Did Steve McQueen do the stunts in The Great Escape?

Asked by: Michael Darippa

The men rode motorcycles together and they all managed to make the jump, aided by a ramp dug in the hill that Ekins had used as a launch pad. McQueen performed the stunt at least one other time, on camera, just to prove that he could, and Tim Gibbes did it for fun.

Did Steve McQueen actually do the jump in The Great Escape?

The enigmatic Mr McQueen took centre stage in the film’s infamous motorcycle chase and jump scene, which is considered one of the greatest movie stunts ever performed. However, in an unearthed interview the Hollywood icon revealed that he did not perform the 60-foot jump.

Did Steve McQueen do all his own stunts?

As in all of his movies, McQueen is doing his own stunts. “You can’t trick it no more when you do a job, right?” he commented. He did his own cycle stunting in “The Great Escape,” explaining matter-of-factly: “What stunt man do you know who could ride that good.”

Why Steve McQueen walked off the set of The Great Escape?

However, Mr Garner claimed that Mr McQueen caused no end of problems on set and even walked out after taking a dislike to the way he looked in the film’s early shoots.

Who did Steve McQueen’s big motorcycle jump stunt in The Great Escape?

Bud Ekins

Bud Ekins, a pioneering champion off-road motorcyclist and a veteran stuntman who doubled for Steve McQueen on the famous motorcycle jump in “The Great Escape,” has died. He was 77.

Did Steve McQueen have a stunt double?

Ekins, acting as stunt double for Steve McQueen while filming The Great Escape, was the rider who performed what is considered to be one of the most famous motorcycle stunts ever performed in a movie. He was recognized for his stunt work by being inducted into the Stuntmen’s Hall of Fame.

How accurate was The Great Escape?

The film is accurate in showing that only three escapees made home runs, although the people who made them differed from those in the film. The escape of Danny and Willie in the film is based on two Norwegians who escaped by boat to Sweden, Per Bergsland and Jens Müller.

Did Steve McQueen do his own driving in the movie Bullitt?

McQueen filmed with the window down so viewers could see he was behind the wheel. Although credited as the driver, McQueen actually shared the wheel with Hollywood stunt driver Bud Ekins, according to the movie database IMDB. Many movie buffs view the chase as ground-breaking for its duration and white-knuckle drama.

What were Steve McQueen’s last words?

Death Although diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1979, McQueen had been ill for some time but always refused conventional medical treatment. He died on 7 November 1980,in Mexico. His last words were in Spanish. ‘Lo hice,’ he said.

How Steve McQueen died?

On November 7, 1980, the actor Steve McQueen, one of Hollywood’s leading men of the 1960s and 1970s and the star of such action thrillers as Bullitt and The Towering Inferno, dies at the age of 50 in Mexico, where he was undergoing an experimental treatment for cancer.

Are any actors still alive from The Great Escape?

John Leyton is the only actor still alive of the three men who made good The Great Escape – Birmingham Live.

Who drove the black Charger in Bullitt?

stuntman Bill Hickman

In Bullitt, this wasn’t the case. The Dodge Charger was the most talked about car from the film, and it happened to be driven by the bad guy—a hitman played by Hollywood stuntman Bill Hickman. The car chase scene showed the Mustang easily tailing the Charger.

Did anyone get away in The Great Escape?

Only three men successfully fled to safety—two Norwegians who stowed away on a freighter to Sweden and a Dutchman who made it to Gibraltar by rail and foot. A furious Adolf Hitler personally ordered the execution of 50 of the escapees as a warning to other prisoners.

How many died in the real Great Escape?

Categories: World War Two, The Great Escape. Of the 76 who escaped from Stalag Luft III, 50 were handed over to the Gestapo and shot dead.

How long did it take to dig the tunnel in The Great Escape?

during World War II. He worked for fifteen months on the huge, three-tunnel project known in book and film as “The Great Escape” and was in charge of hiding over 200,000 pounds of golden sand from the German “ferrets”.