Bud Ekins

James Sherwin "Bud" Ekins (May 11, 1930 – October 6, 2007) was an American professional stuntman in the U.S. film industry. He is considered to be one of the film industry's most accomplished stuntmen with a body of work that includes classic films such as The Great Escape and Bullitt. He was recognized for his stunt work by being inducted into the Stuntmen's Hall of Fame.

Ekins was also an accomplished off-road motorcycle racer in motocross and enduro events, and helped pioneer the sport of desert racing. and, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2024.

Motorcycle racing career Born in Hollywood, California, Ekins began riding off-road motorcycles daily in the hills above his Hollywood home.

In 1955, Ekins won the Catalina Grand Prix, and in 1959 became the third three-time winner of the prestigious Big Bear Hare & Hound desert race, which at the time was the largest off-road event in the country. Ekins 1959 Big Bear victory was made notable when his motorcycle suffered a flat tire and a broken wheel while he was leading the race at the halfway point of the 153-mile course. It was as an enduro competitor that Ekins achieved his greatest international racing success. He received a gold medal at the 1962 International Six Days Trials in East Germany, and was part of the 1964 U.S. ISDT team with his brother, Dave Ekins, John Steen, Cliff Coleman and McQueen.

Ekins helped pioneer the sport of desert racing in 1962 when his brother Dave Ekins and Bill Robertson Jr. rode motorcycles almost the entire length of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula in 39 hours and 48 minutes under grueling conditions to set the Tijuana-to-La Paz, Mexico record. Ekins is best known as the actor who jumped the fence on a motorcycle in the 1963 film The Great Escape, and one of the stuntmen who drove the Ford Mustang 390 GT in the car chase scene in the 1968 film Bullitt. The chase scene led by stunt coordinator Carey Loftin and filmed on the streets of San Francisco, is regarded as one of the most influential in film history.

Ekins also coordinated the stunts for the popular 1970s motorcycle cop show CHiPs. He eventually became one of the best stuntmen in Hollywood.

Later life After retiring from the film industry, Ekins continued to operate his motorcycle shop in Sherman Oaks which featured his impressive collection of vintage motorcycles. During the 1980s, Ekins became one of the top collectors of vintage motorcycles in the country. Ekins was inducted into the Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1980 and into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2009. Ekins died at the age of 77 on October 6, 2007, in Los Angeles, California.

Filmography and television stunt work The Great Escape (1963) The Cincinnati Kid (1965) Angels from Hell (1968) Speedway (1968) Bullitt (1968) Then Came Bronson (1969 film entitled "And Then Came Bronson" and 1969-70 TV Series) Flap (1970) Chrome and Hot Leather (1971) Diamonds Are Forever (1971) The Thing with Two Heads (1972) Electra Glide in Blue (1973) Earthquake (1974) (motorcycle stunts) The Towering Inferno (1974) The Front Page (1974) Race with the Devil (1975) Death Scream (1975) Dixie Dynamite (1976) - film also features McQueen in an uncredited stunt role Scorchy (1976) Sorcerer (1977) Return from Witch Mountain (1978) Animal House (1978) Movie Movie (1978) Fast Charlie... the Moonbeam Rider (1979) 1941 (1979) The Blues Brothers (1980) Megaforce (1982) Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again (1982) City Heat (1984) Black Moon Rising (1986) Extreme Justice (1993) The Ransom of Red Chief (1998)