Veteran wrangler worked with Hollywood’s best

May 7, 2014 · 0 Comments

By Mark Pavilons

Every piece of art and every framed photograph in John “Frenchie” Berger’s Nobleton home has a story and some meaning behind it.
If only they could talk.
The veteran Hollywood horseman, stunt man and weapons master has worked with the best and taught the most infamous of big screen characters.
Berger grins from ear to ear as he recounts the most enjoyable moments of his life’s journey. And there have been many, indeed.
But there were some tragic ones, too.
Known as the little boy from Marseille, he was somewhat of a hero in the town of Anterrieux during the Second World War. Just a boy, Berger was part of the French resistance and this area was the site of fierce fighting by some 3,000 members of the French Maquis, battling Nazi troops in June 1944. He was even captured and interrogated by the SS but released. He refused to leave his herd behind, and went from hamlet to hamlet delivering water to those in need.
While the experience left him with a hatred of warfare, it invariably shaped his life in some ways.
He went on to join the French airborne and spent time in Tunisia. During a stint in Vietnam he was injured and left after his tour was over.
It was an exciting time and his experiences with people in many countries have given him some valuable insights. Humans have been fighting for millenia and for some cultures conflict has been part of their heritage. “Change has to come from within,” he observed.
He had originally hoped to land in the U.S., but restrictions on entry at the time led him to Canada and his first home of Winnipeg. He moved to Toronto in 1955.
His love of horses as a youngster led him to the Circle M Ranch in Kleinburg where he landed work and showed off his equestrian skills. Letting people know he was from France earned him the lifelong nickname “Frenchie.”
He soon landed jobs as a horse wrangler, extra and stunt man in early westerns. He also helped launch an organization for stunt workers recognized by ACTRA.
As his skill and reputation grew, “Frenchie” Berger was working in film and TV productions all over the world.
Berger learned from the very best – famed stunt man Yakima Canutt, who worked closely with the legendary John Wayne. Canutt helped Wayne with his trademark swagger. He also taught Wayne to fall off a horse and the duo were known for creating realistic on-screen fighting techniques, some of which are still used today.
Canutt also trained Charlton Heston for Ben-Hur’s chariot races.
Berger’s expertise in weapons led him to another Hollywood career as a weapons master in countless films. He launched Shooting with the Stars prop company and he became a sought-after commodity.
Some of his credits include Police Academy, Ghostbusters, Robocop TV series, The Blues Brothers and more recently X-Men (2000), American Psycho (2000) and A History of Violence (2005).
Berger was proud to have worked with the likes of Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Carl Weathers and Angie Dickinson in the 1981 film Death Hunt. He also worked on a Second World War movie filmed in Cheltenham in nearby Caledon in 1970.
He trained actors, stunt workers and extras on the safe use of firearms. He altered weapons and modified them for specific uses. Blank-firing weapons were more common before the use of CGI. He’s had to deactivate live military weapons. They used everything from rubber handguns to the airsoft models used by backyard plinkers today. During his career he had to simply roll up his sleeves, get to work to solve problems to make it work.
He said he really enjoyed the classic westerns, largely due to his love of horses.
He spent more than 45 years in the industry and loved every minute of it.
“It’s a business that draws you in. It’s in your blood.”
As he retired and winds down, he still gets calls for advice from producers and film companies. He’s a walking encyclopedia of knowledge, and has a ton of anecdotes if you’re up for a chat.
He wouldn’t change anything and would “do it all over again” in a heartbeat.
Following in his footsteps is his daughter Stephanie Lee Berger, a weapons handler since 1999. She’s worked on such films as Dawn of the Dead (2004), The Recruit with Al Pacino, 16 Blocks and The Tuxedo with Jackie Chan.
John has been married to Beverley Berger since 1972. Beverley is well known in Nobleton as a spokesperson for the Lions Club dog guide program.
The little boy from Marseille has definitely left his mark on the motion picture landscape.