty responds, endowing Bruce with all of His divine powers.
Jackass: The Movie
Self
Johnny Knoxville and his band of maniacs perform a variety of stunts and gross-out gags on the big screen for the first time. They wander around Japan in panda outfits, wreak havoc on a once civilized golf course, they even do stunts involving LIVE alligators, and so on.
Men in Black II
Subway Passenger (uncredited)
Kay and Jay reunite to provide our best, last and only line of defense against a sinister seductress who levels the toughest challenge yet to the MIB's untarnished mission statement – protecting Earth from the scum of the universe. It's been four years since the alien-seeking agents averted an intergalactic disaster of epic proportions. Now it's a race against the clock as Jay must convince Kay – who not only has absolutely no memory of his time spent with the MIB, but is also the only living person left with the expertise to save the galaxy – to reunite with the MIB before the earth submits to ultimate destruction.
The Last Castle
Stunts
A court-martialed general rallies together 1200 inmates to rise against the system that put him away.
Rat Race
Veteran with Gun
In an ensemble film about easy money, greed, manipulation and bad driving, a Las Vegas casino tycoon entertains his wealthiest high rollers -- a group that will bet on anything -- by pitting six ordinary people against each other in a wild dash for $2 million jammed into a locker hundreds of miles away. The tycoon and his wealthy friends monitor each racer's every move to keep track of their favorites. The only rule in this race is that there are no rules.
Man on the Moon
Foxy Jackson Referee
The story of the life and career of eccentric avant-garde comedian, Andy Kaufman.
Hard Time
Eddie
Burt Reynolds plays Logan McQueen, a veteran, tough cop who likes to see justice done by his own ways. Things go bad after McQueen is framed for murder. Now he has to escape from a maximum security prison, and seek, on the deadly streets of a hot and dangerous Miami, for the man who wants him down...
Rush Hour
Taxi Driver
When Hong Kong Inspector Lee is summoned to Los Angeles to investigate a kidnapping, the FBI doesn't want any outside help and assigns cocky LAPD Detective James Carter to distract Lee from the case. Not content to watch the action from the sidelines, Lee and Carter form an unlikely partnership and investigate the case themselves.
L.A. Confidential
Stunts
Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.
Double Tap
Wallace
A drug-lord targets an undercover FBI agent and the hit man she falls in love with while tracking.
Batman & Robin
Stunts
Batman and Robin deal with relationship issues while preventing Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from attacking Gotham City.
Batman & Robin
Arkham Asylum Property Room Guard
Batman and Robin deal with relationship issues while preventing Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from attacking Gotham City.
Dante's Peak
Stunts
Volcanologist Harry Dalton comes to the sleepy town of Dante's Peak to investigate the recent rumblings of the dormant volcano the burg is named for. Before long, his worst fears are realized when a massive eruption hits, and immediately, Harry, the mayor and the townspeople find themselves fighting for their lives amid a catastrophic nightmare.
Independence Day
Stunts
On July 2, a giant alien mothership enters orbit around Earth and deploys several dozen saucer-shaped 'destroyer' spacecraft that quickly lay waste to major cities around the planet. On July 3, the United States conducts a coordinated counterattack that fails. On July 4, a plan is devised to gain access to the interior of the alien mothership in space, in order to plant a nuclear missile.
Shaughnessy: The Iron Marshal
NYC bouncer
Irish immigrant Tommy Shaughnessy leaves 19th-century New York City for Kansas and becomes a small-town sheriff.
3 Ninjas Knuckle Up
Red-Haired Waste Plant Worker Punching Rocky (uncredited)
Rocky, Colt and TumTum must battle an evil wealthy toxic waste dumper in order to save a local Indian tribe and their friend Joe. The 3 Ninjas must help find Joe's father and find a secret disk that contains evidence that could stop the toxic landfill that is destroying the Indian community. However the town is owned by the rich man and he controls the police and even the mayor. They must fight a motorcycle gang and renegade cowboys in this non-stop ninja adventure.
Steel Frontier
Stunts
Set in a post-nuclear-holocaust future, this sci-fi western takes place in the frontier city of New Hope, the only place around with a working oil refinery. Ever since a megalomaniac general and his followers took over the place, life has been miserable. Then a stranger, a man-of-few-words, comes to town. A quick-drawing gunslinger, he first joins the conquerors. As time passes, however, it rapidly becomes apparent that he really sides with the townsfolk, and when the time is right, he leads them into a violent uprising.
Ed Wood
Ring Announcer (uncredited)
The mostly true story of the legendary "worst director of all time", who, with the help of his strange friends, filmed countless B-movies without ever becoming famous or successful.
Bloodfist IV: Die Trying
Burly
When Danny unknowingly repossesses the car of a powerful arms merchant, it sets off a chain of violent retaliation. After his friends are killed and his daughter is kidnapped, Danny takes matters into his own hands. It does not matter that the CIA and the FBI are also involved the Dragon's fire is in his fists!
Rapid Fire
Red Haired Serrano Gunman (uncredited)
College student Jake Lo is pursued by smugglers, mobsters and crooked federal agents after he witnesses a murder by a Mafia kingpin.
Alligator 2: The Mutation
Referee (uncredited)
A giant mutated alligator runs riot in a small town after the sewer system washes it into a lake.
Eyes of an Angel
Pit Bull Handler
John Travolta is a downtrodden single father raising his daughter under difficult circumstances in Chicago. The young girl comes upon and then nurses a wounded Doberman used for fighting, back to health. Duped by underworld types he was working as a courier for, father and daughter leave the dog and flee cross-country to Los Angeles with both canine and mobsters in pursuit.
Kickboxer 2: The Road Back
Referee
In this rousing sequel to Kickboxer, Tong Po broods about his defeat at the hands of Kurt Sloan. Po and his managers resort to drastic measures to goad Kurt into the ring for a rematch.
Die Hard 2
Stunts
Off-duty cop John McClane is gripped with a feeling of déjà vu when, on a snowy Christmas Eve in the nation’s capital, terrorists seize a major international airport, holding thousands of holiday travelers hostage. Renegade military commandos led by a murderous rogue officer plot to rescue a drug lord from justice and are prepared for every contingency except one: McClane’s smart-mouthed heroics.
RoboCop 2
Stunts
After a successful deployment of the Robocop Law Enforcement unit, OCP sees its goal of urban pacification come closer and closer, but as this develops, a new narcotic known as "Nuke" invades the streets led by God-delirious leader Cane. As this menace grows, it may prove to be too much for Murphy to handle. OCP tries to replicate the success of the first unit, but ends up with failed prototypes with suicidal issues... until Dr. Faxx, a scientist straying away from OCP's path, uses Cane as the new subject for the Robocop 2 project, a living God.
Dick Tracy
Stunts
The comic strip detective finds his life vastly complicated when Breathless Mahoney makes advances towards him while he is trying to battle Big Boy Caprice's united mob.
Loose Cannons
Grimmer's man
Mac, the two-fisted, savvy cop finds that he's being saddled with a new partner, a known burnout, to work with him on a new and difficult case. The new partner is Ellis, an amazing detective, one who puts Sherlock Holmes to shame with his lightning-fast deductions. But he keeps assuming the personalities of entire casts of Television shows. This can be a problem when people begin shooting at them.
Dead Heat
Stunts
LAPD police officer, Roger Mortis is killed while arresting zombies who have been reanimated by the head of Dante Laboratories in order to carry out violent armed robberies.
The Running Man
Stunts
By 2017, the global economy has collapsed and U.S. society has become a totalitarian police state, censoring all cultural activity. The government pacifies the populace by broadcasting a number of game shows in which convicted criminals fight for their lives, including the gladiator-style The Running Man, hosted by the ruthless Damon Killian, where “runners” attempt to evade “stalkers” and certain death for a chance to be pardoned and set free.
The Lost Boys
Stunts
A mother and her two teenage sons move to a seemingly nice and quiet small coastal California town yet soon find out that it's overrun by bike gangs and vampires. A couple of teenage friends take it upon themselves to hunt down the vampires that they suspect of a few mysterious murders and restore peace and calm to their town.
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown
Cannery Guard
After the death of his girlfriend's daughter from a drug overdose, Paul Kersey takes on the local drug cartel.
Number One with a Bullet
Referee
Number One with a Bullet is a 1987 American police detective film directed by Jack Smight. A pair of detectives is assigned to investigate a murder, and discover a trail of corruption and criminal activity that leads right back to their own police department.
The Golden Child
Stunts
After a Tibetan boy, the mystical Golden Child, is kidnapped by the evil Sardo Numspa, humankind's fate hangs in the balance. On the other side of the world in Los Angeles, the priestess Kee Nang seeks the Chosen One, who will save the boy from death. When Nang sees social worker Chandler Jarrell on television discussing his ability to find missing children, she solicits his expertise, despite his skepticism over being "chosen."
The Golden Child
Drunken Biker (uncredited)
After a Tibetan boy, the mystical Golden Child, is kidnapped by the evil Sardo Numspa, humankind's fate hangs in the balance. On the other side of the world in Los Angeles, the priestess Kee Nang seeks the Chosen One, who will save the boy from death. When Nang sees social worker Chandler Jarrell on television discussing his ability to find missing children, she solicits his expertise, despite his skepticism over being "chosen."
Eye of the Tiger
Stunts
Buck is a Vietnam vet, recently released from prison. He returns home to discover the town being terrorized by a vicious motorcycle gang. When the bikers murder his wife and traumatize his daughter, Buck and his friends arm themselves to the teeth and wage war against the gang to destroy them once and for all.
Bad Guys
Terrible Turk Mc Gurk
Two LA cops turn to professional wrestling for money and revenge after being suspended from the force for a bar brawl.
Rocky IV
Stunts
Rocky Balboa proudly holds the world heavyweight boxing championship, but a new challenger has stepped forward: Drago, a six-foot-four, 261-pound fighter who has the backing of the Soviet Union.
D.A.R.Y.L.
Stunts
Daryl is a normal 10-year-old boy in many ways. However, unbeknown to his foster parents and friends, Daryl is actually a government-created robot with superhuman reflexes and mental abilities. Even his name has a hidden meaning -- it's actually an acronym for Data Analyzing Robot Youth Life-form. When the organization that created him deems the "super soldier" experiment a failure and schedules Daryl to be disassembled, it is up to a few rogue scientists to help him escape.
Micki & Maude
Wrestling Referee
TV reporter Rob Salinger is married to Micki, but because she's always busy working, they hardly ever spend time together. One night at which he got stood up by Micki again, Rob meets cellist Maude and they soon get romanticly involved. When it turns out Maude is pregnant with his baby, Rob decides to marry Maude. When he's on the verge of telling Micki, she tells him she's pregnant, so he doesn't have the heart to leave her, but he marries Maude anyway. Now married to two pregnant women who don't know about each other, Rob has a busy time taking care of both and keep them from finding out.
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Hood
Juliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash was no accident. Her father was a prominent cheese scientist working on a secret recipe. To prove it was murder, she enlists the services of private eye Rigby Reardon. He finds a slip of paper containing a list of people who are 'The Friends and Enemies of Carlotta'.
Smokey Bites the Dust
Turk
Follows the rivalry between a small-town Southern sheriff and a small-town delinquent who steals cars and then destroys them with the sheriff’s daughter by his side.
Going Ape!
Faraday
When his father - who owned a circus - dies, Oscar inherits 5 million dollars - and 3 orang outangs. However there's a condition connected to the money: if he gives away the apes or just one gets sick or dies during the next 3 years, the zoologic society will get all the money. So he not only has to deal with 3 apes and an annoyed girlfriend, but also with a greedy zoologic society's president.
Inside Moves
Stunts
After a failed suicide attempt leaves him partially crippled, Rory begins spending a lot of time at a neighborhood bar full of interesting misfits. When Jerry the bartender suddenly finds himself playing basketball for the Golden State Warriors, Rory and the rest of the bar regulars hope his success will provide a lift to their sagging spirits. Will Jerry forget his friends? What about his junkie hooker girlfriend and her pimp?
Raging Bull
Ring Announcer (Reeves Fight)
The life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.
The Big Brawl
Stroke (as Gene La Bell)
A young Asian American martial artist is forced to participate in a brutal formal street-fight competition.
Goldie and the Boxer
Vinnie
Lighthearted tale of a 10-year-old girl who, when her boxer father dies, strikes up a relationship with a struggling fighter who was his sparring partner and takes on the job of managing him from obscurity to the championship.
The Jerk
Con Man
After discovering he's not really black like the rest of his family, likable dimwit Navin Johnson runs off on a hilarious misadventure in this comedy classic that takes him from rags to riches and back to rags again. The slaphappy jerk strikes it rich, but life in the fast lane isn't all it's cracked up to be and, in the end, all that really matters to Johnson is his true love.
The Prize Fighter
Stunts
"Bags" the boxer (funnyman Tim Conway) and his manager, Shake (Don Knotts), are quite a pair: One is a dim bulb, and the other has a mean streak. Times are tough and they must save their gym, so they line up some moneymaking fights. But when Bags and Shake discover that the bouts have been rigged, they end up with their backs to the wall and must fight back -- literally.
Marciano
Ring Announcer
A highly romanticized dramatization of the life of Rocky Marciano, the only heavyweight champion to have retired with a perfect record.
Flesh & Blood
2nd Fat Guy
A young street-tough-turned-boxer struggles to reach the top while finding his romance with an attractive TV reporter is complicated by an incestuous relationship with his mother.
Every Which Way but Loose
Biker
Philo Beddoe is your regular, easygoing, truck-driving guy. He's also the best bar-room brawler west of the Rockies. And he lives with a 165-pound orangutan named Clyde. Like other guys, Philo finally falls in love - with a flighty singer who leads him on a screwball chase across the American Southwest. Nothing's in the way except a motorcycle gang, and legendary brawler Tank Murdock.
Almost Summer
Football Coach
A high-school election gets nasty.
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan
Mean Bones' Manager
In this third film version of the Bad News Bears series, Tony Curtis plays a small time promotor/hustler who takes the pint-sized baseball team to Japan for a match against the country's best little league baseball team which sparks off a series of adventures and mishaps the boys come into.
I Wanna Hold Your Hand
Theatre Cop: Reese
If they missed Beatles' first appearance in the U.S.A. they would hate themselves for the rest of their lives! So four young girls from New Jersey set off even though they don't have tickets for the show! The journey is full of surprises and misfortunes but the young ladies are determined to reach their idols.
The One and Only
Reigning World Wrestling Champion (uncredited)
1951: Andy Schmidt is in his last year of college. Taking life easy and always a saucy joke on his lips, he manages to win fellow student Mary's heart, although she's already otherwise engaged. But getting a job after college turns out much harder than expected; most directors take offense at his free interpretation of his roles. Desperate, he tries in wrestling. To avoid getting beaten up he stages the fights - and incidentally invents show-wrestling.
No Way Back
Crowder is a an unethical private detective in pursuit of a gangster who's after embezzled money.
99 and 44/100% Dead
Stunts
Uncle Frank Kelly calls on Harry Crown to help him in a gang war. The war becomes personal when Harry's new girlfriend is kidnapped by Uncle Frank's enemy, Big Eddie.
Black Samson
Nappa's Gang (as Gene LaBell)
Noble nightclub owner Samson does his best to keep his neighborhood clean of crime and drugs. When vicious mobster Johnny Nappa tries to muscle in on Samson's territory, Samson takes a brave stand against Nappa and his flunkies.
California Split
Stunts
Carefree single guy Charlie Waters rooms with two lovely prostitutes, Barbara Miller and Susan Peters, and lives to gamble. Along with his glum betting buddy, Bill Denny, Charlie sets out on a gambling streak in search of the ever-elusive big payday. While Charlie and Bill have some lucky moments, they also have to contend with serious setbacks that threaten to derail their hedonistic betting binge.
Slaughter's Big Rip Off
Leo (uncredited)
Vigilante Slaughter comes under attack from Duncan, a local money launderer whose hit-man traps Slaughter in a car at a cliff, but Slaughter escapes, arms himself, and goes after Duncan's hideout.
Cleopatra Jones
Mommy's Henchman (uncredited)
After federal agent Cleopatra Jones orders the burning of a Turkish poppy field, the notorious drug lord Mommy vows to destroy her.
Walking Tall
2nd Bouncer
Ex-wrestler and Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser walks tall and carries a big stick as he tussles with county-wide corruption and moonshining thugs.
Melinda
Hood
A slick, smooth-talking, womanizing young black DJ falls hard for an enigmatic woman he's just met. Things take a turn for the worse, though, when she is found dead in his apartment. It turns out that she was killed by the local mob, which is trying to frame him for the crime. With the police after him, he calls on some of his old acquaintances to help clear his name and avenge the woman's death.
Hammer
Referee
Hotheaded laborer B.J. Hammer can't go long without ending up in a fight, and, after he comes out on top in a particularly impressive workplace scuffle, word of his brawling skills makes its way to Davis, a top boxing manager. Hammer is hired by Davis and begins a lucrative career in the ring, only to find out that his new employer wants him to throw a fight and take part in other illicit activities. Hammer reacts to this news violently, and the feud is on.
The Challenge
Karate Instructor
All-out war between the United States and an Asian country is averted when the two sides agree to settle their differences by each choosing a single soldier as champion and having the two men fight to the death on an isolated island.
Paradise, Hawaiian Style
(uncredited)
Blacklisted by the major airlines for endlessly chasing female staff, pilot Rick Richards returns to Hawaii to set up a helicopter charter company with his friend Danny. Having a girl on every island is a good way to get business but it becomes clear that romance and flying don't always mix.
Blue Hawaii
(uncredited)
Chad Gates has just been discharged from the Army, and is happy to be back in Hawaii with his surf-board, his beach buddies and his girlfriend.