The Hollywood strike is over and it's back to work for stunt doubles like Eddie Braun, who just finished season 2 of "Bosch: Legacy" starring Titus Welliver.
Eddie Braun is an award-nominated stuntman who has doubled for Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Charlie Sheen, Lee Majors, Chuck Norris, to name a few, in a prolific career spanning four decades. He is credited 282 times on IMDb. You know you're tough when Chuck Norris calls you to be his stunt double.
What's the ultimate resistance test a Rolex Explorer can be put through? Hiking a mountain? River-rafting? Repelling? How about being strapped to the wrist of a stunt double, day after day.
"Stuntman-tested tough." That's Eddie Braun's description of his Rolex Explorer when I interviewed him. Despite his good looks and stunning eloquence, Eddie is the face we never see on movie screens. And though you can win an Oscar for playing a stuntman, you can't win one for being one. Eddie, like Paul Newman, wears his Rolex daily though he is not sponsored by the brand.
"My Explorer has been totally covered in blood at times. But clean it off and she is good to go," Eddie told me.
I've reviewed B-rolls of Eddie's stunts, and it's not unusual to catch a glimpse of that stainless steel Oyster bracelet as he gets pulled from a crash.
Eddie recently turned 60 but looks 10 years younger. It's probably because he hangs around Hollywood stars all day.
His seemingly endless list of action credits range from 1980 television classics like The Dukes of Hazzard; The Fall Guy; Magnum, P.I.; Walker, Texas Ranger to big-production films including Transformers, The Avengers, The Green Hornet, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Moneyball, to name a few.
So, is Eddie Braun a one-watch guy? "I own several other watches, like Pateks and such," Eddie told me. "But I almost never wear them. I always wear my trusty workhorse Rolly." Then he added: "To say I love this watch is an understatement."
One of the most famous stuntmen in Hollywood loves wearing an Explorer. The watch is tough enough to be worn in the world's biggest production stunts — and dressy enough to hang around Hollywood stars all day. Can there be higher praises for the product?
Pictured below is Eddie's actual Rolex Explorer, his “trusty workhorse Rolly.” I made the small edit because I love that Eddie doesn't baby his watch. That makes it more of a family heirloom in my opinion.
Eddie remains long friends with the actors he has doubled for. After all, he has literally taken the fall for them.
He showed me the caseback of his vintage Rolex Explorer. The timepiece was gifted to him by Charlie Sheen after Eddie did a dangerous stunt sequence – twice – from the 21st floor while doubling on the actor’s thriller “Shadow Conspiracy.” Engraved on the back: “Eddie, You da man. Love and Peace, Charlie.”
In 2016, Eddie became the only man to ever jump across Idaho’s Snake River Canyon in a rocket, a stunt that his childhood idol, Evel Knievel, attempted but failed in 1974 when he crashed into the river after his parachute deployed too early. Soaring 3,000 feet into the air at about 450 miles per hour, a Rolex Explorer on his wrist, there was a 50-50 chance that Eddie would not survive.
Slash, the famous guitarist from "Guns N Roses" and a friend of Eddie’s, made a special rendition of "Rocket Man" for the occasion.
A Disney Plus original documentary produced by Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia followed Eddie and his team as he prepared for that stunt, widely considered the most dangerous stunt in cinematic history.
Eddie has four kids, including one son who is the oldest. "It was my one request had I been blown to bits in the rocket," Eddie told me. "I asked the rescue team to look for the watch for my son regardless of what shape my body was in."
I asked Eddie if he had thought of a retirement watch. “Retirement is not in the near future,” he said. “But I love the Day-Date with the ice-blue dial.”
“Until then,” he finally added. “I’m still wearing my trusty old workhorse I love.”