David Richard "R." Ellis was an American film director and former stuntman. Ellis was born in Hollywood, California. He began his career in the film industry as a supporting actor in juvenile roles; his big screen debut was in the 1975 Kurt Russell film The Strongest Man in the World. One year later, he switched to stunts in the film Baby Blue Marine and worked from then on as a stuntman. His next career move came in 1981 with the promotion to stunt coordinator. After a successful five years in this position, he worked from 1986 on as an assistant director or second assistant director, in charge of action sequences from films such as The Matrix Revolutions and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.