Cowboys Past
I only know three things about my father’s youth. One is he waited on a long line to see his hero Hopalong Cassidy. From the 1930s to the 1950s, this cowboy character had become indelibly associated with actor William Boyd, who portrayed Cassidy in a series of sixty-six films from 1935 to 1948. I only remember grainy black and white shots of Hopalong. I was uninterested.
I Liked:
Lash La Rue bluffed his way into the “bullwhip” movies telling director Robert Emmett Tansey he knew how to use one when he didn’t. The studio liked his acting work anyway and hired a true expert, Rex ‘Snowy’ Baker, to teach him how to use it. La Rue in turn taught Harrison Ford for his “Indiana Jones” movies.
My only vivid memory of Lash La Rue was a scene where the bad guy knocked Lash down on a clifftop. The bad guy then picked up a huge rock and raised it over his head to throw at Lash. But the weight of the rock forced him backward over the cliff edge and he fell to his death. Dumb.
And Bob Steele: Of all the Hollywood cowboys, multi-talented Bob Steele had the longest active film career. And the quantity of his starring work – which amounts to 120+ films from 1927 – 1946 – is among the highest of the B western heroes. He was 5 foot 5 inches and I remember him putting his head down and punching his opponent in the stomach repeatedly until he fell to the floor. He appeared often on television and regained some fame in his role as Trooper Duffy in F Troop (1965).
Steele is said to have been the inspiration for the character “Cowboy Bob” in the Dennis the Menace comic strip.
And there’s the original gay Cowboys: Duncan Renaldo in the title role, The Cisco Kid, and Leo Carrillo as his jovial sidekick, Pancho.
And who can forget Don Diego de la Vega and his deaf mute servant Bernardo. I especially remember Zorro’s small army of short-caped Zorro-ettes. Mant times I wished I could call upon those guys.
Although not technically a cowboy, George Reeves went from Tara to the Daily Planet but preferred Tara. To me he is still a hero.
kongoboken 