Story and photos by L. M. Land
Featured photo: Kenneth Jordan, stuntman extraordinaire, in his room which honors his extraordinary family members, whose stories line the walls. Photo by L. M. Land.
Flint’s stuntman, Kenneth ‘Catman’ Jordan, has defied death hundreds of times.
His sister, Mikki Val Jordan, lived in Hollywood in the 1990s, working as a secretary for Red Foxx. She told Foxx about her brother, Kenneth Jordan, a stunt man who runs up walls, jumps over cars, catches arrows and spits fire.
Foxx agreed to meet Jordan. They chatted for about an hour, and Foxx handed Jordan a two year contract.
“Don’t ever forget who discovered you!” Foxx told him.
At the time, Jordan had moved to Hollywood from Flint, Michigan, to find stunt work in the movies.
Being Foxx’s stunt man was the boost for his career there.
Jordan and his brothers, Ted and Demetrius, also worked at the Disney lot in security. It was the first time Disney hired family members to work in the same facility. Jordan opened and closed stage 3, which was Tim Allen’s Home Improvement set. As security, it was his job to escort visitors to where they were supposed to go, as wandering around the sets was not allowed.
While working at the Disney lot, Jordan also jumped over speeding cars for 10 years in Hollywood, performing over 100 jumps. Jordan jumps the long way over a car which is racing full speed ahead directly at Jordan. He then jumps over the hood, roof and trunk. He jumped a jet car which was clocked doing 237 miles per hour. The engine heat melted Jordan’s socks as he sailed over it!
Jordan jumped over monster trucks too. Jumps always took place at a race track or fair grounds. He performed this feat all over the United States. ( A video link is below.)
Jordan’s son, Channel 12’s Jwan Jordan, was young at the time and he would be sitting in the passenger seat of the car speeding toward his father. According to Jwan, it did not worry him, as it was his everyday life!
Catching arrows was another stunt Jordan did. He holds the unofficial world record for catching 44 arrows in two minutes. These flying arrows are aimed directly at Jordan.
How does one begin such a career?
Born and raised in Flint, Jordan was the smallest kid around his age at school and was bullied. So he began training in martial arts when he was young.
He said: “I ran into a few bullies.I realized I had to learn to fight and learn to protect myself. All through growing up, I never liked to fight. I’m not a violent person, but I realized I had to protect myself. I started studying up and reading books on martial arts. (Remember, there was no internet at the time so he couldn’t look any of this up online). Then I ran into an instructor on Carpenter Road, and they had a karate school. I started training there when I was 15.”
Car jumping began when he was in the army, stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky. His friends were playing a joke on him and “they seen me crossing the street and they come flying up to me in their car.” They were very close before they braked, and without thinking, he leapt over the car. His friends freaked out.
Climbing walls is another stunt Jordan can do. You can see how he earned the name “Catman.”
Jordan explained that he has fast reflexes, however.
“To me it will look real slow…For some reason it heightens my senses to slow things down when I see things that move real fast. I can [visually] slow it down.
“When I was in the military at the tank range, when the tanks shot their rounds down, I could track it all the way till it hit the tree. Catching arrows is the same thing.”
Jordan is looking forward to getting back to doing martial arts superhero shows for children, which he did in California and Flint with his brothers.
He said: “We like putting on shows for kids. We show them all the things that you can do, the super stuff you can do. Everyone has ability, everyone has a super power; they just have to find out what that power is. The thing I love most is when we put on a show and how the kids run up to you and want to touch you and talk to you, and some are wanting to take my arrows. ‘Can I have this?’ No. “
On the “That’s Incredible” TV show in the 1980s, Jordan broke the world record by jumping 57 inches straight up in a vertical leap. Before his episode was aired, the show was taken off the air. Therefore, it never got recorded into the Guinness Book of Records.
For a time, Jordan worked at the GM Fisher Body plant. There would be six month layoffs, so Jordan would go to Hollywood while on leave, then return to Flint to work the next six months at Fisher. This lasted for three years. He then stayed in California for six years.
Jordan also did stunt work in movies, such as “Feel the Heat” and acting, such as being an intern in the movie “Chameleon Street.” “Chameleon Street” was written, filmed and produced here in Flint Michigan by Wendle B. Harris, Jr. Filming took place mostly in a Welch Blvd. home. It was released in 1989
Recently, Jordon also “fought cancer and won”.
Jordan is married to Brenda Battles Jordan. Her accomplishments include being a backup singer for George Michael and singing at the White House. She was also art teacher at Whittier Junior High.
To be continued…here are many more stories of working at Disney Studios and more which will be featured in part two of this story in the Flint Courier News 50th anniversary project, Black in Flint, to be released later this year.
To see Jordan in action, go to:
https://share.google/GcsuHC2wSiBbZwF8a
