A Tribute To Bud Elkins December 2007
Hollywood stuntman Bud Elkins, who doubled for the late Steve McQueen in memorable action scenes in "The Great Escape" and "Bullit," died of natural causes at 77 in his Los Angeles home, his press agent said Tuesday. McQueen, who died at 50 in 1980, did most of the riding in the motorcycle chase sequence of the 1962 movie "The Great Escape," where as a prisoner of war he tries to outride his Nazi pursuers to freedom over the Swiss border. However, it was Elkins who actually made the famous jump that ended with McQueen and his bike tangled up in the barbed-wire fence lining the border. Elkin's jump, said his press agent Paul Bloch, "was perhaps the most famous motorcycle stunt ever performed in a movie." Six years later, Elkins took the wheel of McQueen's Ford Mustang during the thrilling car chase through San Francisco's hilly streets in "Bullit," setting a benchmark for Hollywood action movies.
Ekins was born in May 1930 and as such was just two months younger than his lifelong friend, Steve McQueen. His career as a stuntman, action double, movie-stunt consultant, off-road racer, and all-around motorcycle guru began in 1961 when McQueen strolled into his Triumph dealership in SoCal's San Fernando Valley to look at a bike. Ekins introduced McQueen to the magic of desert racing, and so began a lifelong relationship that impacted them both for decades. Of all the stunt work and doubling Bud did for McQueen, it was that first instance -- as motorcycle consultant, rider, and stunt double during the making of"The Great Escape" -- that proved his most iconic contribution to film.
