20 Actors Who Did Their Own Death-Defying Movie Stunts

Here is one case where the legend needs a small correction without losing any of its appeal. McQueen really did much of the motorcycle riding in The Great Escape (1963), and director John Sturges even used him as one of the German riders pursuing his own character during parts of the chase. His skill on motorcycles was genuine, developed far beyond what most actors would learn for a role. But the famous leap over the barbed-wire fence, the shot everyone remembers, belonged to stuntman and motorcycle racer Bud Ekins.