Cowboy star Slim Pickens Died Here in Modesto

hi welcome to this episode of history hunters this is going to be a tribute to the actor slim pickens a famous character actor who appeared in hundreds of movies and tv shows over his 40 plus year career now the reason that i'm here in modesto california specifically outside of the windsor post acute care facility is because this was once evergreen convalescent hospital this is where slim pickens died on december 8 1983 [Music] you know the old saying that cowboys died with their boots on however slim pickens did not die with his boots on in august of 1882 they had discovered a brain mass and proved to be cancer they removed that tumor at ucsf medical center he was convalescing here in modesto modesto being the largest city closest to where he lived in tuolumne county unfortunately he did not get to pass away at home but it's almost fitting that he passed away here in modesto because he was born about 115 miles away from paris south on highway 99. i think there's a lot of people who confused the two character actors slim pickens and andy devine i think because they were both western figures but also because they had very unusual voices slim picking sounded like this now what the hell do you think you're doing with that 10 star boy watch that boy redneck you talking to the sheriff of rock ridge well now fat don't beat all here we take the good time and trouble to slaughter everlasting in the west and for what but andy devine sounded like this you mean liberty violence just when i was starting to get my appetite back you may remember that slim pickings played major kong who wrote to his demise was bored in an atomic bomb in a 1962 movie dr strangelove [Applause] you may also remember him as the overtly racist cowboy taggart in blazing saddles which was a mulbrook's comedy got you been hurt oh that happened you went and hit me on the head with a shovel i'd sure appreciate it sir if you could find it in your heart to hang him up by his neck until he was dead he also appeared with john wayne and the cowboys [Music] did you ever think of hiring boys what boys school boys oh sure and women how about my mama in cedar city she's only 92. well you ain't got a lot of choices slim also appeared as garland ramsey in the willie nelson film honeysuckle rose [Music] all right [Applause] [Music] just gonna roll by here a little bit and uh talk a little bit about slim pickings slim pickings was just uh an amazing guy he uh was well known in the area of tuolumne county where he lived he also frequented a lot of businesses down here in modesto and i believe it was in 1982 i was working for sears vintage fair all and he actually came in on my day off he wanted to be fitted for a tuxedo for his daughter maggie's wedding and uh i happened to miss that visit and i kicked myself because i've seen slim pickens several times now this is the back of the facility and uh of course i believe that slim pickens body was hauled out of the back here they like to you know somebody passes away they don't take them out the front they take them out the back and this is the back of the evergreen facility i'm not even going to ask to go inside because covet restrictions have prevented a lot of visitors so i'm thinking that slim probably died in one of these rooms on this side [Music] so i'm doing a little stop here in oakdale california to talk a little bit about something that i found that happened here at clarets wood park long time ago i was doing some research a couple years ago about the town of oakdale and i was given a collection of photos and in that collection i noticed that i recognized one individual who was here in the 1940s or 1950s possibly even the 1960s for a community barbecue that was held in this park and you'll probably recognize the individual as a very young slim pickens it was taken right in this park so long ago slim pickups was very familiar with oakdale because this is the self-proclaimed cowboy capital of the world and slim pickens being a rodeo clown himself here in central california i'm sure that slim appeared at a number of rodeos helping cowboys after they got backed off their bronx even in town here we have what's called the oakdale cowboy museum i wanted to tell you a little story and i think it's kind of a funny story about just accidentally bumping into slim pickens it was april 1977 we were attending the oakdale rodeo and we were passing up and down the highway here and i looked over right in that area right there was a telephone booth it's just outside of the oakdale hotel at the time and now it's a holiday inn express but i saw a telephone booth and getting out of it was slim pickens it was probably right in this area here it's been removed but it was right in this area where we all piled out of the car and wanted to get a picture with slim pickens and my mother was photographed here and uh we also were photographed but i have not been able to find that picture but that shot was taken right here this motel has been remodeled quite extensively since then being the budding autograph collector that i was i handed slim my oakdale rodeo program for his signature while my great aunt alice asked him to sign a small card which he obliged to sign for her slim pickens was actually born as louis burton lindley jr he was born and raised in the central valley of california specifically in kingsburg california on june 29 1919 he was the son of a texas-born dairy farmer lindley was an excellent horse rider since he was a kid known as bert to his family and friends he grew bored with dairy farming and began to make a few dollars by riding broncos and roping steers in his early teens his father found out and told him to stop but bert took no notice he went on to compete in a rodeo and was told by one doubtful rodeo manager that there would be slim pickens that he would be able to earn any prize money to prevent his father from discovering that he had competed in the rodeo he entered his name as slim pickens and won 400 that afternoon lindley attended and graduated from hanford high school where he was a member of the future farmers of america he eventually became a well-known rodeo clown as a rodeo clown and bull fighter he appeared in top venues like the cow palace the calgary stampede cheyenne frontier days and the pendleton roundup during world war ii he enlisted in the army reportedly when the recruiter asked his profession he responded rodeo that was misread on the former's radio and he spent his entire enlistment at the radio station in the american midwest slim launched a successful movie career beginning in 1946 beginning in 1950 slim teamed up with rex allen for 11 films with republic studios including down loretta way for much of his career pickets mainly played cowboy roles and is perhaps best remembered today for his comic roles in doctor's strange love his ability to crack up an audience was obvious as hollis wood in the steven spielberg comedy 1941 sneaky little bastards ain't getting doodly out of me maybe my name writing social security number slim pickens tv and movie roles are far too many to list in 1967 slum played the raskly ike walterstein and the movie will penny starring charlton heston chuck come on you cow nurses come and get it or i'll throw it out the 1960s found slim on location in colorado for the filming of stagecoach a remake of the john wayne film only this one starred bing crosby this documentary narrated by van heflin talks about slim as the stagecoach driver in the film and the most important item on the set is this four-wheel chariot originally built by a man named lewis downing who lived in concord new hampshire carrying six to nine passengers had a driver like slim pickings and a guy like me riding shotgun slim had a great sense of humor and his practical joker nature was on display when he lit a firecracker at the boot of a sleeping actor alex cord playing wrinkle kid and then working like this he also acted alongside marlon brando and one-eyed jacks slim also appeared with john wayne in the cowboys which was released in 1972 slim appeared with the legendary john carradine here in the movie the howling in honeysuckle rose with billy nelson slim played the character of garland ramsey who had difficulty controlling his alcohol intake slim had an extensive list of friends in the movie and tv industry he shared roping skills with will rogers jr the son of the famous humorist his performances on tv included gunsmoke bonanza hee haw the virginian route 66 the lone ranger the love boat and kung fu he also appeared on an episode of the partridge family and once did a skit with mary tyler moore he also appeared in some lesser-known roles in lesser-known films such as dead eye dewey and the arkansas kid in 1974. slim tapped into his former rodeo clown skills for a role in the 1972 movie the honkers slim's widow margaret or maggie died in 2011. she had met slim at the madeira county fair when she was galloping a horse around the racetrack the funnyman stepped out on the track and then trying to avoid him she almost had a wreck maggie was quite angry with him for that attic but in time she obviously changed her mind slim and margaret married march 22nd 1951 in quartzite arizona and slim raised margaret's five-year-old daughter daryl ann as though she were his own morgan and slim had two children together son thomas michael lindley was born in the early spring of 1951 and daughter maggie louise was born in 1954. i think what we're going to do now is take you up to twelney county where i can show you where slim pickens was living at the time of his death we're also going to show you where his funeral service was held in columbia near the columbia state historic park where a number of luminaries such as burton gilliam attended [Music] slim and maggie pickens made their home in colombia in the california motherlode country slim's movie credits were so extensive and impressive that you would think he would shy away from attention but he was such a down-to-earth fellow you may not be surprised to know that slim's name address and telephone number were listed in the tuolumne county telephone directory being a collector i saved that page on which his name appeared so sarah and i are going to roll into the gold springs ranch subdivision and roll by slip akin's house the one that he lived in the time he got ill and the time that he passed away [Music] so [Music] so it's a very gorgeous day up here winter day in tuolumne county columbia california and i'm here at the historic church of the 49ers it's the oldest church in colombia maybe in tulane county because it dates back to the gold rush this is where slim pickens funeral was held just a couple days after he died this church was started as a presbyterian church in 1849 to minister to the miners that came up here to mine for gold however this building isn't that old the very first church building i understand was torn down in 1864 because it was a mess and was rebuilt to look like this one unfortunately was consumed by a fire in 1950 and they rebuilt it as the replica of the first church now i wasn't here but i'm only assuming that this church was probably standing room only knowing how popular slim pickens was in watching the news coverage of the funeral i know that rex allen senior who starred in a bunch of movies with slim was here to pay his last respects burton gilliam who starred with slim in blazing saddles by the way a movie that hollywood never would produce today because of its political incorrectness he came up to pay his last respects to slim as well but it was obvious that slim pickens was a very loved man not long after i saw a slam in oakdale i was here rounding the corner in sonora when i spotted slim jostling his top heavy frame from his pickup to walk inside the bank one of picken's last rolls was appearing in the chevy truck commercial that aired in 1981 [Music] slim pickens here i've been talking to some of these chevy dealers and they said slim you got to help us get rid of some of these chevy trucks these old voices got more pickups and love trucks and a hound dog has fleas and they want to sell them now that means they're really doing some dealing on new chevy pickups like this your chevy left every truck in stock if you've been thinking trucks there ain't no slim pickings around here [Music] a lot of folks don't know that slim had a younger brother named samuel lindley who went by the name of easy pickens who was also an actor he also worked as a professional rodeo cowboy and clown he died in 2001. neither brother has a grave for they were both cremated and their ashes were scattered so just outside of the oakdale cowboy museum i want to thank you so much for watching this episode of history hunters in which we paid tribute to the great slim pickens maybe if you knew slipkins or had an encounter with them we'd love to hear about it leave us a comment in the comment section below we would also love it if you give us a thumbs up and always subscribe to this channel thank you so much [Music] you

Channel: History Hunters

Views: 185,830

Keywords: Slim Pickens, Cowboy actors, TV westerns, History Hunters, Tuolumne County, Columbia California, Kingsburg California

Id: VUJlIwd2-pY

Length: 16min 34sec (994 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 30 2022