JOHN HUDKINS
Information from IMDb
& Neil Summers- Western Clippings
Date of Birth
July 13, 1918
Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
Date of Death
October 15, 1997 (age 79)
in Northridge, California, USA
Also knon as
John 'Bear' Hudkins
Mini-Biography
John "Bear" Hudkins.When you watch classic action filled westerns and see a ferocious wagon wreck, or turnover as they are called in the business, chances are real good you’re seeing the expertise of Bear Hudkins, one of the best wagon men ever to perform in films. Wagons were not Bear’s only stunt and he, along with other stalwarts of the stunt profession, did horsefalls, fights, transfers, saddlefalls, doubling for actors and anything else the script called for.
Bear was one of the few stuntmen in the elite group of professionals that got all the action done for John Wayne movies. To belong to this bunch of stuntmen you had to be tough, good at what you did and exceptionally talented in the action end of filmwork.
Bear came to California from Lincoln, NE, with a football scholarship to U.C.L.A. His uncles were already involved in the film industry with the famous Hudkins’ stables. They supplied most of the livestock, wranglers and wagons for the hundreds of westerns being shot. When Bear’s father passed away in Lincoln he left 10 children; so Bear was forced to go to work to help his mother support the kids.
His first job was as one of the troopers in Errol Flynn’s epic film, “They Died With Their Boots On”. Bear quickly rose through the ranks to become accepted by such already established stuntmen as Yakima Canutt, who soon began using Bear on a regular basis. It was not long before Bear had racked up a list of impressive credits and a reliable, no nonsense reputation as a man who came to work and got the job done in a spectacular way.
Tragedy struck in 1948 while Bear was performing a dangerous drag on “Fort Apache” in Monument Valley. A horse fell on Bear and broke his back. The shot is plainly visible in the film. Bear was laid up for about a year but then immediately resumed his career and there has been no let up to this day.
Bear was Spencer Tracy’s double for most of Spence’s later career and co-ordinated the hilarious stunt filled comedy, “It’s a Mad Mad Mad World”.
Some other major films Bear has been involved in as either stuntman or stunt co-ordinator include “Rio Lobo”, “The Undefeated”, “Paint Your Wagon”, “The Professionals”, “Hawmps”, “Wings of Eagles”, “The Alamo”, “Outlaw Josey Wales”, “Salome, Where She Danced”, “The Green Berets”. “The Younger Brothers”, “Ten Gentlemen From West Point”, “Oklahoma Crude”, “The Searchers”, “Monte Walsh”, “Rio Bravo”, “Rio Grande” and hundreds more. All top caliber films and believe me, you do not get hired for these kinds of jobs unless you are the best. Bear Hudkins is quickly acknowledged as being one of the best stuntmen Hollywood has ever seen. I first met Bear in 1964 on location in Gallup, New Mexico, for Troy Donahue’s “A Distant Trumpet”. John “Bear” Hudkins was one of the last of a truly unique breed of men...an all around, double tough, stuntman
Information from Western Clippings by Neil Summers
Filmography
Stunts
1995 The Quick and the Dead (stunts - uncredited)
1990 Dick Tracy (stunts - as Bear Hudkins)
1988 Miracle Mile (stunts)
1988 Young Guns (stunts)
1987 The Monster Squad (stunts - as John 'Bear' Hudkins)
1981 Zorro: The Gay Blade (stunts)
1981 Going Ape! (stunts)
1981 Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (stunt driver - as Bear Hudkins)
1980 The Island (stunts)
1979 The In-Laws (stunt)
1979 The Prisoner of Zenda (stunts)
1977 The Domino Killings (stunt coordinator)
1976 The Outlaw Josey Wales (stunts - uncredited)
1976 Hawmps! (stunts - uncredited)
1973 The Stone Killer (stunts - uncredited)
1973 Cleopatra Jones (stunts - uncredited)
1973 Oklahoma Crude (stunt coordinator, stunts - uncredited)
1973 High Plains Drifter (stunts - uncredited)
1972 Prime Cut (stunt coordinator - uncredited)
1971 Dirty Harry (stunts - uncredited)
1971 Bless the Beasts & Children (stunt coordinator)
1970 Rio Lobo (stunts - uncredited)
1970 Monte Walsh (stunts - uncredited)
1969 Paint Your Wagon (stunts - uncredited)
1969 The Undefeated (stunts - uncredited)
1968 The Green Berets (stunts - uncredited)
1968 Bandolero! (stunts - uncredited)
1967 Rough Night in Jericho (stunts - uncredited)
1967 Hillbillys in a Haunted House (stunts - uncredited)
1966 The Professionals (stunts - uncredited)
1966 Alvarez Kelly (stunts - uncredited)
1966 Stagecoach (stunts - uncredited)
1965 The Great Race (stunts - uncredited)
1965 The Rounders (stunts - uncredited)
1964 A Distant Trumpet (stunts - uncredited)
1964 The Quick Gun (stunts - uncredited)
1963 It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (stunt double: Jonathan Winters - uncredited, stunts - uncredited)
1962 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (stunts - uncredited)
1960 The Alamo (stunts - uncredited)
1959 The Horse Soldiers (stunts - uncredited)
1959 Pork Chop Hill (stunts - uncredited)
1959 Rio Bravo (stunts - uncredited)
1959 The Hanging Tree (stunts - uncredited)
1959 Westbound (stunts - uncredited)
1957 Designing Woman (stunts - uncredited)
1957 The Wings of Eagles (stunts - uncredited)
1956 Westward Ho, the Wagons! (stunts - uncredited)
1956 The Searchers (stunts - uncredited)
1955 The Prodigal (stunts - uncredited)
1954 Prince Valiant (stunts - uncredited)
1953 Column South (stunts - uncredited)
1950 Rio Grande (stunts - uncredited)
1949 She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (stunts - uncredited)
1949 The Fighting Kentuckian (stunts - uncredited)
1949 The Younger Brothers (stunts - uncredited)
1948 Fort Apache (stunts - uncredited)
1947 Code of the West (stunts - uncredited)
1947 Angel and the Badman (stunts - uncredited)
1945 Salome Where She Danced (stunts - uncredited)
1942 Ten Gentlemen from West Point (stunts - uncredited)
1941 They Died with Their Boots On (stunts - uncredited)
1939 The Oklahoma Kid (stunt double: James Cagney - uncredited)
Actor
1986 The A-Team (TV series)– Mission of Peace (1986) … Mickey
1983 Two of a Kind...Bank Guard
1979 The Prisoner of Zenda (uncredited)
1978 Movie Movie...Mover (uncredited)
1977 Fire Sale...Wheelchair Patient
1977 The Domino Killings...Truck Driver (uncredited)
1975 The Six Million Dollar Man (TV series)– Look Alike (1975) … Guard (uncredited)
1973 Oklahoma Crude...Bloom
1972 The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean...Man at Stage Door
1972 Something Evil (TV movie)...McDermott
1970 Rio Lobo...Rio Lobo Deputy (uncredited)
1970 Dan August (TV series)– Epitaph for a Swinger (1970) … Truck Driver
1970 Monte Walsh...Sonny Jacobs (as John 'Bear' Hudkins)
1969 Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here...Man #3 (uncredited)
1969 The Undefeated...Whit (uncredited)
1965-1968 The Wild Wild West (TV series)
Henchman / Gang Member / Guard / …
– The Night of the Gruesome Games (1968) … Brawler in Krause Bedroom (uncredited)
– The Night of the Juggernaut (1968) … Henchman (uncredited)
– The Night of the Death Masks (1968) … Stark Henchman (uncredited)
– The Night of the Underground Terror (1968) … Brawler Outside Gate (uncredited)
– The Night of the Cut-Throats (1967) … Henchman (uncredited)
In all 18 episodes »
1968 Gun Law (TV series)– A Noose for Dobie Price (1968) … Mick Smith (as John 'Bear' Hudkins)
1967 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner...Cab Driver
1967 Cimarron Strip (TV series)– The Battleground (1967) … Chalk
1967 Batman (TV series)– Black Widow Strikes Again (1967) … Henchman (uncredited)
1965 The Rounders...Brawler (uncredited)
1964 The Quick Gun...Henchman Chasing Cooper (uncredited)
1962 Hero's Island...Bullock (as John Hudkins Jr.)
1960 The Alamo...Tennessean (uncredited)
1960 The Untouchables (TV series)– Little Egypt (1960) … Brawler (uncredited)
1959 Peter Gunn (TV series)– The Ugly Frame (1959) … Hank Barlow
1959 The Hanging Tree...Townsman (uncredited)
1959 Westbound...Gang Member Slugged By Russ (uncredited)
1955 The Prodigal...Salkhad (uncredited)
1947 Code of the West
