STAR WARS and Back to the Future stuntman Bob Yerkes has passed away at the age of 92.
Yerkes died on Tuesday in Northridge, Los Angeles, according to an announcement by Darlene Ava Williams, a fellow stunt performer and former mentee.
Beginning his career in the circus, Yerkes was a skilled trapeze aerialist and tightrope walker.
His notable film stunts included sliding down a clock tower cable for Back to the Future and performing a helicopter-to-roof fall in the 1975 film Breakout.
In a 2017 interview, Bob Yerkes recalled a memorable moment from his career, saying “I was getting ready for the stunt, and the guy said, ‘Break a leg!’ — and I broke them both.”
He also remembered breaking his legs while working on Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and Her Alibi (1989), though those were the only significant injuries during his eight-decade career.
Yerkes performed as Boba Fett in a pickup shot 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 frequently called on to double for larger actors, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando (1985), where he performed a balloon-swinging stunt, and Eli Wallach in Tough Guys (1986), for a scene in which Wallach’s character is thrown off a train.
Brayton Walter Yerkes was born on February 11, 1932, in Los Angeles County. He began performing acrobatics at Muscle Beach at the age of 11. Following his parents’ divorce, Yerkes left home at 15 to join the DeWayne Bros. Circus and later appeared in the 1948 films Julia Misbehaves and The Three Musketeers.
As he honed his skills, particularly on the teeterboard, Yerkes worked for the Clyde Beatty Circus and performed across venues from Las Vegas to the Catskills. After serving in the Korean War, he began his stunt career in films like The Silver Chalice (1954), Trapeze (1956), and The Big Circus (1959), where he doubled for actor David Nelson. He also toured with The Flying Artons as a trapeze catcher 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 reused for the sequels. He also trained actors like Brooke Shields, Todd Bridges, and Willie Aames for the Circus of the Stars specials, 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 rigs for high falls, mats for flips, and a springboard powered by compressed air. 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 a place to stay for those in need.
A member of the Stuntmen’s Association of Motion Pictures since 1973, Yerkes was a Hall of Fame inductee 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 was always my first love… I did a lot of movies and stunt work, too, but the circus was what I really enjoyed.”
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EMMERDALE fans have been left furious after a major blunder in tonight’s episode with Belle Dingle and the tablet.
Events planner Belle is facing criminal charges after she popped an axe in abusive husband Tom King’s back to stop him killing her.
She finally opened up about the coercive control and abuse he put her through but she has no proof as Tom covered his tracks well.
However while Tom was arrested, one piece of evidence did come to light – the tablet in which he secretly recorded Belle from all his hidden cameras in her cottage.
His cousin Carl had borrowed it, and lent it to Isaac Dingle, with the tablet turning up at Moira’s kitchen table.
And when she logged on she found all the disturbing footage of what Tom had done to Belle.
In horror she watched videos of Belle in the bathroom, and footage of her panicking after being locked in the house by Tom.
Realising this was evidence of his abuse Moira called Belle and left a suitably vague voicemail message before deciding to take the tablet to her.
Only given that Moira has a very active brain tumour, this plan didn’t work out and she ended up having a seizure in a forest.
She was found by her brother Mackenzie who took her home and got her medical help by John Sugden.
But back at the house, Moira, Matty and Mackenzie all had a discussion about the tablet before Belle walked in desperate to know what the voicemail was about.
And despite the tablet being the subject of a discussion not seconds before, none of them thought to mention it.
Instead Belle was left devastated, convinced she was going to prison for defending herself and that Tom would be free to continue his reign of terror.
The blunder by Moira, Mackenzie and Matty has left fans furious.
One wrote: “So Moira calls Belle but can’t remember why, Mack finds a tablet that’s isn’t theirs and they don’t think to say oh maybe this is yours and that’s why she was calling. Oh no that would be too easy.”
A second said: “#Emmerdale really frustrating, why didn’t Moira call her brother, call the police call someone. Also why didn’t she say on voicemail that she got the tablet and sees video there. Y didn’t Mackenzie mention the tablet as was with Moria. Stressful.”
Someone else added: “Emmerdale really has turned into a pantomime, I think every viewer will have been screaming ‘It’s behind you,’ to Belle.”
And a fourth fumed: “OMG, could tonight’s episode have been more infuriating?”
Played by Natalie J. Robb, Moira has become one of Emmerdale's most prominent characters since her debut in 2009.
AFFAIR WITH CAIN DINGLE
In October 2011, Moira began an affair with Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley), whom she had previously loathed.
At the time, she was married to first husband and childhood sweetheart John (James Thornton).
JOHN’S DEATH
In the characters’ backstory, John and Moira had been married since 1990. They shared three children: Adam, Hannah (now Matty) and Holly.
While John struggled to forgive Moira’s infidelity, he also realised he couldn’t live without her.
Ultimately, the character of John was written out by having a car accident and fatal cardiac arrest.
Afterwards, Moira and Cain began a relationship and later married.
ADAM’S PATERNITY
It transpired that Cain was not the first man that Moira had an affair with.
She previously slept with John’s brother James (Bill Ward) – with the revelation that he is her son Adam’s biological father.
MURDER OF EMMA BARTON
James’ estranged wife Emma (Gillian Kearney) was introduced as a soap villain, reuniting with her clan after two decades.
In October 2017, Emma was killed off in a who-dunnit storyline after being pushed off a viaduct.
She reappeared one last time in December 2017 for a flashback, where her killer was revealed to be archenemy Moira.
ERIK ten Hag has launched a defiant defence of his team after comments from former Manchester United coach Benni McCarthy.
McCarthy, who worked as an assistant under Ten Hag at United, slammed the Dutchman for “lacking passion” and “wasting Cristiano Ronaldo” in a recent interview.
Ten Hag is under mounting pressure at Old Trafford after a poor start to the season that has been compounded by back-to-back home thrashings in the league to Liverpool and Spurs.
And prior to Man Utd’s Europa League clash with Porto on Thursday night, the manager was quizzed on McCarthy’s scathing assessment.
Ten Hag wasn’t having any of the criticism and, as he has done plenty of times before, pointed to his trophy cabinet since his arrival at the Theatre of Dreams.
He said: “I don’t know what he means. When you win trophies, you can’t do this without passion and desire.”
Ten Hag has one two trophies in as many seasons at Man Utd, lifting the League Cup in his first year and guiding the side to FA Cup glory last term.
United fans are beginning to lose patience with a reliance on domestic cup competitions after the club’s league form has failed to impress.
So far this season Man Utd have lost three of their six Premier League clashes – that’s the same number of league defeats amassed by champions Man City in the entirety of the the previous campaign.
And as pressure continues to mount, Ten Hag could be put under the microscope when his side travel to Villa Park this weekend.
FOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS
Man Utd take on Aston Villa on Sunday, hoping to bounce back from their 3-0 trashing to Spurs last weekend.
And according to The Athletic, club chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe is planning on making the trip to Birmingham to watch the game.
Ratcliffe is the key decision maker at United and it will ultimately be him who decides if Ten Hag’s time at the helm will come to an end amid the club’s poor form.
His time could come to an end soon as speculation continues to swirl about his sacking with comments such as Benni McCarthy’s doing the rounds.
The ex-Blackburn and West Ham striker, 46, spent two years as Ten Hag’s assistant before he left in the summer.
And after being replaced by Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake in the dugout, McCarthy didn’t pull any punches in his assessment of Ten Hag’s management.
Speaking to Zero Zero, he said: “He lacks a bit of that fire, that passion. That’s where we differ, him and I.
“I think that was one of the difficulties that the team and the players encountered.”
While he added: “Before I joined the team, I always had to communicate my thoughts to the head coach, which is normal.
“For someone like me, with strong convictions, it’s not easy. Erik always had the final say.”
