Stuntman, motorcyclist, and actor Bud Ekins died of natural causes on October 6, 2007. Born in Hollywood, California, on May 11, 1930, he caught the motorcycling bug in the early 1950s and immediately began winning races. He taught actor Steve McQueen off-road racing, and the two became good friends so that McQueen recommended Ekins for the motorcycle jump stunt in his 1963 film The Great Escape, which was Ekins’ first stunt job.
His credited and uncredited genre film work as a stuntman appeared in Diamonds are Forever (1971), The Thing with Two Heads (1972), Race with the Devil (1975), Return from Witch Mountain (1978), Megaforce (1982), Jekyll and Hyde… Together Again (1982), and Black Moon Rising (1986). He also appeared as an actor in The Love Bug (1968), Mac and Me (1988), and several other non-sf films.
In addition to his numerous racing medals, Ekins owned two motorcycle shops in the San Fernando Valley over the years, co-founded the Baja 1000 race, and became one of the country’s leading collectors of vintage and rare motorcycles (his collection included more than 150 motorcycles).
He is survived by his brother, sister, two daughters, and two granddaughters.