Bud Ekins - Life and Career

Life and Career

Born James Sherwin Ekins in Hollywood, California, he is known to most as the actor who jumped the fence on a disguised Triumph TR6 Trophy 650cc motorcycle in The Great Escape, and who drove the Ford Mustang 390 GT in Bullitt. He also coordinated the stunts for the popular 1970s motorcycle cop show CHiPs.

For years, movie fans believed that the star Steve McQueen made the big barbed-wire fence jump at the finale of The Great Escape but the stunt was actually performed by Ekins. Although McQueen undertook the rest of the bike work in the film, the film's producers were too nervous to allow him to make the iconic jump himself. Five years later, McQueen was given a late call to the Bullitt set one day, and found Ekins with his hair sprayed blond performing the most dangerous stunts around the streets of San Francisco. McQueen then shouted "you did it to me again!" referring to the earlier scene-stealing from The Great Escape. Ekins regularly contributed to documentaries and biographies on Steve McQueen with some authority, given their close friendship until the actor's death in 1980.

After a successful foray into British motorcycle sport, upon his return stateside, Ekins ran a very successful Triumph dealership for many years, counting many Hollywood stars as clients. Eventually, and to his stated regret, Ekins switched to selling Hondas.