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{{short description|American motorcycle racer}}
{{Infobox person
| name = James Nelson Roberts
| birth_name = James Nelson Roberts
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1942}}
| birth_place = [[Indiana]], United States
| death_date =
| death_place =
| other_names = J. N. Roberts
| resting_place =
| occupation = Motorcycle racer, film industry stuntman
| yearsactive = 1969–1997
}}
'''James Nelson "J. N." Roberts''' (born 1942), is an [[Americans|American]] former professional [[Off-road racing|off-road]] and [[enduro]] [[motorcycle]] racer and a film industry [[stunt performer|stuntman]].<ref name="J.N. Roberts at the AMA Hall of Fame">{{cite web |url=http://hof.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?RacerID=261&lpos=-615px&letter=R&txtFname=&rblFname=S&txtLname=&rblLname=S&discipline=0 |title=J.N. Roberts at the AMA Hall of Fame |publisher=motorcyclemuseum.org |access-date=1 February 2017 }}</ref><ref name="Hollywood Stunt Performers, 1910s-1970s">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=10dXAwAAQBAJ&q=J.N.+Roberts+hall+of+fame&pg=PA238 |title=Hollywood Stunt Performers, 1910s-1970s |author=Freese, Gene Scott |year=2014 |isbn=9780786476435 |access-date=23 February 2022 }}</ref> In the 1960s and early 1970s, he was a dominant motorcycle competitor in American [[desert racing]] centered in the [[Mojave Desert]] of [[Southern California]].<ref name="J.N. Roberts at the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame">{{cite web |url=http://ormhof.org/jn-roberts/ |title=J.N. Roberts at the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame |publisher=ormhof.org |access-date=1 February 2017 }}</ref> At one point in his desert racing career, Roberts won 27 consecutive desert races, earning him the unofficial nickname of King of the Desert.<ref name="King of the Desert">{{cite web |url=http://www.cyclenews.com/2017/08/article/archives-king-desert/ |title=King of the Desert |publisher=cyclenews.com |access-date=18 January 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://thefasthouse.com/the-scene/articles/living-legend-j-n-roberts |title=Living Legend: J.N. Roberts |publisher=thefasthouse.com |access-date=18 January 2018 }}</ref> Roberts was inducted into the [[American Motorcyclist Association|AMA]] [[Motorcycle Hall of Fame]] in 1999 and, into the [[Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame]] in 2009.<ref name="J.N. Roberts at the AMA Hall of Fame"/><ref name="J.N. Roberts at the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame"/> He is also a member of the Hollywood Stuntmen's Hall Of Fame.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stuntmen.org/members.html |title=Hollywood Stuntmen's Hall Of Fame |publisher=stuntmen.org |access-date=18 January 2018 }}</ref>

== Desert racing career ==
Roberts grew up near [[Evansville, Indiana]] and moved to [[Southern California]] in the 1960s after serving in Okinawa with the [[United States Marine Corps]].<ref name="King of the Desert"/><ref name="J.N. Roberts">{{cite web |url=http://joescalzowriter.com/PDF'S/j.n..pdf |title=J.N. Roberts |publisher=joescalzowriter.com |access-date=1 February 2017 }}</ref> He worked as a carpenter on film sets at [[Universal Studios]] and, began competing in off-road desert motorcycle races during his spare time.<ref name="King of the Desert"/>

When Roberts began his desert racing career in the early 1960s, most desert racers preferred heavy, ungainly, British [[Straight-twin engine|parallel twin]] cylinder motorcycles.<ref name="J.N. Roberts at the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame"/> He was among the first desert racers to adopt lighter motorcycles with single cylinder, [[two-stroke engine]]s.<ref name="J.N. Roberts at the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame"/><ref name="Malcolm Smith and JN Roberts Celebrate Their 70th Birthdays in Style">{{cite web |url=https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/blogs/malcolm-smith-and-jn-roberts-celebrate-their-70th-birthdays-style-forever-young |title=Malcolm Smith and JN Roberts Celebrate Their 70th Birthdays in Style |publisher=motorcyclistonline.com |access-date=18 January 2018 }}</ref> Despite the horsepower advantage of the larger motorcycles, Roberts' [[Husqvarna Motorcycles|Husqvarna]] motorcycle weighed only 245 pounds making it more nimble and agile than the larger motorcycles.<ref name="J.N. Roberts"/> Where riders of larger motorcycles tended to use speed and momentum to plough through desert obstacles, Roberts appeared to be dancing away from obstacles, standing upright on the foot pegs, rarely sitting down.<ref name="J.N. Roberts"/> He began recording victories in the huge [[American Motorcyclist Association|AMA]] District 37 desert races against as many as 1,000 competitors.<ref name="J.N. Roberts at the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame"/><ref name="King of the Desert"/><ref name="Malcolm Smith and JN Roberts Celebrate Their 70th Birthdays in Style"/>

Roberts teamed with [[Malcolm Smith (motorcyclist)|Malcolm Smith]] to win the motorcycle division in the 1967 [[Mexican 1000]], later to be known as the Baja 1000.<ref name="J.N. Roberts at the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame"/><ref name="Malcolm Smith and JN Roberts Celebrate Their 70th Birthdays in Style"/> He won the Barstow to Vegas desert race four times in a row.<ref name="J.N. Roberts at the AMA Hall of Fame"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://thebannerisup.district37ama.org/races/btov-winners.htm |title=Barstow to Vegas winners |publisher=thebannerisup.district37ama.org |access-date=9 February 2017 }}</ref> He also won the [[Mint 400]] three times and the [[Baja 500]] and the [[Baja 1000]] twice each.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thefasthouse.com/when-rules-were-few/j-n-roberts-classic |title=Baddest of the Bad - J.N. Roberts |publisher=thefasthouse.com |access-date=18 January 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.motorsportsetc.com/champs/baja1k_m.htm |title=Baja 1000 winners |publisher=motorsportsetc.com |access-date=20 March 2017 }}</ref> Roberts also represented the United States at the 1971 and 1972 [[International Six Days Enduro|International Six Days Trial]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ffYDAAAAMBAJ&q=jn+roberts+husqvarna&pg=PA32 |title=The 1971 International Six Days Trial |date=November 1971 |work=American Motorcyclist |access-date=1 February 2017 |last1=Assoc |first1=American Motorcyclist }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPkDAAAAMBAJ&q=jn+roberts+husqvarna&pg=PA51 |title=Czech ISDT Organizers Order U.S. Team Revisions |date=October 1972 |work=American Motorcyclist |access-date=1 February 2017 |last1=Assoc |first1=American Motorcyclist }}</ref> The International Six Days Trial is a form of off-road motorcycle Olympics that is the oldest annual competition sanctioned by the [[Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme|FIM]], dating back to 1913.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ultimatemotorcycling.com/2010/10/25/international-six-days-enduro-an-fim-history/ |title=History of the International Six Day Trials |date=25 October 2010 |publisher=ultimatemotorcycling.com |access-date=22 February 2019}}</ref>

Roberts pioneered a number of safety innovations in the field of off-road racing. He did this by incorporating protective gear from other sports with his own: bolting a football helmet face guard to his motorcycle helmet, wearing football shoulder pads, as well as a baseball catcher's shin guards). These changes were considered to be the first steps in the evolution of modern safety equipment.<ref name="J.N. Roberts"/>

== Film industry career ==
Following in the footsteps of fellow Motorcycle Hall of Fame members [[Carey Loftin]] and [[Bud Ekins]], Roberts began to work in the [[film industry]] where his riding talents made him useful as a stuntman.<ref name="Malcolm Smith and JN Roberts Celebrate Their 70th Birthdays in Style"/> During his desert racing career, Roberts became acquainted with fellow motorcyclist and future film director, [[Hal Needham]].<ref name="J.N. Roberts"/> After Needham had established himself as a successful director, he discovered that Roberts was a carpenter at Universal Studios, and decided to help Roberts become a stuntman.<ref name="J.N. Roberts"/> Needham helped Roberts get a job on the film ''[[Little Big Man (film)|Little Big Man]]'' (1970), where he dressed and painted up to portray one of the Sioux and Cheyenne who attacked General Custer in the film.<ref name="J.N. Roberts"/><ref name="J.N. Roberts at the IMDB database">{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0731183/ |title=J.N. Roberts at the IMDB database |publisher=imdb.com |access-date=1 February 2017 }}</ref> Roberts impressed observers with a motorcycle stunt in the film ''[[Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came]]'' (1970) and, doubled for [[Paul Newman]] for motorcycle scenes in the film, ''[[Sometimes a Great Notion (film)|Sometimes a Great Notion]]'' (1970).<ref name="Hollywood Stunt Performers, 1910s-1970s"/> His best known stunt work occurred during motorcycle chase scenes in the [[Charles Bronson]] films ''[[The Mechanic (1972 film)|The Mechanic]]'' (1972) and ''[[The Stone Killer]]'' (1973).<ref name="Hollywood Stunt Performers, 1910s-1970s"/>

As his career progressed, he moved from specializing in horses to specializing in violent car chases and crashes.<ref name="Hollywood Stunt Performers, 1910s-1970s"/> Roberts also had small acting roles in thirteen films.<ref name="J.N. Roberts at the IMDB database"/> Needham inducted Roberts into the Viewfinders motorcycle club, an extremely exclusive club of fellow stuntmen and Hollywood actors who also competed in motorcycle desert races. Other members included Needham, [[Pernell Roberts]] from Bonanza and [[Steve McQueen]].<ref name="J.N. Roberts"/>

== Awards ==
Roberts was inducted into the [[American Motorcyclist Association|AMA]] [[Motorcycle Hall of Fame]] in 1999.<ref name="J.N. Roberts at the AMA Hall of Fame"/> In 2009, Roberts was inducted into the [[Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame]].<ref name="J.N. Roberts at the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame"/>

Roberts appeared in the motorcycle documentary films [[On Any Sunday]] (1971), [[Dust to Glory]] (2005), and in Full Circle, The Legend Lives (2008).<ref name="J.N. Roberts at the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame"/><ref name="J.N. Roberts at the IMDB database"/>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://hof.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?RacerID=261&lpos=-615px&letter=R&txtFname=&rblFname=S&txtLname=&rblLname=S&discipline=0 J.N. Roberts at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame]
*[http://ormhof.org J.N. Roberts at the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame]
*[http://www.stuntmen.org/members.html J.N. Roberts at the Hollywood Stuntmen's Hall Of Fame]
*{{IMDb name|0731183}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, J.N.}}
[[Category:1942 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American motorcycle racers]]
[[Category:Off-road motorcycle racers]]
[[Category:Enduro riders]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Evansville, Indiana]]
[[Category:Motorcycle racers from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:People from Sylmar, Los Angeles]]
[[Category:American stunt performers]]
[[Category:Male actors from Indiana]]
[[Category:American male film actors]]
[[Category:United States Marines]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]]

J. N. Roberts - Revision history

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