Ronnie Rondell Jr., the Hollywood stuntman forever etched into rock history for setting himself on fire in one of music’s most iconic album covers, has died at the age of 88. His family confirmed that Rondell Jr. passed away on Tuesday at a senior living facility in Missouri. No cause of death was disclosed.

While Rondell Jr.’s film and television credits spanned nearly half a century, he is best remembered for a single, extraordinary image: the cover of Pink Floyd’s 1975 masterpiece Wish You Were Here. The photograph, taken on the Warner Bros. Studios backlot in Burbank, depicted Rondell engulfed in flames, clad in a fire suit, and extending his hand in a formal greeting to fellow stuntman Danny Rogers, dressed in a business suit. Conceived by the celebrated design collective Hipgnosis, led by Storm Thorgerson with Audrey Powell, the cover became one of the most enduring visuals in rock history.

By the mid-1970s, Rondell Jr. was already a seasoned veteran in the stunt world, with extensive experience in fire-related sequences. In the 2012 documentary Pink Floyd: The Story of Wish You Were Here, he recalled that setting himself ablaze had become almost routine: “I’d been doing a lot of fire work in those days, and I had the special suits and all this stuff for fully enveloped fire. It was pretty easy to do, not too life-threatening, and paid well.”

Photo Source: SOPA Images/Getty Images via BBC News Yet the shoot was anything but simple. Wind conditions repeatedly disrupted the fire, forcing Rondell Jr. to be ignited an estimated 15 times before photographers captured the perfect shot. “There’s a funny thing about fire,” he later remarked. “When it gets in your face, you’re going to move.” The repeated attempts left him with singed hair, including the loss of an eyebrow and part of his mustache. Powell, who was present at the session, later praised Rondell Jr.’s professionalism: “Ronnie was very gracious about it considering… but as far as he was concerned as a professional in the movie industry it was all in a day’s work.”

Though his name was rarely in lights, Rondell Jr.’s resume stretched across some of Hollywood’s biggest productions from 1955 to 2003. His credits include stunt work and coordination on films such as Lethal Weapon, Batman & Robin, Twister, The Crow, Predator 2, They Live, The Karate Kid, and Commando. He also lent his expertise to television hits like Charlie’s Angels, where his behind-the-scenes work brought danger to the screen while keeping the stars safe.

Rondell Jr. officially retired in 2000, but his career came full circle three years later when he returned for one final sequence in The Matrix Reloaded. There, he performed a chase stunt under the supervision of his son, R.A. Rondell, himself a respected stunt coordinator. It was a fitting coda to a life spent in the service of both cinema and spectacle.

He is survived by his family, including his son R.A., who continues the Rondell name in the world of stunts.