Bud

Who is this man?

Steve McQueen, right?

Wrong. But don't feel bad...nearly everyone thinks it's McQueen. And it could have been McQueen, would have been McQueen, had not the producers of “The Great Escape” feared for McQueen's safety and their investment. But that's neither here nor there. The man in the photo is actually Bud Ekins…world famous bike racer, stunt man, all-around great guy and friend of Steve McQueen. Bud died October 6^th at the age of 77. Motor Trend published a tribute to Bud, and The Wiki has a comprehensive article on him.

But about that jump…Bud’s major claim to fame. Here’s an excerpt from a 2005 interview in Dirt Bike magazine:

Bud's claim to fame is that he's the man who performed the stunt that many credit to Steve McQueen in the movie, “The Great Escape.” Yep, the Triumph that sailed over the fence of the German prisoner-of-war camp, was piloted by Bud, not Steve McQueen. We talked with Bud about that incredible jump:

Bud: It was the first thousand dollar stunt ever in the movie industry. It was done in 1962, and that was considered huge money back in those days.
Rick: Who's idea was it to have you do the stunt?
Bud: McQueen. We were friends and he wanted me to do it.
Rick : How long was the actual jump and how high was it?
Bud: It was about 12 feet from the bottom of the wheels to the ground, and about 65 feet long.
Rick: Tell us about the bike.
Bud: It was a '62 Triumph; nothing special. Nothing was done to the suspension.
Rick: You jumped a stocker?
Bud: Yes. Girlings in the back, no sidecars springs in the forks, nothing. It was completely stock other than a lighter earlier model front wheel.
Rick: You jumped over 65 feet on a 400 pound motorcycle! What was the landing like?
Bud: Hard! It just went bang and then it bounced.
Rick: Did you land on a down-hill grade to ease the landing, like a ski jumper?
Bud: Nope. I landed on an uphill. You gotta think about it a bit. I launch off the ground and my bike is 12 feet in the air. By landing on an upgrade, my bike didn't have to fall 12 feet; the actual drop was about six feet, and that's quite a difference. I made the jump on the first pass. I jumped. They filmed it. That was that.
Rick: Actually, you have two of the most famous bike stunts ever done in the movies. You laid that bike down in Bullit, right in front of the sliding truck.
Bud: That was easy. But most people don't know that I did the driving in that Mustang, too.

RIP, Bud.

(h/t: Blog Buddy Lin, via e-mail)