PETHEL, Robert L., as "Tex Darrow".

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Daredevil and Stunt Shows. Captivating snapshot of American thrill shows during the early 1940s: a scrapbook of original photographs, cyanotypes, clippings and programmes, maintained by motorcyclist Tex Darrow, chronicling his career with well-known national troupe, the Hollywood Daredevil Aces.Darrow, real name Robert L. Pethel (1919-1981), was a motorcycle enthusiast and stunt rider, renowned for his death-defying leaps over multiple parked cars. The sharply focused cyanotypes and original snapshots present here capture Pethel's motorcycle leaps, crashes through flaming boards, rollovers, a "Wreckem Race", cars being driven head-on through brick walls ("Human Battering Ram - Ouch!"), the stunt crash of a biplane into a mock building, and more. Pethel would serve with the US Navy during the Second World War (1944-45) and in the Korean War (1950-51). Later he would become an electrician for Puget Sound Bridge & Dredge Co., and finally end his career as electrician foreman with Lockheed Shipbuilding in Seattle.The Hollywood Daredevil Aces were led by either Captain Bob Ward or Captain Harry Simpson. Originally from Kansas, Ward was a Hollywood stuntman who claimed to have worked on stunts for Howard Hughes's 1930 picture Hells Angels. His Thrills, Inc. shows featured stunt driving by Ward and all manner of hair-raising stunts.The first and longer of the two typed letters signed from Ward to Pethel (dated 8 February 1941; the other 24 February 1941), offers an insight into the

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