A stunt man from a daredevil dynasty who has worked on the Harry Potter, James Bond and Mission Impossible films has picked up a top award in Hollywood.

Greg Powell, 60, of Mogador, Lower Kingswood, was named Best Stunt Coordinator at the Taurus World Stunt Awards 2014, held last month at Paramount Pictures in Hollywood, California.

The son of actor, stuntman and boxer Frederick "Nosher" Powell - who was a minder for Sammy Davis Junior and sparring partner of Muhammad Ali, Mr Powell has been throwing himself off buildings and crashing cars for a living since he was 14. 

His uncle, cousins, younger brother and youngest daughter all joined the industry too.

He said: "I didn’t think I was going to do anything else. 

"I remember being seven or eight and going to studios with my father. 

"I was always around filming.

"One of my family has been in every Bond film since they started." 

From performing stunts such as fights and falls in the early days, Mr Powell now mainly coordinates actors in stunt scenes because he is "getting a bit long in the tooth".

He was the stunt coordinator on all of the Harry Potter films, for which he also doubled up as Hagrid and Uncle Vernon. 

He has also worked on Mission Impossible with Tom Cruise, Fast and Furious 6 and James Bond.

Mr Powell said: "When I started out all you had to be was a young tearaway kid who didn’t mind running and jumping about. 

"Now, you had to have qualifications in different sports like gymnastics, swimming, driving."

He said the advent of CGI technology has made stuntmen’s jobs more challenging, rather than redundant, because of the scale of effects which can be achieved.

He said: "When you see a guy falling or blasted backwards, 99 per cent of the time that started with a stuntman. 

"As you’re travelling through the air they enhance you."

The first Bollywood film he has worked on, starring Akshay Kumar, Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty, was released last week.

"It was interesting to see how Bollywood make their films. 

"It’s nothing like here or in Hollywood. 

"Everything is done at 100mph. 

"Health and safety goes out the window, it’s very loud and there’s lots of action, running and shouting," he said.  

"Akshay Kumar was a good guy to work with as he really got involved with the stunts."

Mr Powell said his career has evolved through word-of-mouth recommendations.

He added: "I’ve had a good life.  Every day is different. 

"I’ve got to meet different people, travel the world and been paid for it.

"I have had a few injuries.  That’s the name of the game."