Hollywood War Babies (stunt credits)

[Steam McQueen]

I got a message asking about the Hollywood War Babies in the credits, which were nicknames given to the main stunt guys.





The message arrived via youtube which was a bit of a surprise. I asked if he found me through BBC but he didn't specify. Anyway this is what I replied ...

As for your question, I've wondered about the Hollywood War Babies myself and did some sleuthing years ago and this is what I came up with. There are 7 war babies listed -

#1 - Champ Donut - Would be Eddy Donno with "donut" being a play on Donno.

#2 - Kidd Gilbert - Would be Mickey Gilbert who was Robert Redford's double. (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance "Kidd")

#3 - Jumbo - Would be J.N. Roberts who was a legend in the motorcycle racing industry before he became a stuntman. The J.N. is for James Nelson but you know how people like to play with initials and I've read that his nickname was "jumbo nutz."

#4 - Whiz Kid - Would be Gary McClarty. I can't remember at the moment if this is mentioned somewhere in the special features on the DVD, but I believe it was Eddy Donno who mentioned they called Gary the whiz kid.

#5 - Huff 'N' Stuff - Would be Tommy Huff.

#6 - Uncle Bud - Would be Bud Ekins

#7 - Terrible Leon - Would be Terry Leonard

You'll notice the first 6 are also the first 6 names in the stunt credits on the left side. They must have forgot to put Terry Leonard's name up there but of course he's listed alphabetically with the rest.

If anyone has any other details to add, please do.

[Steam McQueen]

- And now you can buy a pair of stunt shoes that belonged to Uncle Bud himself, Bud Ekins (May 11, 1930 – October 6, 2007)




www.mecum.com/auctions/lot_detail.cfm?LOT_ID=LA0713-158091&entryRow=23&GROUP_ID=10123
-

So there's no mention of what movies Bud may have worn these in.
The Blues Brothers? Maybe . Bullitt? Well I suppose it's possible

The seller, John Hagner, founded the Hollywood Stuntmen's Hall Of Fame in 1973 in Moab, Utah. He's tried to keep it going but the support isn't there anymore so he has over 1,300 items in his collection up for auction. Lots of old movie stuff and props. I've only looked at the first few pages of his collection so far, just so much stuff ...

www.mecum.com/auctions/group_consignment_list.cfm?AUCTION_ID=LA0713&GROUP_ID=10123

[sigmfsk]

Jun 27, 2013 9:33:24 GMT -5 Steam McQueen said:

- And now you can buy a pair of stunt shoes that belonged to Uncle Bud himself, Bud Ekins (May 11, 1930 – October 6, 2007)
...
So there's no mention of what movies Bud may have worn these in.
The Blues Brothers? Maybe . Bullitt? Well I suppose it's possible

Great find, Steam. I like all the cool info you post on stuff like this. Maybe one day we'll get to see some of the 16mm dalies of the Blues Brothers, and see Bud wearing these sneakers.

[sigmfsk]

Jun 27, 2013 17:07:56 GMT -5 sigmfsk said:

Great find, Steam. I like all the cool info you post on stuff like this. Maybe one day we'll get to see some of the 16mm dalies of the Blues Brothers, and see Bud wearing these sneakers.

And when we find those dalies, the Monaco Museum of Amazement will be truly amazing, as I won Bud's sneakers, and they'll be on display!

It seems there weren't many Uncle Bud fans at the auction, so I got them pretty cheap. Maybe it scared people off that the shoes morphed from black tennies to blue suede:



But clearly, the behind-the-scenes photos show that the blue suede shoes are the right ones:

[Steam McQueen]

Jul 30, 2013 17:01:08 GMT -5 sigmfsk said:

But clearly, the behind-the-scenes photos show that the blue suede shoes are the right ones:

Hahaa ;D
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So someone cleaned the "black leather stunt shoes" and underneath was a pair of blues suede shoes?!! That's funny. Bud worked on the 1968 Elvis movie Speedway which was probably the movie he worked on just before Bullitt.

This Elvis movie was about stock car racing at the famed Charolotte Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina, where location race scenes were filmed. Participating in the movie were several champion professional NASCAR racers including: Richard Petty, Buddy Baker, Cale Yarborough, Tiny Lund, Dick Hutcherson, G. C. Spencer, and Roy Mayne who played themselves. Among the many stunt drivers used for this film were: Bob Harris, whose credits include 'Bonnie and Clyde', 'Bullitt', 'Magnum Force' and 'The Gumball Rally'. Courtney Brown, who worked on such films as 'Thunderball', 'Porky's' and 'Ace Ventura- Pet Detective'. Bud Ekins, who specialized in motorcycle stunts including some for 'The Great Escape', 'Then Came Bronson' and 'CHiPs'. Max Balchowsky who also provided stunt work for 'Viva Las Vegas', 'Grand Prix', 'Bullit' and 'The Deer Hunter'.

movies.elvispresley.com.au/speedway.shtml#sthash.5YSNK1NU.dpbs

Maybe Elvis gave all the stunt guys and drivers some blue suede shoes. If so, they're worth a fortune