'Endless Summer' surfing filmmaker Bruce Brown dies at 80

Bruce Brown, whose 1966 surfing documentary 'The Endless Summer' transformed the image of the sport, has died.

Brown, who was 80, died of natural causes in Santa Barbara on Sunday, said Alex Mecl, general manager of Bruce Brown Films.

Surfers had largely been portrayed as beach buffoons in the mindless party movies of the early 1960s but his film was the first to document their lives as adventurers, inspiring a generation of surfers to travel the world.

Along with the music of the Beach Boys, Brown took surfing from a quirky hobby to a fundamental part of American culture.

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