"King of the Desert" Passes
L
egendary desert racer JN
Roberts, known as the "King
of the Desert," who spent much
of his career as a Hollywood
stunt person, passed away at
his home in Helena, Montana,
on August 18. He was 84.
James Nelson Roberts
became a desert racing icon in
the 1960s and '70s, cutting his
racing teeth in AMA District 37.
At one time, Roberts won 27
consecutive races, and he's won
just about all the "biggies" at
the time, like Barstow-to-Vegas
(four times), the Mint 400, the
Baja 500 and the Baja 1000,
including the Mexican 1000 in
1967 with teammate Malcolm
Smith. He also represented the
U.S. at the ISDT in 1971 and '72.
Roberts also appeared in the
iconic motorcycling documen
-
tary, On Any Sunday.
Roberts got into the Hol-
lywood stunt business when,
according to Stunts Unlimited,
the organization of which he
was a member, "fellow motor-
cyclist, future film director, and
Stunts Unlimited co-founder Hal
Needham introduced JN to the
exclusive Viewfinders motor-
cycle club, a group of stuntmen
and Hollywood actors who shared
a passion for desert racing. Among
its members were Ronnie Rondell
and Glenn Wilder, also co-founders
of Stunts Unlimited, and legendary
actor Steve McQueen.
"After Needham established
himself as a successful director, he
helped JN launch his career as a
stuntman. JN quickly proved him
-
self on both two and four wheels,
performing memorable motorcycle
and car stunts for film and televi-
sion and doubling for stars includ-
ing Charles Bronson and Paul
Newman."
Roberts was inducted into the
AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in
1999 and the Off-Road Motorsports
Hall of Fame in 2009. He was also
a member of the Hollywood Stunt
-
men's Hall of Fame.
CN
WIND
IN THE
P30
Legendary desert
racer JN Roberts
passed away at the
age of 84.
