"Short of funds during a period in 1928, Brennan agreed to do a stunt: driving off a pier in San Diego into forty feet of water. "I had to be doing 45 miles an hour," he later told an interviewer, "and there was another dummy in the car with me, but he had his hat nailed on. And when I hit the end of the pier, I tell you, the first thing I thought of was my insurance." It took him three years to fully recover from the back injury he sustained. Some actors would think themselves lucky to escape injury, if not death, but Walter thanked God--and he meant it." --