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Ben Johnson died while practicing for a seniors rodeo event!!!

 

Cowboy to the end!!!

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IMDB states that he died of a heart attack while visiting his mother in an old age home that they both lived at in Mesa, AZ.

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4 hours ago, Buffalo Creek Law Dog said:

IMDB states that he died of a heart attack while visiting his mother in an old age home that they both lived at in Mesa, AZ.

 

The press release I heard at the time of his passing said that he was preparing for a seniors' rodeo event.

 

He got his start in film as a horse wrangler, appearing in bit parts that grew eventually into starring roles and spectacular stolen scenes throughout his career!

 

One of my favorite scenes was in Bite The Bullet where he had a heart attack and died while in the camp with Gene Hackman and others after struggling to get across a river.  I find it now to have been prophetic and also completely illustrative of how he lived his life.  

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“That ain’t my department, Sir” :D

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15 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

Ben Johnson, Yakima Canutt, Slim Pickens, Tim McCoy—they didn’t have to pretend to be cowboys.

 

This may seem odd to some, but put Andy Devine in that group too!!  Andy got his start in westerns the same way that Slim Pickens did!!  He was the only guy on the set that could drive a six-up team!!  It may have been on Stagecoach!!  That is the story I got from some of the hands around the industry and I'm pretty sure it was told on one of those western documentaries too!!

 If you only ever saw Stagecoach and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, you'd think Andy was the comic relief!  Watch any of the other productions of Stagecoach and think about it.

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I loved Andy Devine, and thanks for adding him to the list.  Your comments appear to be correct.

 

According to David Rothel's book, "Those Great Cowboy Sidekicks", he was born in Arizona and worked as a cowboy, attended Arizona Teachers College and Santa Clara University where he was a football star.  But he really wanted to act and got his first role in the 1927 silent movie, "The Collegians."

 

His biography verifies that he could drive a stagecoach, and that John Ford hired him to do so in one of Ford's movies, but that this was long before filming "Stagecoach" in 1939.  Andy was a contract player for Universal in 1930, so he appeared in a lot of films before Stagecoach.

 

I wonder if we overlooked anyone else?

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James Caan is also a cowboy!!  Participated in cutting horse competitions throughout most of his acting career!!  I think he was nationally ranked at one time, as was his horse!!

 

 

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-27-sp-661-story.html

 

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The 1st thing that comes to mind when I read or hear Andy Devine is "Plunk the magic twanger froggy".  I'm sure that dates me pretty accurately.

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2 hours ago, J.D. Daily said:

The 1st thing that comes to mind when I read or hear Andy Devine is "Plunk the magic twanger froggy".  I'm sure that dates me pretty accurately.

 

 

Andy's Hour!!  Saturday after Howdy Doody!!

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Ben Johnson. The only person to win an academy award and a rodeo world championship. Slim Pickens. Later in his career he was more interested in his per diem when shooting a movie then his actual salary. Reason being his wife was an accountant and handled their finances. His paychecks went straight to the wife, the per diem in his pocket.

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2 hours ago, Smokin Gator SASS #29736 said:

Ben Johnson. The only person to win an academy award and a rodeo world championship. 

 

Yakima Canutt received an honorary Oscar for his career as a stunt man, and was also a World Champion Bronc Rider.  His Wiki biography is worth a look:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakima_Canutt

 

 

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