R.I.P. 12 HOLLYWOOD STARS WHO DIED TOO SOON! A Special AWOW Tribute!

hi i'm rob word artists and filmmakers who make westerns have a special spot in my heart and i hope yours too we're lucky when we see them start as youthful performers and transition into character roles those long careers are wonderful but when they pass away it's sad for their friends their families and all of us but when they die young it's even worse it's a tragedy some performers like nehemiah person died at 102. now that was sad but we are so fortunate that he was able to make so many films and appearances on television that left the legacy of his work but how about those performers who died early that's a real tragedy i've picked performers who left us way too soon and i picked those who died prior to the age of 50. you might be surprised at how many of them there are they have left us a legacy luckily we have their work on film and we're honoring them with this special tribute [Music] nick adams is best known to audiences as johnny uma the character he co-created with writer producer andrew j finnerty for their popular half hour sunday night series the rebel in that series adam's character was a haunted civil war veteran who kept a diary of his journey roaming the american west and encountering corruption outlaws and gunslingers there was not much romance in the series which suited adam's petulant acting style johnny cash sang the memorable theme song called the poor man's james dean the five foot seven inch adams had appeared in a small role with dean in 1955's rebel without a cause and had become friends with the actor his first credited feature role was that same year as billy the kid and mervyn leroy's strange lady in town nick's role as a petulant teenager in delmar dave's 1956 western feature the last wagon fit the era's desire to feature juvenile delinquents even if they were out west in the 1880s a similar role followed as john derek's callous younger brother and fury at showdown a nice break for nick and another young rising star michael landon happened when adams was cast as landon's murderous brother in the first episode of steve mcqueen's new series wanted dead or alive other tv westerns before landing the lead in the rebel include cimarron city yancey derringer as an obnoxious russian duke tales of wells fargo two episodes of dick pal's zane grey theater and wagon train and three episodes of robert culp's texas ranger series track down due to a clash between producers of the rebel goodson and todman and the abc network nick's top-rated series the rebel was unfortunately canceled following its demise adams continued working in series television but landed a best supporting actor nomination for twilight of honor he was devastated when he lost and began appearing in lesser and lesser feature films like invasion of the astro monster and frankenstein versus baragon before his untimely death from an overdose of drugs at the age of 36 adams worked on rawhide the monroes and once more with producer andy finnerty in a two-part episode of tv's hondo as the apache kid released internationally as a feature california-born mary blanchard had her best role in destroy director george marshall's 1954 remake of his hit destruy rides again which had starred james stewart and marlene dietrich mary got the dietrich role and audie murphy took over the deceptively easygoing part of destry george marshall liked it better than the original as a young girl age nine mary contracted polio and was unable to walk for three years through rigorous therapy swimming and a psychotherapist mother she learned to walk again running away from home as a teenager to join the circus as a trapeze artist petite at five foot four and a half inches mary became a model where she was spotted by cartoonist al capp becoming the inspiration to hot bodied stupefying jones in the little abner strip her stunning good looks gave her some thankless parts and 10 tall men abbott and costello go to mars and the vales of baghdad signed at universal 1954 was a good year for blanchard and for western fans her features that year include rails into laramie with john payne and dan duryea and black horse canyon with joel mcrae a favorite of mary's because she loved animals and writing who better than mcrae on location mary even adopted a female baby boro to cap off that year her leading role was destry other western features include the return of jack slade as texas rose with john erickson as slade and stagecoach to fury with forest tucker tv westerns were booming in the late 1950s and mary began making the rounds appearing in the texan shotgun slade and a sugarfoot episode apollo with a gun a tale of murder directed by robert altman that has mary as real-life celebrated actress aydah menken writing a black stallion and having a romance with will hutchins tom brewster in 1960 mary co-starred in her only tv series it was a western with ralph tager and james coburn the short-lived series was klondike other tv westerns include bronco rawhide gunslinger and the virginian mary blanchard's last western feature was a good one the john wayne marine o'hara classic mcclintock she played a town madam with a heart of gold mary was married three times during the last seven years of her short life she contracted cancer and died may 10 1970 at the age of 47. as general giant hoss cartwright dan blocker was the heart of bonanza when he died at the age of 43 during the top-rated western's 13th season may 13 1972 the soul went out of the series bonanza was still doing well in the ratings that year and was renewed for the fall but it ended cancelled before the 14th season was over bobby dan blocker was born in dekalb texas weighing in at 14 pounds yep he was a big boy six foot tall and 200 pounds by the time he was 12. locker had planned to be a teacher even married his college sweetheart but was discovered in hollywood while he was attending ucla and found work in the growing number of tv westerns produced during the 1950s at first dan picked up small usually uncredited parts like his tv debut as a bartender unbilled in the robert altman series sheriff of cochise because of his size and pleasant personality he was soon making the rounds and appearing in westerns with character names like tiger and hognose he was mule in sergeant preston of the yukon other pre-bonanza westerns include zane grey theater colt 45 zorro tales of wells fargo the rifleman and wagon train restless gun starring john payne and produced by david dortort was a major break for blocker he appeared five times as five different characters one of them a sympathetic deaf mute dortort liked what he saw and in his next series gave blocker a continuing role of tiny that series was cimarron city an hour-long western starring george montgomery and it only lasted one season bonanza was next for creator producer dortor and he took dan blocker with him the idea for the new show was to film an hour-long color western which would help sell color television sets for nbc's parent company rca premiering 7 30 p.m saturday september 12 1959 bonanza featured a strong father figure ben cartwright and his three grown sons adam hoss and little joe always quarreling with each other until the chips are down then they join as a family and fight together for the first two years the show aired opposite the powerful perry mason on cbs the cartwright's luck and ratings changed when bonanza's third season in the fall of 1961 the series moved to 9pm sunday nights and became one of television's most successful series dan blocker's warmth shone through in his characterization of hoss walker's wide toothy grin made audiences love the gentle giant many of his most remembered episodes had a comedic slant and were written to let his natural likability emerge the most famous may be hoss and the leprechauns still a saint patrick's day tradition in reruns blocker played opposite talented comic actors like chuck mccann and strother martin even his romantic escapades were loved by audiences a two-part episode was planned to open bonanza's 14th season written by michael landon entitled forever the story had hoss getting married but of course hoss tragically loses his wife at the end of the second episode however real tragedy took place before it was filmed dan blocker died at age 43 of a blood clot on his lung may 13 1972 while the show was on summer hiatus when the 14th season started little joe took the lead in the two-part episode and very little was said in the episode about hoss's death without hoss the magic of bonanza ended the gentle giant couldn't be replaced in the series was canceled january 16 1973. [Music] barry brown was born in san jose california april 19 1951 his first acting role was at the age of seven a walk-on role in the robert wagner jeffrey hunter film in love and war as a teenager barry appeared and then came bronson ironside and the name of the game his first western was the classic western series gunsmoke in a 1970 episode entitled the witness barry and his father tim o'connor witness a murder on a train to dodge city and capture the killer the killer's father harry morgan plans to intimidate the two witnesses he plays the impetuous idealistic son perfectly more episodic tv roles followed until 1972 1972 was a good year for barry brown a good year for westerns too he made three westerns that year written and directed by philip kaufman the great northfield minnesota raid starred robert duvall as jesse james and cliff robertson luke askew and matt clark as the younger brothers barry brown is henry wheeler and rg armstrong as clel miller it's a sometimes comedic take on capitalism and businessmen as criminals bad company is writer robert benton's first film as a director it's the film barry brown is remembered for but most people don't remember barry and have never even seen this gem of a movie about two boys brown and jeff bridges just coming of age during the civil war brown is a mama's boy dodging the draft who falls in with a group of like-minded wayward boys heading west danger and death lurk but so does humor camaraderie and excitement the stellar cast is loaded it includes john savage david huddleson charles tyner charles martin smith jeffrey lewis john quade and jim davis as a marshal brown's performance is a nuanced portrait of a cultured youth who must survive on his wits while deceiving his only friend it's extraordinary the braavos is the nonsensical title for barry's third 1972 western there's good chemistry between barry brown and belinda montgomery who are loved smitten passengers on a wagon train going through indian territory directed by ted post and filmed near sedona arizona the tv movie is minor only of interest due to the cast which includes top build george picard pernell roberts dana alcar and a typically charismatic performance by l q jones as a scout brown was also a writer and was considered a promising talent before he committed suicide in 1978 at the age of 27. barry's younger sister marilyn also committed suicide at the age of 45 by jumping off an la freeway overpass actor pete duell starred in the 1971 hit western series alias smith and jones born in rochester new york dool headed to hollywood in 1963 following a road tour of the play take her she's mine the charismatic actor appeared on tv in small roles that just kept getting bigger a bit part in an unsold dale robertson pilot diamond jim was followed by a recurring role with sally field in the sitcom gadget well received but cancelled after only 23 episodes duel spelled d-e-u-e-l at the time was quickly cast in another sitcom love on a rooftop co-starring judy karn recently divorced from burt reynolds and rich little love on a rooftop lasted one season and was canceled duel neck signed at universal and began making guest appearances in the studio's tv series and movies he made two appearances on the virginian including the episode the good-hearted bad man and starred with walter brennan and joan hackett in the young country a tv movie and possible pilot written and directed by roy huggins coincidentally co-star in the young country actor roger davis was soon to become the narrator of alias smith and jones in 1970 duel landed a good role with george pipard in canon for cordoba a solid western about mercenaries going across the border into mexico set in 1914 it also featured don gordon and john russell as general john j pershing 1971 brought big changes for duel for one thing he decided to change the spelling of his name dropping an r from peter and an e from duel becoming pete duel the second thing 1971 brought was another western pilot from roy huggins alias smith and jones this one sold and produced by glenn larson was a hit loosely based on the very successful buddy western comedy of outlaws on the run butch cassidy and the sundance kid now duel and co-star ben murphy became hannibal hayes and kid curry cousins and two of the most wanted outlaws in the american west who were trying to reform the governor offered them amnesty with a condition that had to remain secret the condition was that they continued to be wanted men until the governor decided it was politically advantageous to grant them a pardon the comical weekly adventures of two young wisecracking outlaws trying to go straight became appointment viewing for a youthful demographic especially young girls the series originally aired from january 1971 to january 1973 young and older viewers were shocked when after 33 episodes news of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound was reported december 31st 1971 it was reported that duel had been battling depression and alcohol problems and the death was ruled a suicide production of the series continued with the former narrator roger davis replacing duel in the series as hannibal hayes unlike the two darrens on bewitched this change did not work with viewers and alias smith jones was canceled beautiful and sultry allison hayes was born in charleston west virginia competed in the 1949 miss america contest on screen she was good at playing bad remembered as a 50s horror icon hayes is best known as the lilly putnam giant in 1958's attack of the 50-foot woman stomping around miniature buildings while searching for her philandering husband and calling out his name harry harry it's a cult favorite allison made her motion picture debut in 1954 with the talking mule francis joins the wax in addition to her low budget horror and science fiction favorites she created strong characters in a multitude of westerns one of her best is in count three and pray from 1955 with van heffland and raymond burr allison was very good as a sperm southern belle who loves minister heflin and becomes burr's kept woman unfortunately for alison actress joan woodward made her film debut and got all the good notices allison's 1956 western features include mohawk with scott brady and roger corman's the gunder as a conniving saloon owner who faces off against beverly garland as usual for corman the stunning poster is superior to the actual movie during the 1950s and 60s hayes worked steadily in television her first tv western was as the lead in the 1957 death valley days the true story of mary granger lady engineer other westerns include guest starring on rawhide the rough riders the alaskans and four episodes on tombstone territory as four different characters on batmasterson starring gene berry hayes scored a recurring role as poker playing friend ellie winters who aided bat in several adventures on the popular series other tv westerns include two episodes reuniting allison with her mohawk leading man scott brady in his syndicated series shotgun slade an episode of laramie with robert fuller john smith and guest star rod cameron iron horse starring dale robertson with guest star monty marcum and an episode of dick powell's zane grey theater with guy madison and beverly garland allison's last western movie was the 1965 musical comedy about a singing rodeo writer working at an all girl dude ranch that's right it's elvis in tickle me in the late 1960s allison began experiencing severe pain which may have been caused by lead poisoning and contemplated suicide in 1976 she was diagnosed with leukemia and her condition deteriorated rapidly she died of blood poisoning february 27 1977 shortly before her 47th birthday [Music] if he had only made one western jeffrey hunter would still be remembered by film buffs and historians today that film was the searchers a masterpiece it's a classic today and one of the best films john wayne and john ford ever made co-star hunter was the one who follows ethan edwards wayne on a quest to find his kidnap niece natalie wood hunter's on-screen presence projected honesty both sensitivity and an inner strength in every role he ever played jeffrey hunter was born in new orleans and raised in wisconsin where he performed in summer stock as a teenager following a navy hitch in world war ii hunter graduated from northwestern university where he was spotted by a 20th century fox agent and signed to a film contract he and another young contract player robert wagner made several films together there including the western's white feather and the true story of jesse james hunter's first western was three young texans 1954 starring mitzi gaynor and keith brazell in 1955 fox loaned both hunter and contract player deborah paget to allied artists for seven angry men with raymond massey as abolitionist john brown back at fox his next western white feather with wagner also included pageant in the cast white feather was a beautiful cinemascope production and the first hollywood film to be shot in durango mexico written by delmar dave's hunter is a cheyenne brave wagner a surveyor who falls for hunter's sister deborah pageant the searchers filmed in the summer of 1955 i ought to know i was there made hunter bankable and respected as an actor holding his own with john wayne it was the first of three films hunter made for director ford the others were the last hurrah and sergeant rutledge following the searchers walt disney cast hunter in the civil war action film the great locomotive chase starring fess parker ironically ford had originally wanted to cast parker in hunter's role in the searchers but disney had parker under an exclusive arrangement and refused to let parker do it hunter might have been the most handsome leading man in the 1950s he co-starred with robert ryan and the proud ones and fred mcmurray in another western gunned for a coward reportedly in a role originally meant for james dean hunter's next star in western was the way to the gold with sherry north barry sullivan and walter brennan it was a hit and a film that colonel parker had rejected for elvis hunter portrayed jesus christ and director nicholas reyes king of kings in 1961. it was a massive hit and remains next to the serger's hunter's most recognizable role hunter's tv westerns include starring in the hour-long warner brothers series temple houston which featured hunter as a circuit writing lawyer and jack elam as his gun-toting sidekick it lasted 26 episodes other tv western appearances include death valley days the legend of jesse james daniel boone and the monroes hunter made spaghetti westerns murietta in 1965 in the title role and the christmas kid in 1967. hunter's last western feature was the big budgeted flop custer of the west shot in spain in 1967. robert shaw starred as the upstart general custer hunter was captain ben teen star trek fans know that hunter was gene roddenberry's original choice for the lead and filmed a pilot with hunter as captain pike when hunter refused to do a second pilot he was replaced and the unsold pilot was integrated into the series as a two-part episode the menagerie in november 1968 while filming a crime drama in spain hunter was injured in an explosion and suffered a serious concussion returning home hunter never fully recovered and in may felon struck his head while walking downstairs he died may 31 1969 after surgery at the age of 42. buck jones was a cowboy movie hero and was one of 500 people who died tragically in a fire at boston's famous coconut grove born charles gebhardt in indiana when he was 12 his family moved to indian territory to homestead in what is now oklahoma it is there that he picked up the nickname buck two years later fourteen-year-old buck left home and got work at the nearby miller brothers 101 ranch becoming a good hand before enlisting in the army and saw action with the cavalry in the mexican border and in the philippines he rejoined the 101 ranch wild west show and toured as a roping and bucking horse expert meeting his wife riding show girl odell while performing in madison square gardens together they performed with the ringling brothers circus ending up in hollywood where buck found work as an extra and stuntman in silent westerns in a scenario similar to republic later signing unknown roy rogers to scare gene autry and deline fox hired buck to keep their star cowboy king tom mixon line buck's first starring film was the last straw in 1920 it was an immediate hit leading to over 60 top flight features at fox and giving mix major competition jones was reportedly earning 3 500 a week initially billed as charles jones then charles buck jones the charles was eventually dropped and he became just plain buck jones idol of millions on top of his white horse silver buck's films weren't as flamboyant as mix and his wardrobe was more realistic as were the plots to his films unfortunately just before sound films arrived jones quit fox to go on the road with the buck jones wild west show it folded losing most of buck's savings buck signed for a series of new western talkies to be distributed by columbia these films showcased buck's resonant voice and were packed with action quickly establishing buck as the number one movie cowboy surpassing an aging tom mix buck's output remained strong and audiences could sense his sincerity and love of the west to show his range as an actor he even starred in several non-western features gaining even more fans but in 1935 musical westerns became in vogue and the big guns of the silent era including contemporaries like ken maynard and hoot gibson were being replaced by gene autry roy rogers dick varan and other singing cowboys helping to bring buck back into the spotlight was the success of several western cereals white eagle in 1941 for colombia and universal's million-dollar super cereal riders of death valley even though he was secondary to lead dick faran with their weekly cliffhanging chapters the serials re-established buck's popularity with kids their parents and film bookers hot again buck was approached to star in a series of trio westerns along with two other western veterans and friends tim mccoy and raymond hatton they became the rough writers for monogram pictures the series was launched with arizona bound in 1941 and was herald as as one of the best b westerns of the era a total of eight films were made before mccoy departed the last film in the series was west of the law in 1942. on november 28 1942 buck on a bond selling tour was an honored guest in boston at the coconut grove nightclub when a deadly fire broke out killing nearly 500 people buck was one of those trapped inside the burning building legend has it that heroic buck returned to the blaze to help rescue others his wife odell fortunately was not with him luck jones died november 30th 1942 age 50. it was days before his body was identified by grafting skin from his fingers sent to the fbi for confirmation buck jones has remained a respected and beloved hero a buck jones comic book series continued publishing until 1957 and his films continue to entertain steve mcqueen was called the king of cool well so was dean martin sure they both made westerns but mcqueen was ultra cool an actor who turned his reformed school experiences into becoming an icon for the 60s generation born in missouri terrence stephen mcqueen spent time in reform school dropped out in the ninth grade and joined the marines he had a knack for engines and worked as a mechanic while attending classes at new york's actors studio he made his big screen debut as an extra in girl on the run in 1953 acting parts on live television series in new york followed one of them the defenders a two-part episode on studio one in 1957 directed by robert mulligan earned good notices moving to hollywood mcqueen appeared with dale robertson in his first western as wanted outlaw bill longley and tales of wells fargo mcqueen even played twins in an episode of track down a four-star production starring robert culp it was another episode of track down that would help launch mcqueen into the realm of superstars he was cast as bounty hunter josh randall who helped sculpt's texas ranger tracked down an errant husband it was a backdoor pilot for wanted dead or alive the same year wanted premiered 1958 mcqueen had his first lead in motion pictures it was the sci-fi cult classic the blob which was released that fall on the small screen wanted dead or alive was an immediate hit it ran for three years and 96 half hour episodes mcqueen's brooding quizzical expressions as josh randall gave his character charm for women viewers and his physicality something for the young and old male viewers mcqueen learned to ride horses and became adept at stunt work befriending many stuntmen who would become lifelong friends it was during the boom era of tv westerns where most series stars had a unique weapon mcqueen brandished his sawed-off 30-40 custom-made mare's leg winchester carbine intimidating and often ending the life of those who cross the sympathetic bounty hunter with his name recognition in western bonafides director john sturgis cast mcqueen and other up-and-coming young actors as gunmen hired to protect a small mexican village from bandits in the magnificent seven starring ewell brenner mcqueen lobbied for the part of the young romantic played by horse vocals but sturgis held steady telling the queen that even though he had fewer lines he'd have more screen time mostly with brenner with mcqueen's constant movement adjusting his hat shaking a shotgun shell before loading the weapon almost always standing or sitting next to brenner he upset the star who complained to sturgis all of steve's physical bits stayed in and then became his breakout role and made him a star sturgis hired mcqueen again to star start another hit the great escape from 1973 where steve's passion for off-road motorcycle racing became a highlight in his escape from nazi captors other mcqueen westerns include nevada smith in 1966 the starring role originally played by alan ladd and the carpetbaggers for junior bonner sam peckinpah's lyrical character study mcqueen was an aging broke and broken rodeo champion at odds with his family and the life he has chosen to lead he did most of his own stunts for that film got bruised and bloody becoming an honorary member of the stuntman's association as a loner himself mcqueen masterfully captured the qualities of a man who always did what he pleased no matter the consequences it's a superb film and one of mcqueen's best performances that same year he again worked with peck and paul in the smash hit the getaway co-starring with his future wife ally mcgraw magic happened on screen and off most of mcqueen's films weren't westerns the sand pebbles bullet papillon the towering inferno but so strong with steve's impact from wanted dead or alive in the magnificent seven that he will forever be identified with the genre his last western based on the true story of tom horn was made in 1980 a eulogy for him and for the west while shooting the film mcqueen had problems breathing and was constantly coughing he quit smoking cigarettes but it was discovered that he had already developed mesothelioma a rare form of cancer associated with asbestos that has no known cure steve mcqueen passed away november 7 1980 at the age of 50. over 40 years later he remains a star still the king of cool murphy was born dirt poor to texas sharecroppers june 20th 1934. the slight five foot five inch future western star was the most highly decorated soldier in world war ii 24 citations including the congressional medal of honor it was estimated that he killed over 200 germans in combat at the age of 17 he tried to join the marines and then the army paratroopers but was rejected because he was too short he was able to join the army infantry and given a battlefield commission rising to the rank of second lieutenant the military honors took him from poverty to the cover of national magazines and eventually to hollywood where he was taken under the tutelage of william and james cagney murphy made his film debut a bit part in beyond glory starring alan ladd his first starring role was that of a bad boy and he was obviously ill at ease in front of the camera dropped unceremoniously by the cagney brothers audi was spotted by universal international and cast in the kid from texas 1950 a color b western in the lead role as william bonnie it was a very whitewashed version of billy the kid but was a success at the box office seeing his potential and inherent marketing tie in as a war hero universal signed the young untrained actor to a contract hoping to turn him into a western star he was quickly cast as jesse james in kansas city raiders with a group of other contract players including scott brady tony curtis richard long and james best another early role also 1950 cast him with his then wife wanda hendricks in sierra their chemistry on film worked for the movie but not off screen their ill-fated marriage ended the next year director john houston for his highly anticipated adaptation of stephen crane's the red badge of courage cast murph as the yankee soldier who struggles to find courage and fight unfortunately the film was caught up in studio politics and was heavily edited without houston it was a failure when released in 1951 murphy however got good notices and it remains one of his best performances audie murphy had a faithful fan base who always turned out for his films more than audiences like murphy the camera did too there was something about his adolescent face that exuded both menace and strangely charm his icy stare projected a lurking self-confidence and he carried himself with a pervasive calmness and sinister smile it was all captured on film his war record certainly didn't hurt his on-screen demeanor either murphy's b westerns during the 1950s all made money and were in color standouts include the cimarron kid ride clear of diablo a remake of destry rides again by the same director george marshall the guns of fort petticoat and no name on the bullet he played james stewart's younger brother in the big budget a western night passage by the end of the decade he was universal's biggest b western star in one of the views still making that type of movie in 1955 audi starred as himself into hell and back the film version of his autobiography it was universal's highest grossing film until jaws 20 years later the end of the 50s signaled an end to be movies especially westerns tv was growing and was filled with what were essentially b westerns b western personnel those in front of and behind the camera smoothly moved into series tv murphy's one attempt whispering smith aired as a summer replacement on nbc it was condemned for violence and never made it past 26 episodes another john houston film the unforgiven in 1960 gave murphy a solid character oscar-winning co-stars and a fine looking mustache the film was a perceptive look at racism not a traditional western murphy was excellent but because the film failed commercially it didn't lead to other high budgeted prestige movies for him murphy starring films in the 1960s were a step down from those he had been making still very enjoyable but not a classic among them he once said i've made the same western about 40 times only each time with a different horse like other aging western stars murphy went to spain to pick up some cash and film a spaghetti western it was the texacon a forgettable exercise that featured aging overweight broderick crawford as an outlaw kingpin and some very poor dubbing in 1969 murphy was cast in a small role as jesse james in a time for dying another western with his former director and friend bud bedecker its release was delayed for two years audi was hoping for a comeback it was to be his last film on may 28 1971 audy murphy and several other men took off from atlanta in a small twin-engine plane which crashed killing all on board audi was 46 his grave site is at the arlington national cemetery because movie fans rarely view silent movies the name of western hero fred thompson one of the era's biggest stars who never made a sound film is mostly forgotten by today's western fans during the 1920s fred thompson was riding high in popularity right next to super cowboy tom mix before an untimely accident ended his life born in pasadena february 26 1890 to a presbyterian minister fred became a minister and served as an army chaplain in world war one it was during his service years while serving as a technical advisor for a mary pickford movie that in 1919 he met and married pickford's favorite screenwriter pioneer writer director francis marion who had recently written rebecca of sunnybrook farm for america's sweetheart when an actor didn't show up for his scenes in his wife's 1921 film just around the corner thompson made his film debut thompson's good looks and natural athleticism made him a natural and he had a small part with pickford that same year in another of his wife's movies the love light in which his character dies early in the film he was then cast as the lead in the non-western 15 chapter serial the eagles talons written by his wife the cereal was a success and so was the career of fred thompson who was soon starring in a series of westerns for joseph p kennedy's film company fbo later to become rko radio other silent western stars at fbo included tom tyler and bob steele fbo was making some of the best westerns then being produced known for their slick look fast action and top production values many of thompson's fbo films were made under the watchful eye of savvy producer harry joe brown later to partner with randolph scott for the classic ran out westerns of the 1950s thompson riding his marvel horse silver king and performing most of his own daring stunts was becoming one of the top western stars soon thompson's popularity passed buck jones ken maynard hood gibson and other silent western leading men compared to mix but without mix's flamboyant off-screen adventures thompson was also catching up to the aging mix to become the number two western star he was a better actor than mix and like douglas fairbanks his films were infused with comedy helping his popularity crossover from younger fans to an older demographic moving to paramount for bigger budgeted features thompson was billed as the world's greatest western star and cast as jesse james in a very whitewashed version of the outlaw that featured thrilling action set pieces and stunning civil war scenes jesse james and thompson's other paramount features were all written by his wife unlike thompson's tightly budgeted b westerns at fbo these more costly titles arizona night pioneer scout the sunset legion and kit carson had difficulty returning their investment at the studio it was 1928 and talkies were on the horizon speaking dialogue was a new challenge for fred thompson and the other silent western heroes sadly before thompson had a chance to show his ability in sound films an unexpected accident happened while working in his stables fred had stepped on a rusty nail the cause of death was tetanus the star was only 38 years old and died on christmas day in 1928 leaving his wife and two sons the king of rock and roll wanted to be like roy rogers on the big screen as king of the cowboys he never made it to that exalted position but he did have success making movies several of them westerns including his very first feature film the story of elvis aaron presley and his rise to stardom is well known born in tupelo mississippi in 1935 his teenage performances and early recordings as a rockabilly singer performing hip shaking versions of popular black songs caused controversy and led to several early tv appearances where he was shown from the waist up nicknamed elvis the pelvis the teen idol made his movie debut in love me tinder a 1956 black and white civil war story of brothers fighting for the south and loving the same girl richard egan and deborah pageant were the stars elvis was third build the reno brothers were eagan james best james drury and elvis as the youngest reno also in the cast were neville brand bruce bennett robert middleton and l q jones elvis was cast after both robert wagner and jeffrey hunter turned down the film which was originally titled the reno brothers and featured no songs with elvis aboard songs were added and the title changed to what became a huge hit single love me tinder when the film played in theaters elvis's young female fans were screaming so loud that audiences couldn't hear the dialogue especially at the end of the movie when elvis character dies [Music] quickly put into starring vehicles elvis the actor seemed to get better with each film he was setting the screen on fire with his charisma and charm especially in jailhouse rock and king creole directed by michael cortese in 1958 by his second western flaming star in 1960 elvis out of the army and wanting to prove himself credibly portrayed an indian half-breed the son of rancher john mcintyre directed by don siegel elvis is excellent as a young man torn between two cultures when del rio dies in the film it's tragic in real life elvis lost his own mother and using his own personal loss his performance on screen becomes quite believable many think it's his best performance unfortunately for audiences but especially for elvis his controlling manager colonel tom parker saw no need to place his meal ticket in more expensive quality films when low-quality undemanding backlot musicals were just as profitable maybe more so because of the adding musical content and record sales by the time parker and the studios realized the mindless formula had essentially killed their golden goose it was too late to change elvis made three more westerns in tickle me 1965 he's a singing rodeo champion who takes a job working at an all-girl dude ranch at least the film gave work to veterans julie adams ed faulkner bill williams allison hayes and grady sutton even worse with stay away joe in 1968 novice again plays a native american joe light cloud a champion bull rider who returns to the reservation to help his family burgess meredith is embarrassing as elvis's father others in the cast include catty hirado as his mother thomas gomez his grandfather joan blondel henry jones and l q jones a low point happens when elvis sings a love song to a bull supposedly bert kennedy was called in to do some script doctoring he should have stayed away the patient was already dead with a spaghetti boom happening in the late 1960s elvis infamous for his western fast draw took a shot at sergio leone territory the film was charo elvis tried to distance himself from his previous musicals and agreed to only sing one song over the opening credits and taking a hint from eastwood's man with no name elvis grew a beard and even added clint's signature cigar to his character it considerably changed his look and he gave a good performance as a former outlaw who wants to leave the gang of course the gang leader victor french doesn't like the idea and sets in motion a deadly confrontation the cast also included aina ballen tony young james b sicking and two rawhide veterans paul briniger and charles gray written and directed by charles marcus warren the virginian gunsmoke and rawhide tv veteran charo should have been much better his comeback concert movies in the early 70s elvis that's the way it is and elvis on tour cemented his legendary status as the king of rock and roll and he remains a major influence in music and pop culture [Music] [Music] you

Channel: A Word on Westerns

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Keywords: RIP, Rest in Peace, Steve McQueen, Elvis, Elvis Presley, Western movies, B westerns, Audie Murphy, American hero, cowboy, Hollywood, The Searchers, John Wayne, Dan Blocker, Bonanza, Sci-Fi, Buck Jones, B western, B movie, Mari Blanchard, silent movies, horses, cowboy hero, death, suicide, Jeffrey Hunter, Alias Smith and Jones, Pete Duel, Jeff Bridges, King of Kings, war hero, Medal of Honor, Nick Adams, Bat Masterson, rock and roll, singer, Top 10, memorial, western stars, TV

Id: GUZWwrOEkc0

Length: 51min 53sec (3113 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 17 2022