Rufus Hannah
Rufus Hannah, also known as Roofus the Stunt Bum, was an American advocate for homeless rights who became known for his role in the early Bumfights videos: in 2000, while himself a homeless alcoholic, he was paid $5 to be filmed running headfirst into an intermodal container.
Biography
Hannah was raised in Swainsboro, Georgia. He started drinking at 14, despite having a "good family." He was a construction worker until the age of 27, when he joined the U.S. Army. He was soon discharged after injuring himself during basic training. After his injury, he started drinking heavily, leading to his homelessness and alcoholism. In the early 1990s, he moved to California, where he was approached by Ryan McPherson to appear in Bumfights.''Bumfights''
He subsequently was filmed performing other "stunts" for the Bumfights videos, including riding a shopping cart down a flight of stairs, ramming his head into steel doors so hard that he had seizures, and beating up Donald "Donnie" Brennan, another homeless man, so badly that Brennan's leg was broken in two places and required surgical intervention. Brennan, an army veteran, and Hannah, were paid an average of $10 per stunt. Both men were also paid to get Bumfights tattoos: Hannah's tattoo was across his knuckles and Brennan's was on his forehead.In 2002, Hannah and Brennan testified in the criminal trials of the producers of Bumfights on several charges, including the soliciting of felonies; the defendants were acquitted on the majority of charges and sentenced to community service for conspiring to stage an illegal fight.
Hannah and Brennan also filed a civil suit against the producers; the producers agreed to pay an unspecified amount in damages, and to no longer use Hannah and Brennan's images for promotional purposes.