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Bud Ekins History
  by Anthony Bologna

 BORN MAY 11, 1930, IN LOS ANGELES, SON OF A MECHANIC, EKINS WAS A REBELLIOUS TEENAGER, WORKING IN HIS DAD’S WELDING SHOP.

HE FILLED HIS SPARE TIME RIDING OFF ROAD MOTORCYCLES
AROUND THE HOLLYWOOD HILLS.

THIS LED TO A SUCCESSFUL CAREER IN ENDURANCE RACES AND LATER SCRAMBLING AND MOTOCROSS

Throughout the 1940’s and 1950’s Ekins career took off winning
medals around the world, eventually dominating desert racing. In
1956 Eakins success with Triumph’s Motorcycles finished 2nd in
the 153-mile off-road California Big Bear Motorcycle Run. Triumph
domination won Ekins many more races on the Triumph TR6.

By the mid 1960’s Ekins bought a Triumph dealership in North
Hollywood. Many young movie stars hung around the shop for
example Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, James Coburn, James
Garner and many others who became famous and one of them
was a young Steve McQueen.This also was a safe haven for them
to hang out and not be bothered and they could be themselves.

Courtesy of Matt Stone, from an interview he did with Bud
Ekins…. Steve McQueen bought a motorcycle from me around
1960-61 he was interested in what I was doing at my motorcycle
dealership in Sherman Oaks California. I was a Triumph Dealer
and McQueen was making his TV show “Wanted Dead or Alive”.
Movie stars don’t work all year round and Steve started to hang
around the shop, he saw all the bikes that didn’t have lights on
them, but they had number plates. He wanted to know what that
was all about, so I told him about desert racing. I asked him to
come out with us and he came out with us one time and that was
it and he was hooked.

Intern, McQueen introduced Bud Ekins into the Hollywood scene
where he began his career as a movie stuntman.
In 1962 McQueen asked Bud to come to Germany to do stunt
work riding motorcycles for the filming of the “Great Escape”.
McQueen and Ekins came up with the now infamous jump scene
where McQueen playing an escaped prisoner commandeered a
motorcycle where he was attempting a jump over a barbed wire
fence maneuvering over rolling hills leading up to the impossible
jump to escape from a German prisoner camp.

Ekins acting as the stunt double for McQueen and was the rider
who performed what is now one of the most famous motorcycle
stunts.
Ekins became McQueen’s stunt double working on many of the
films including Cincinnati Kid, The Towering Inferno and Bullitt
and more.In 1968 while filming “Bullitt” he was the driver in the
Mustang rocketing over Taylor Street.He was chasing the mafia
hitman who was the stunt driver, Bill Hickman who was driving
the 1968 Black Charger R/T.According to Ekins when he looked
at the under carriage of the Charger sailing over Taylor Street, he
knew Bill Hickman pushed the limits of driving that car and that he
had to outsmart him so not to get hurt or worse get killed.

The famous scene of the motorcycle losing control in front of the
Mustang driven by McQueen was a one take scene.The Triumph
motorcycle needed to hit its mark, and Steve McQueen could not
have a visual on him as the scene played out. It all turned out
perfectly as dangerous as it was. The Mustang avoided hitting
Ekins by spinning off onto the gravel on the side of the road.
Ekins continued his stunt work and became one of the best in
Hollywood. He continued stunt work until he was in his mid 60’s.

His stunt career spanned over 30 years.
After retiring he was back to continue running his motorcycle
shop in Hollywood. During the 1980’s he became one of the top
collectors of vintage motorcycles.

HE PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 77 IN 2007.