Stuntman Bud Edkins has died

Bud Ekins, the man behind the most famous motorcycle stunt in movie history, has died aged 77. Ekins was in the saddle for the iconic scene in The Great Escape, when Steve McQueen's character jumps a barbed wire fence on a bike to avoid capture as he escapes a German prisoner-of-war camp. A longtime friend of movie star McQueen's, Ekins also doubled for the actor in 1968 crime drama Bullitt, and taught the film star everything he knew about off-road biking. Born in Hollywood in 1930, Ekins was a life-long motorbike enthusiast and aficionado and is credited as being one of America's leading collectors of vintage and rare motorcycles. As well his work on the McQueen films, Ekins also served as a stuntman on James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, Animal House, and The Blues Brothers. He founded bike race the Baja 1000 and was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall Of Fame in 1999.