Daredevil Gloucester stunt man Dick Sheppard, who appeared in The Italian Job, dies aged 90

A daredevil stunt driver and showman who once held the record for having the most entries in the Guinness Book of Records, has died, aged 90.

Dick Sheppard boasted that he had wrecked 2,003 cars, appeared in 500 films including the iconic 'Italian Job,' and held 18 world records during his career.

The death of the three times married father of nine, who also had a stepdaughter, on March 1 was announced by his family on his Facebook page today.

They said: “Fondly known by many for his obsession with cars and motorbikes; he was truly a larger than life character who caught the public's attention with his daredevil stunts and world records.

“His final wishes, however, were that we, his family, might grieve in private so that we can reflect upon his other roles as husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.”

Dick, who was born and raised in Gloucester and lived in the city all his life, called himself "The World's Most Prolific Stuntman – As documented by the Guinness Book Of Records."

He did everything imaginable, and sometimes unimaginable, on wheels - and occasionally on horseback - and lived to tell the tale in an autobiography he published himself a few years ago - 'Whirling Wheels and Dancing Hooves.'

He told how he went from his first motorcycle scramble as a nine-year old just after the Second World War to become a stunt man who featured in the Guinness Book of Records every year from 1969 to 1996. He finally retired from his daredevil career in 1993 after wrecking his 2,000th car at a show in South Africa.

Dick's first world record - one of his favourites - was in 1969 when he rode an ex-army motorbike through a 100 foot tunnel of fire.

He regarded it is a record that will never be beaten because after four people had died trying it was withdrawn from the Guinness Book of Records.

He often commented that he had appeared in the Guinness Book more than anyone else... "even the editor!"

His most treasured possessions, he said, were 766 ignition keys from cars he had written off with his dramatic stunts.

"I've wrecked more cars than you could fit into all the car parks in the middle of Gloucester," he would say.

Retirement did not keep him out of the limelight, however - he became a popular public speaker and every Christmas he turned his large detached home in Stroud Road, Gloucester, into a winter fairyland with numerous moving Santas, reindeers and other festive characters as well as thousands of lights.

Dick attended Calton Road Junior School in Gloucester and later the Crypt grammar school where his academic success earned him a place at Cambridge University but he later opted not to go and took a job in a motorcycle shop instead.

He said he regarded his greatest achievements as being top points winner in Stock Car Racing for four consecutive seasons, his numerous world records, and writing a successful book about his exploits.

Not surprisingly Dick rated his fabourite film The Italian Job, in which he was a car stunt driver.

"My favourite film of all time has got to be The Italian Job. It contains all the ingredients for a night of escapism at the cinema. It was a very low budget movie, but it was great fun to make, and it must be heading for the record of the most repeated film on TV" he said.

Asked when he was 84 if he had any remaining ambitions, Dick's reply was "There are 196 countries in the world. I have worked in 35 of them and visited another 16, but that still means there are 145 that I have never been to. With the increase in airfares and the decreasing value of my savings I think that my only hope is to buy a boat!"

Dick's most recent public appearance was in December when he went to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital to get a Covid vaccination.

Dick is survived by his children and his third wife Phoebe.

Gloucestershire Live, 3rd March 2021