The Coffin of Death

History of the Coffin of Death

Friday the Thirteenth conjures up all sorts of images in ones mind. Bad luck and superstitions are the cornerstones of the day. What better time to present the "Thrill Show & Destruction Derby" at the Houston Astrodome? On January 13-14, 1978 that is exactly what took place. On the bill, was a performer who had appeared on TV numerous times and was building his reputation as the most exciting escape artist around, Steve Baker.

Steve was going to attempt to break the world record for the fastest hanging straight jacket escape, previously set by Jimmy Dixon. For this stunt, Baker would hang twenty-two stories above the audience. It would take more than seven minutes just to raise him to the starting position. As was his custom, Steve held a handkerchief firmly in his mouth, which he dropped the moment his escape attempt began.

From My Press Kit

Hollywood Baker

Hollywood Baker-The Escape Artist Movie

(reprinted from my old website, which is why it's not in first person)

In the 1970's Steve was asked to present a stunt to help promote the Society of American Magicians Convention in Hollywood. The stunt that he chose to do was his hanging straight jacket escape from the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Through his connections, he was able to secure permission and get approval from the city police. For the stunt, half of the street would be blocked off in order to contain the crowd. As it turned out, they had to close the entire street because so many people came out to watch the escape. Steve received a ton of media coverage both in the press and television. The hanging straightjacket escape at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel created quite a buzz around town and helped to make the Hollywood insiders aware of Steve.
The P.R. Firm that Steve Baker used during this time was LaMagra & Wood. Because of Steve's celebrity status in the Los Angeles area, his press agents sent him out to several movie premiers. One of those was a movie called, "The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings" starring Billy Dee Williams and James Earl Jones. It was a star studded affair and Steve was happy to be one of the many celebrities in attendance.
At the movie premier, a producer by the name of Doug Claybourne came up to Steve and mentioned that he admired his work and had actually been trying to contact him. Claybourne was in the midst of working on a project having to do with escapes or an escape artist. Steve gave him his card and Doug also spent some time talking to Steve's press people.
Some time went by before Doug contacted Steve. Doug invited him to visit his office at the American Zotrope Studios Lot. This was Francis Ford Coppolla's production studio. Doug was executive producer on a new movie called, The Escape Artist based on a book by David Wagoner.
This movie would mark the directorial debut of Caleb Deschanel. Caleb is one of the most respected movie cinematographers in Hollywood. His works include The Black Stallion, Apocalypse Now, Fly Away Home, Anna and the King, National Treasure and The Passion of the Christ. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for his work on The Right Stuff and The Natural.
At the meeting with Doug Claybourne, Caleb Deschanel and Stephen Zito, they wanted Steve's assistance as a technical advisor. But before they would agree to anything, the group wanted a demonstration. Mr. Escape whipped out a pair of thumbcuffs and went into his signature thumbcuff routine. Though they enjoyed it, they told Steve what they really wanted to know was whether or not he could get out of their handcuffs. Baker told them he could.
Doug Claybourne called the head of security who showed up a few minutes later. The security chief had a pair of peerless handcuffs. They locked Steve's hands behind his back and activated the double lock. Facing the four people present Steve began his work. Seconds later he brought his left hand to the front of his body, free of the restraints. Next he brought his right hand, still handcuffed to the front, and right there before everyone proceeded to slowly, gradually pull his hand free from the cuffs. They were floored! Mr. Escape got the job.
They gave Baker the script and told him to go through it and notate anything he thought would be a problem or would not be something feasible for an escape artist to do. After the meeting the group spent some time talking to Steve about his career accomplishments.
At the next meeting, Steve brought the script with him that he had reviewed. It was full of red markings, slashes and notations. They asked him to work with Stephen Zito, the head writer. Basically the two went through the entire script fixing all the problems.
Steve's next duty was to train young Griffin O'Neil, the son of actor Ryan O'Neil and the brother of Academy Award Winning Actress Tatum O'Neil. Griffin wanted to learn how to pick the locks on handcuffs which Steve taught him to do. Baker also convinced Griffin that there was a more effective way to get out of the cuffs that would be more visually interesting. He taught Griffin how to make it appear that his hands pulled free out of the tightly ratcheted handcuffs. Baker also worked with Griffin on breathing exercises because several of the key scenes took place underwater.
The movie relied heavily on the theme of magic. Though he felt he could handle it, Steve met a young magician who specialized in card magic named Ricky Jay, that might be perfect for the job. On a flight back from Canada to Los Angeles Steve asked Ricky if he'd be interested in working on the magic portion of this movie. At this point in his career, Ricky had no involvement in motion pictures and jumped at the opportunity. Steve contacted the movie's producers and suggested Ricky and he was brought on board.
Interestingly, Ricky and Steve were not the only magicians in the project. The roll of the father had not yet been cast. Steve Baker suggested another young magician who was breaking into acting, his name was Harry Anderson. Harry later gained fame as Judge Harry Stone on Night Court.
The Escape Artist movie didn't do particularly well at the box office but over the years has garnered a cult-like following because of some of the people in the cast. The cast included: Teri Garr, Raul Julia, Dezi Arnez, Huntz Hall, Josh Hamilton, Jackie Coogan, Harry Anderson, and Ricky Jay even had a bit part. Incidentally, since that time, Ricky Jay's movie career has blossomed.

Commentary by Steve Baker I had a great time working on this movie. I was initially the technical advisor. When the producers first showed me the script it was clear there were somethings that were just not within the scope of reality for a magician. So I helped with the rewrite. While working on the movie, I had gotten a call from the folks at the Alan Thicke Show in Canada asking me to come up and appear on their show. I flew to Canada and did the show along with magician Ricky Jay and actor Raymond Burr. Ricky and I shared a flight back to Los Angeles after the show. I felt he was ideal to consult on the magic portion of this project. I really wanted to stick to the escape portion only as I felt it fit my persona much better. Not that I have anything against magicians, but at that time in my life, I wanted to be known as an escape artist and not as a magician. I suggested Ricky to Doug Claybourne, one of the other producers of the movie. I was kept on retainer even though my part of the movie had been done. Much to my surprise I received a phone call from Doug Claybourne a while later informing me that they wouldn't need me any longer and they were going to keep Ricky as the Technical Consultant. When you watch the movie credits Ricky Jay is named as the Technical Consultant. However, near the very end of the credits there is a short paragraph written to me, by the producers, expressing their gratitude for my contributions to the movie. To be honest, I liked that more than getting the T.C. title. Doug Claybourne and Caleb Deschanel have remained friends over these many years. Steve

One Take Baker, Almost

One Take Baker, Almost

I have always been known in the industry as 'One Take Baker', mainly due to my penchant for getting the escape right the first time and not resorting to camera trickery. I have had heated discussions with producers and directors over the years who wanted to edit my escapes instead of presenting them on TV just as they appeared live. Usually directors in the entertainment community acknowledge my expertise in the area, not just in doing the escape but also how it should be shot for maximum visual impact.

With that in mind let me tell you about a trip to Japan. I was hired by the biggest television station in Japan to present a TV Special made up of several of my thrilling escapes. One of the escapes that I was hired to present was escaping from the tracks of an oncoming roller coaster. Both hands and both feet would be shackled and my job was to get free before the roller coaster ran me over.

Before I tell you the story of the stunt, let me back track somewhat. Previously I had escaped from an amusement park roller coaster for the TV show 'Games People Play'. The Japanese Television Executives heard about the escape and wanted to bring me to Japan to escape from the world famous Japanese Bullet Train. The negotiations for my trip to Japan took over a year and weren't totally finalized until about two weeks prior to our leaving for Japan.

Luckily I was able to procure the services of a lawyer who was familiar with Japanese law. I won't go into the details suffice to say the contract was ripped apart on both sides of the ocean several times before we came to an agreement. One of the stipulations in the contract that I included had to do with outdoor stunts and the weather. I told them I would not do any type of outdoor stunt if the temperature was below sixty degrees. There were certain conditions they put into the contract, one for example had to do with the proper packing of a certain item required for our performance. But that is another story for another time.

Once we arrived in Japan we learned the Japanese Government would not give permission for us to escape from their Bullet Train. Their reasons were sound. If a chain or a handcuff or anything were left on the track, due to the speed of the train it would derail. It would be a National disaster.

So instead we traveled to Kyoto Japan where the Japanese also had one of the fastest roller coasters in the world. When we arrived and my crew and I got out of our vehicles we noticed right off that something was wrong. It was snowing! And it was bitter cold. Remember, my condition about not doing outdoor stunts if the weather was below 60 degrees. I brought this fact up with the film crew and the producers. Because we had driven all the way out to Kyoto, I told them I might consider doing the stunt, but first I wanted to see the coaster and test the speeds.

We had traveled half way around the world, and it really would have been a shame not to do the stunt, so I decided to go ahead and consider it. The first thing we did was run the coaster through its course several times. I knew that as the coaster went over the tracks, the tracks would gradually heat up and the speed at which the coaster would reach me would increase. In other words, the warmer the tracks were, the less time I would have to free myself.

The first test run of the roller coaster was a minute and a half. The second run was the same. On the third run the time was one minute and twenty seconds. Eventually the time was one minute 12 seconds and this seemed to be the point in time that the coaster speed remained. Knowing this crucial bit of information, we broke for lunch.

We were treated to a wonderful feast of western food. The Japanese went all out to make us feel at home with pizza, hamburgers and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Where they found KFC in Japan is beyond me. Let's just say there was all sorts of food including rolls, butter, you name it. It was a feast. We enjoyed it and even snagged some of the butter patties and other food for later.

While still inside, I decided to test out the chains and shackles I would be using. Due to the cold the metal bit into my skin and wouldn't move. It was if the chain became part of my wrists and this would not do. My crew and I realized that this could possibly slow down my escape if not make it impossible. I had to come up with a solution to give myself more freedom of movement. Thankfully, though it was bitter cold, my brain was still warm enough to figure out a solution, we dubbed it the 'Montekia solution'.

It was time. Lunch was over and we headed back out to the coaster. I asked that the roller coaster run through the course several times so as to heat up the tracks again. While this happened a huge foam matt was placed below the area that I would be chained, this would be my landing pad if everything went smoothly.

The Japanese film crew was in position. My safety team were all in position, everything was ready to go. The restraints went around each wrist and there were chains for each leg. Laying against the hard cold steel tracks was extremely uncomfortable, but I had agreed to do this so there was no turning back now.

The signal was given to start the coaster. I began the countdown in my head. Besides being known as 'One Take Baker' I also had another moniker, I was called 'Split Second Baker'. I was going to take this stunt down to the very last moment of safety. That ratcheted up the fear factor pretty high, and made things more dangerous, but my training as a stuntman gave me the experience to pull off this kind of thing.

My liberation began, first I freed one wrist and then the second. I continued the countdown in my head as the time ticked away. Next I started to release my right ankle from the shackles. I took a split second to look up to see the location of the coaster. Tic toc tic toc. As I looked up the track I attempted to release my left ankle but oddly, saw no coaster, so I decided to take my time. It was important to my timing that I see where the coaster was. At one minute eleven seconds in my head, I released my left ankle, stood up to make my run for the rail, looked up the track, still no coaster. I reached the rail and came to a dead stop. I put both my hands on my hips, with a look of utter disgust on my face, because still there was no coaster. Next I did a fence vault over the rail and landed with a thud. I should mention it was a flat full body fall towards the matt. In case you don't know this, foam matts and cold weather don't go together too well. I might as well have fallen 18 feet onto the pavement, that's how hard the matt felt.

As, I recovered from my momentary daze, I heard the sound of the approaching coaster. Seconds later the roller coaster roared over my head, long past the time it should have arrived. What on earth happened?

I was very upset, er, no I was livid!. Immediatly I called a meeting with the producers to find out what went wrong. They assured me that it was fine, they would fix it in the post production editing room. "NO WAY! NO ONE EDITS MR.ESCAPE!" I forcefully declared to them. We argued back and forth. Eventualy, I convinced them to shoot it again. I would repeat the escape. In the meantime though we still had to find out why the timing calculations were all wrong.

Here is what happened. When we were eating lunch and working with the chain, the fellow who operates the roller coaster overheard us saying that the chain was going to slow down the escape. He feared that I would be killed during the stunt, so he purposely slowed down the speed of the train to be sure I had enough time to escape. The producers made the man apologize, I accepted his apology, no harm done.

We prepared the escape for a second time. I jokingly said to my crew, "anyone know how I escaped the first time?" and they all laughed and said loudly, "Montekia!". Indeed the 'montikia solution' was intregal in assisting me.

For a second time I was chained to the tracks. The signal was given to start the coaster. Cameras were rolling. I began my escape. This time, 'Split Second Baker' pulled off the stunt the way it was supposed to appear! Everyone was ecstatic! And for a second time I fell flat onto the rock hard matt to break my fall, ouch! The entire group was thrilled at how the escape played out.

And I once again I asked my crew, "Anyone know how I did that?" This time however the Japanese crew as well as my safety team, all cheered "Montekia!" The Japanese thought it was some sort of chant or good luck cheer that my crew and I said. In truth, montekia is Spanish for butter!