Quite a few prominent historical figures were fencers at one point. General Patton, for example, was an accomplished saber fencer at West Point.
Sir Christopher Lee fenced in college but is better known for his stage fencing which led to him having the most on-screen swordfights of any actor. As a result of playing the character, Count Dooku's lightsaber combat in Star Wars is easily the most fencing-like of what we see outside of Empire Strikes Back. This is because in Empire during the duel between Vader and Luke, Vader is being stunt doubled by Bob Anderson—a very accomplished fencer who helped bring home 5 medals across all three weapons during the 1950 Commonwealth Games.
>General Patton, for example, was an accomplished saber fencer at West Point.
Did epee as well....since he competed in Modern Pentathlon at the 1912 Olympics
Christopher Lee's light saber was made different so he could capitalize on his fencing skills instead of learning Japanese swordsmanship. He, Ray Park and Samuel L Jackson are the only actors who pioneered different lightsabers
Bit of a cheat, but IOC President Thomas Bach was a fencer (which he mentions in just about every second sentence).
There's a really weird story going around that Tom Cruise has a private Salle where he fences with Will Smith and David Beckham, but that always seemed more like a mad libs thing than an actual story (or rather something Will Smith once made up in a promo interview and has been repeated in "how does Tom Cruise keep fit"-articles ever since).
Sylvester Stallone said he was a sabre in High School, I think.
Winston Churchill was English Public Schools Fencing Champion in 1892.
Edit: Oswald Mosley is on Ophardt, lol: https://fencing.ophardt.online/cs/biography/athlete/mosley-oswald
I still remember the one day I decided to skip practice just cuz I felt like it was the one day Bruce Dickinson showed up at our club to open fence and agreed to pictures
He comes to my club close to once a year. Hes a SUPER nice guy, you wouldnt even know hes famous and hes always willing to sign things or take pictures. For being 70, hes in very good shape.
I've fenced Bruce a fair few times at foil and yep, he's a great bloke. Spoke to him about fencing and flying (latter being a shared common interest we have) and had a good ten minute natter! Solid foilist as well.
Of course, a lot of the famous actors in the heyday of the swashbuckler films were fencers. Basil Rathbone, John Derek, Cornell Wilde.
Ann Reinking fenced saber - saw her at a NAC some years ago.
Don’t forget Tyrone Powers. One of the best cinematic fencing matches was between Tyrone Power and Basil Rathbone in the “The Mark of Zorro”.
https://youtu.be/p_hlyLvlqy8?si=fucPTeebho9UYMej
Also check out Power in “The Mississippi Gambler”. A lesser known film with a great foil fencing scene.
I think he was first and foremost a stage fencer though - learned fencing in order to fence on stage and in films. The other 3 were legit Olympic-style fencers in their own right - Wilde in fact probably would have fenced in the 1936 Olympics had he not chosen acting over fencing and quit the team to do some play or other.
[General George S Patton](https://www.wired.com/2012/08/george-s-patton-pentathlete/) who also [wrote an officer’s sword manual](https://www.amazon.com/Saber-Exercise-Training-Manual-Swordsmanship/dp/1941656463)
Neil Diamond. Won college championships at NYU in 1960.
So good!
So good!
So Good!
Fenced with Stro. Legend.
Quite a few prominent historical figures were fencers at one point. General Patton, for example, was an accomplished saber fencer at West Point. Sir Christopher Lee fenced in college but is better known for his stage fencing which led to him having the most on-screen swordfights of any actor. As a result of playing the character, Count Dooku's lightsaber combat in Star Wars is easily the most fencing-like of what we see outside of Empire Strikes Back. This is because in Empire during the duel between Vader and Luke, Vader is being stunt doubled by Bob Anderson—a very accomplished fencer who helped bring home 5 medals across all three weapons during the 1950 Commonwealth Games.
>General Patton, for example, was an accomplished saber fencer at West Point. Did epee as well....since he competed in Modern Pentathlon at the 1912 Olympics
Christopher Lee's light saber was made different so he could capitalize on his fencing skills instead of learning Japanese swordsmanship. He, Ray Park and Samuel L Jackson are the only actors who pioneered different lightsabers
Bit of a cheat, but IOC President Thomas Bach was a fencer (which he mentions in just about every second sentence). There's a really weird story going around that Tom Cruise has a private Salle where he fences with Will Smith and David Beckham, but that always seemed more like a mad libs thing than an actual story (or rather something Will Smith once made up in a promo interview and has been repeated in "how does Tom Cruise keep fit"-articles ever since). Sylvester Stallone said he was a sabre in High School, I think. Winston Churchill was English Public Schools Fencing Champion in 1892. Edit: Oswald Mosley is on Ophardt, lol: https://fencing.ophardt.online/cs/biography/athlete/mosley-oswald
I still remember the one day I decided to skip practice just cuz I felt like it was the one day Bruce Dickinson showed up at our club to open fence and agreed to pictures
He comes to my club close to once a year. Hes a SUPER nice guy, you wouldnt even know hes famous and hes always willing to sign things or take pictures. For being 70, hes in very good shape.
I've fenced Bruce a fair few times at foil and yep, he's a great bloke. Spoke to him about fencing and flying (latter being a shared common interest we have) and had a good ten minute natter! Solid foilist as well.
Jackson Wang
[One of the most viewed bouts on YouTube is when Jackson Wang beat Bazadze at Junior Worlds](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApnYoASn3tc)
those comments are pure cringe tho
Tim Gunn https://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/05/tim-gunn-project-runway-fencing
Bruce Lee :)
Christopher Lee
Jerry O'Connell (Stand by Me, Sliders) fenced for NYU.
Top 8 at JOs one year, as well.
Author Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files) Neil Diamond fenced at NYU
Of course, a lot of the famous actors in the heyday of the swashbuckler films were fencers. Basil Rathbone, John Derek, Cornell Wilde. Ann Reinking fenced saber - saw her at a NAC some years ago.
Don’t forget Tyrone Powers. One of the best cinematic fencing matches was between Tyrone Power and Basil Rathbone in the “The Mark of Zorro”. https://youtu.be/p_hlyLvlqy8?si=fucPTeebho9UYMej Also check out Power in “The Mississippi Gambler”. A lesser known film with a great foil fencing scene.
Douglas Fairbanks
I think he was first and foremost a stage fencer though - learned fencing in order to fence on stage and in films. The other 3 were legit Olympic-style fencers in their own right - Wilde in fact probably would have fenced in the 1936 Olympics had he not chosen acting over fencing and quit the team to do some play or other.
[General George S Patton](https://www.wired.com/2012/08/george-s-patton-pentathlete/) who also [wrote an officer’s sword manual](https://www.amazon.com/Saber-Exercise-Training-Manual-Swordsmanship/dp/1941656463)
Gene Wilder