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Throughout the decades, motorcycles have become a symbol of personal freedom. In 1954 Marlon Brando started it all in the movies when he starred in “The Wild One” the original biker film & the first movie to focus on motorcycles & the people who ride them. Since then some of Hollywood’s greatest stars have strapped on the leathers & hopped on to their Harley Davidson’s. |
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In the 1960’s we saw super-cool Steve McQueen use a motorbike in his attempt to escape the Nazi’s in the hugely popular war epic “The Great Escape” (1963). The king of Rock ‘n Roll, Mr. Elvis Presley played the restless & reckless motorcycle drifter who joins a carnival in “Roustabout” (1964). In 1968 Dean Martin joined the club of motorcycle riders as the ace super-spy & lady-killer Matt Helm in the James Bond spoof “The Ambushers”. By the end of the 1960’s times were changing & so were the bikes when Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper & Jack Nicholson went searching for America on their custom made Harley Davidson’s in the cult classic “Easy Rider” (1969). |
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| Elvis Presley as biker Charlie Rogers in “Roustabout” (1964). | Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda & Jack Nicholson star in the revolutionary & controversial biker flick “Easy Rider” (1969). | Dean Martin as the slick, ultra-cool secret agent Matt Helm in “The Ambushers” (1968). |
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1974 was the year of the leather-clad street gang (Sylvester Stallone, Henry Winkler, Paul Mace & Perry King) known to movie audiences as “The Lords of Flatbush”. They were a gang of four but only one of them tore up the turf on his motorcycle, that man was Perry King. Also, in the mid-1970’s Italian funny men & action superstars, Terence Hill & Bud Spencer hopped on their bikes & gave a vicious leather-glad biker gang a lesson in manners in the hugely popular “Watch Out We’re Mad”. In 1977 American action hero Clint Eastwood used a bike to run from the mob in the exciting chase caper “The Gauntlet”. In 1982 newcomer Maxwell Caulfield played the high school boy turned “Cool Rider” in “Grease 2”. Two years later Aiden Quinn & Daryl Hannah rode off into the sunset in the teen romance-drama “Reckless” (1984). |
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Sylvester Stallone, Henry Winkler, Perry King & Paul Mace star as the tough Brooklyn street gang known as “The Lords of Flatbush”. |
Aidan Quinn makes his film debut in “Reckless”. He stars as the rebellious bike riding teenager who falls in love with Daryl Hannah. |
Italian duo Terence Hill & Bud Spencer prepare to do battle with the bad guys in “Watch Out We’re Mad”. In their unique style of modern-day jousting Terence & Bud use motorbikes instead of horses. |
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Clint Eastwood plays a cop & Sondra Locke a hooker as they take a bike ride to safety in the exciting action thriller “The Gauntlet” (1977). |
Cool Rider Maxwell Caulfield makes an exciting motorcycle jump in “Grease 2” (1982). |
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Even today’s hottest action stars have been lured to the two-wheeled beast. The mighty Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) became a hot-rodder in “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” (1991). Mickey Rourke starred in the cult biker film that even featured the famous bike name in the film title “Harley Davidson & The Marlboro Man” (1991). Kung Fu superstar Jean Claude Van Damme takes flight on a bike in “Nowhere To Run” (1993) & also in John Woo’s “Hard Target” (1993). The most recent Hollywood A-list star to burn rubber would have to be Tom Cruise in the big-budget action flick “Mission Impossible II” (2000). |
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Arnold Schwarzenegger rides his motorcycle with shotgun in hand in “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” (1991). |
Mickey Rourke & Don Johnson burn rubber in “Harley Davidson & the Marlboro Man” (1991). |
Jean Claude Van Damme plays the bike riding escaped con in “Nowhere To Run” (1993). |
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| Richard Grieco, the star of “Jump Street”, “If Looks Could Kill” (1991) & numerous cult films. | John Stamos in “Born To Ride” (1991), a story about Harley Davidsons role in World War II. | Matt Dillon & Nicole Kidman on their Harley Davidson in the malicious comedy thriller “To Die For” (1995). |
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Television couldn’t escape the biker phenomenon. Who can forget the coolest biker of them all, Henry Winkler who played “The Fonz” in the long running televisions series “Happy Days”. What about Erik Estrada the bike-riding super cop in “Chips”? Then there was James Marshall who cruised around the town of “Twin Peaks” on his beloved Harley. Later came Lorenzo Lamas as the modern day bounty hunter who rides a motorbike in the popular action series “Renegade”. |
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| Henry Winkler is the one & only, Arthur Fonzarelli, everybody’s definition of “Mr. “Cool” in the TV series “Happy Day’s”. | Erik Estrada & Larry Wilcox star in the TV cop show “Chips” the adventures of two Californian Highway Patrol motorcycle officers. | Lorenzo Lamas is Reno Raines the “Renegade” who escaped from jail & became a bounty hunter in order to clear his name. |
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Many actors from the past & present have had a love affair with their motorbikes, if not on-screen then certainly off-screen. Richard Grieco, John Stamos, Nicolas Cage, Jonny Depp, Keanu Reeves, Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez & Charlie Sheen are just some of the big names that have been linked to motorcycles. Although he never got the opportunity to star in a biker movie it was a known fact around Hollywood circles that American icon James Dean would hop on his Triumph & burn rubber around the backlots of his film sets. |