Rufus Hannah

Rufus Hannah (1955), also known as Rufus the Stunt Bum, is 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 a stack of milk crates [cite web | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/06/magazine/06wwln_phenomenon.html?ex=1312516800&en=ed6d73b55e3686e6&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss | title = Degradation Inc. | work = Phenomenon | publisher = New York Times magazine | author = Aimee Molloy | date = August 6, 2006 ] . He subsequently was filmed performing other "stunts" for the Bumfights videos, including having "BUMFIGHTS" tattooed on his knuckles, riding a shopping cart down a flight of stairs, ramming his head into steel doors so hard that he today suffers from epilepsy, and beating up 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 (who was injured in basic training), were paid an average of $10 per stunt, although on one occasion Brennan was paid $200 to have "BUMFIGHTS" tattooed 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 [cite news | url = http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/1912128/detail.html | title = 'Bumfights' Producers To Stand Trial | publisher = NBC San Diego | date = January 15, 2003 ] [cite web | url = http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0209/26/lol.09.html | title = "Bumfights" Video Creators Charged With Felonies | format = Transcript of live interview with Hannah—misspelled "Hanna" | publisher = CNN.com | date = September 26, 2002 ] ; the defendants were acquitted on the majority of charges and sentenced to community service for conspiring to stage an illegal fight (in 2005, they were sentenced to 6 months in prison for having failed to complete the community service).

Hannah and Brennan also filed a civil suit against the producers [cite web | url = http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/bumfights/bumfights100202cmp.pdf | title = Copy of Civil Complaint, Hannah and Brennan vs. McPherson, et al. | publisher = findlaw | format = PDF ] [cite news | url = http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/03/1033538715422.html | title = Revenge of the homeless: 'Bumfight' video lawsuit | publisher = Sydney Morning Herald | date = October 3 2002] ; the producers agreed to pay an unspecified amount in damages, and to no longer use Hannah and Brennan's images for promotional purposes.

Hannah has been sober for over four years and is now a property manager. He spends 40 hours a week painting apartments, constructing fences, and many other things. He hopes to one day to get the 'Bum Fights' tattoo removed from his knuckles.

see Rufus Hannah's Quotations in Wikiquote [http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rufus_hannah]

As at July 17, 2004 he has been sober for "20 months. "I couldn't stand it anymore," he said. "I couldn't believe what I was doing.". He entered an inpatient treatment program at the VA hospital [cite web | url = http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040717/news_1m17fights.html | title = Former 'bum' beats the bottle - Army veteran was part of infamous underground video = findlaw | format = html ] .

References

* "Synopsis of an episode of VH1 News Presents, focusing on "Bumfights", featuring Hannah and Brennan"
*