Overview

• Rondell passed away on August 12, 2025, at age 88 in a care home in Osage Beach, Missouri, with his death announced this week by The Hollywood Reporter.
• During the 1975 cover shoot he wore fireproof gear and flammable gel for over 14 takes, suffering burns to his eyebrow and mustache before achieving the final shot.
• He amassed at least 167 film credits over a decades-long career, appearing in titles from Thelma & Louise to The Matrix Reloaded and co-founding the stunt company Stunts Unlimited.
• Obituaries recalled his family’s deep ties to Hollywood stunt work and noted that his son Reid died in a 1985 helicopter accident performing a television stunt.
• The image of Rondell engulfed in flames endures as a powerful metaphor for alienation and the personal costs of show business