STAR WARS and Back to the Future stuntman Bob Yerkes has died at the age of 92.
Yerkes died Tuesday in Northridge, Los Angeles, according to fellow stuntwoman and former mentor Darlene Ava Williams.
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Stuntman Bob Yerkes has died at the age of 92 Credit: Getty
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His death was announced by fellow stuntwoman Darlene Ava WilliamsCredit: Getty
Early in his circus career, Yerkes was a skilled trapeze swimmer and tightrope walker.
His notable film stunts included sliding down a clock tower cable in Back to the Future and performing a rooftop drop from a helicopter in 1975’s Escape.
In a 2017 interview, Bob Yerkes recalled a memorable moment from his career, saying “I was getting ready to do a stunt and the guy said, ‘Break your leg!’ — and I broke them both.”
He also remembered how he broke his legs while working Who placed Roger Rabbit (1988) i Her alibi (1989), although those were his only significant injuries in his eight-decade career.
Yerkes appeared as Boba Fett in the filming for Return of the Jedi (1983), filmed in his backyard, where he also taught circus and stunt skills to students including Brooke Shields and Todd Bridges.
Despite being 5-foot-10 and weighing 170 pounds, Yerkes was often asked to act for larger actors, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commandos (1985), where he performed a balloon-swinging stunt, and Eli Wallach in Tough Guys ( 1986). ), for the scene in which Wallach’s character is thrown from the train.
Brayton Walter Yerkes was born on February 11, 1932 in Los Angeles County.
He started performing stunts at Muscle Beach at the age of 11. After his parents divorced, Yerkes left home at 15 to join the DeWayne Bros. Circus and later appeared in 1948 films. Julia is behaving badly and The Three Musketeers.
While honing his skills, especially on the skateboard, Yerkes worked for Clyde Beatty’s circus and performed in various venues from Las Vegas to the Catskills.
After serving in the Korean War, he began his stunt career in films such as The Silver Chalice (1954), Trapeze (1956) and The Big Circus (1959), playing actor David Nelson.
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He also toured with The Flying Artons as a trapeze artist and worked with Ringling Bros.
In 1985 alone, Yerkes performed stunts in at least six films, including Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins and Back to the Future, with his scenes in the latter being reused in the sequels.
He also trained actors such as Brooke Shields, Todd Bridges and Willie Aames for the specials Circus of the Stars, which aired from 1977 to 1994, and worked with athletes on the competition series American Gladiators (1989-1996).
Yerkes’ backyard served as a training ground, equipped with high-fall machines, tumbling mats and a compressed air springboard. He is credited with inventing the airbag used in stunts.
Stunt performer Darlene Ava Williams praised him for his generosity, noting that his backyard offered free training and even housing for those in need.
A member of the Motion Picture Stunt Association since 1973, Yerkes was inducted into the Hall of Fame and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Acrobatic Society.
In February, he traveled to Florida to be inducted into the Circus Ring of Fame, stating, “The circus has always been my first love… I’ve done a lot of movies and I’ve done stunts, but the circus was what I really enjoyed.”
Yerkes’ resume included Airport (1970), Earthquake (1974), The Towering Inferno (1974), Doc Savage: The Bronze Man (1975), 1941 (1979), Poltergeist (1982), Ghostbusters (1984), Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986), Big Top Pee-wee (1988), Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989), Hook (1991), The Sandlot (1993), Batman Forever (1995), Magnolia (1999), Poseidon (2006), Water for Elephants (2011) and Killing Hasselhoff (2017), his latest credit.
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