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Art Acord
(Deceased)
Art Acord, cowboy actor, was born Arthemus Ward Acord on April 17, 1890 in Stillwater, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).Art Acord was one of the top Western stars of the silent era. He was one of a handful of Western actors who really had been a working cowboy. In fact, Acord held the World's Championship Steer Bulldogging title in 1912. In 1916 he won again, defeating challenger Hoot Gibson.
Acord was a contemporary star with and a friend of Tom Mix, Hoot Gibson and Buck Jones. Acord began with Selig Polyscope in 1911 in a one-reel film, , starring Hobart Bosworth. He appeared in Cecil B. de Mille's first directing effort, (Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Co, 1913). Acord took a detour with Shakespeare and Theda Bara when he appeared in (Fox, 1917).
He hopped back into the saddle for the Western (Artcraft, 1917), also with Jack Holt and Hoot Gibson. Acord galloped into Universal where he made several films and serials, like (1922), starring Edward Laemmle; and (1922), starring ; and (1923), also starring Edward Laemmle.
Art Acord's films were popular, but he was his own worst enemy. Acord was a tortured individual who managed to alienate his fellow cowboy pals on many violent and self-destructive occasions. Alcohol was his personal demon. Some of his wilder fights and wildest horse riding stunts were never filmed, because they were the real life brawls and close calls that he had.
However, Art Acord also had the capacity to be the kindest and the most capable of cowboys. Perhaps this is what intervened in his sober moments and kept him as a top star for 18 years of silent filmmaking.
By the time sound had arrived, Acord knew that he was at the end of his trail. His last silent film, (J. Charles Davis Productions, 1929), is one of the only films of his that survives. He no longer looked trim and energetic due to his advanced alcoholism, but he still managed to crank out four talkies in 1929, as well.
Art Acord's Western credits included The White Medicine Man (1911), The Squaw Man (1914), A Cowboy's Sweetheart (1915), The Wild Westerner (1919), The Kid and the Cowboy (1919), The Moon Riders (1920), A Ranch Romeo (1921), The Ranger's Reward (1922), The Oregon Trail (1923), Western Pluck (1926), The Western Rover (1927), Two Gun O'Brien (1928), and An Oklahoma Cowboy (1929).
Art Acord died from cyanide poisoning while in Chihuahua, Mexico on Jan. 4, 1931. The Mexican police officially listed Acord's death as a suicide. However, many of Acord's friends over the years insisted that he had been murdered by a Mexican politician who had caught Acord having an affair with his wife. And, the truth is, that he was quite a womanizer and was married five times.
It is tragic that there is not any record of his work on film during the prime of his career.
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Art Accord.
Rodolpho Acosta
(Deceased)
Rodolpho Acosta, actor, was born on July 29, 1920 in Chihuahua, Mexico.Rodolpho ("Rudy") Acosta began his film career in Mexico, then in 1948 made his first U.S. film. Most often he was cast as a Western bad guy, a role he played quite well. He appeared in some 65 movies, including such Westerns as Pancho Villa Returns (1950), Horizons West (1952), Hondo (1953), Wings of the Hawk (1953), San Antone (1953), Drum Beat (1954), The Littlest Outlaw (1955), Bandido (1956), The Proud Ones (1956), Trooper Hook (1957), Apache Warrior (1957), From Hell to Texas (1958), Flaming Star (1960), One Eyed Jacks (1961), Posse From Hell (1961), How the West Was Won (1962), Rio Conchos (1964), Sons of Katie Elder (1965) and Return of the Seven (1966).
Rodolfo Acost is the one with the string tie.He also appeared in these TV Westerns: Cade's County, Bonanza, The High Chaparral, Laredo, The Iron Horse, Daniel Boone, The Big Valley, Rawhide, The Great Adventure, Death Valley Days, The Virginian, Maverick, Cheyenne, Bronco, The Rebel, and Have Gun Will Travel.
Rodolfo Acosta died of cancer on Nov. 7, 1974 in Woodland Hills, CA.
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Rodolpho Acosta.
Andy Adams
(Deceased)
Andy Adams was born on May 3, 1859 in Whitley County, Indiana. In 1874, at the age of fifteen, he ran away from home and drifted to Arkansas to work in a lumber camp. He later went to Texas, traveled to many places, met many different characters, and experienced life in a variety of situations.He became a chronicler of cowboy life in the southwestern USA. By the time he was 23, there was no better cowboy in the county. Adams tells of the real cowboy life in the 19th century--dusty cattle drives, brandings, river crossings, and meetings with Blackfoot, Oglala, and Platte Indian tribes. Cattle country is brought vividly to life in his book, THE LOG OF A COWBOY (1930). Adams was a cowboy in Texas for ten years, a miner in Colorado, and a writer. He was an author of authentic stories and novels about cowboy life.
Other books by Andy Adams include: A TEXAS MATCHMAKER (1904); THE OUTLET (1905); CATTLE BRANDS (1906); THE CORPORAL SEGUNDO; THE RANCH ON THE BEAVER; and WELLS BROTHERS: THE YOUNG CATTLE KINGS (with an introduction by our ol' pard, Jim Hoy).
Clifton Adams
(Deceased)
Clifton Adams was born in Comanche, Oklahoma in 1919. He kicked around for a while after graduating from high school, then he enrolled in the University of Oklahoma Business School at Norman. As Adams told the story to Ernie Wayne in the Oct., 1954 issue of The Roundup, "There I fell in with evil companions--writers, and prospective writers--who were obsessed with the idea of setting down words on several sheets of paper and then carefully arranging same in such manner as would cause them to be published in Story Magazine, or perhaps in the New Republic. This was called, of all things, professional writing." (One of those corrupting influences was fellow student Bill Gulick.)Clifton Adams entered the army when World War II broke out, then returned to OU in 1946 to study professional writing under Walter Campbell and Foster-Harris. But he quit school, got married fellow writing classmate Gerry Griffeth and settled down to a regular job.
However, the writing bug bit, again. And he wound up writing several novels, including Biscuit Shooter, A Nose for the Desperado (1950), The Colonel's Lady (1952), When Oil Ran Red (1953), Whom Gods Destroy (1953), Two Gun Law (1954), Death's Sweet Song (1955), Gambling Man (1956), Law of the Trigger (1956), Killer in Town (1960), Stranger in Town (1960), The Legend of Lonnle Hall (1961), Day of the Gun (1962), Reckless Men (1962), Hogan's Way (1962), The Dangerous Days of Kiowa Jones (1963), The Moonlight War (1963), Doomsday Creek (1964), The Hottest Fourth of July in the History of Hangtree County (1964), The Grabhorn Bounty (1965), Shorty (1966), A Partnership with Death (1967), and The Desperado (1950), which also sold to the movies.
Under the pen name of "Jonathan Gant," he wrote Never Say No to a Killer and The Long Vendetta. He used the name "Matt Kinkaid" to write Hardcase (1953) and The Race of Giants (1956).
And he used the name "Clay Randall" to write Six Gun Boss (1952), Boomer (1957), Hardcase for Hire (1963), The Oceola Kid (1963), and five "Amos Flagg" books: Lawman (1964), High Run (1965), Rides Out (1966), Bushwacked (1967) and Amos Flagg Has His Day (1968). Adams also wrote 125 magazine articles to such publications as Saturday Evening Post, American Legion Magazine, Argosy, and Family Circle.
In 1965, a Conference of creative writing at the University of Oklahoma named Adams the "Oklahoma Writer of the Year". A long-time member of WWA, he won two Spur Awards. The first came in 1969 for his book Tragg's Choice (part of his "Amos Tragg" series under the pseudonym of Clay Randall), and the second came in 1970 for The Last Days of Wolf Garnett (both published by Doubleday).
Adams died of a heart attack in San Francisco on Oct. 7, 1971, at the age of 52. He had moved there from his beloved Oklahoma just four years previously. (See his photo and obituary in the Nov., 1971 issue of The Roundup and Jack Bickham's tribute to Adams in the Dec., 1971 issue.)
Nick Adams
(Deceased)
Nick Adams was born on July 10, 1931. He is best remembered for his lead role in the TV Western series, "The Rebel". His movies included "Los Aseinos," "Rebel Without a Cause," (1955) "No Time for Sergeants,"(1958), Teacher's Pet (1958), The FBI Story (1959), Hell is for Heroes (1962), and numerous low-budget monster movies.
Nick Adams died on February 6, 1968. The coronor called it a suicide, but many people in the Hollywood acting community believed he was murdered. The person who found him dead at his home reported that Adams’ corpse was in a sitting position, supported by a wall decorated with pictures and movie poster of films that had zoomed him to stardom; Mister Roberts, Picnic, Rebel Without a Cause, and his last film, Fever Heat. But mostly there were pictures of him around the house in his Johnny Yuma uniform because he was most proud of his television role in "The Rebel."
CLICK HERE for more on the controversy concerning his death, as well as for more details concerning his biography. He is buried at Saints Cyril & Methodius Ukrainian Church Cemetery in Berwick, Pennsylvania.
Ramon F. Adams
Ramon F. Adams was born in about 1878. He learned to play the violin as a youth and earned pocket money by playing it in Dallas, Texas movie theatre orchestras during the silent-movie days. He graduated from Austin College, and in 1968 return to receive from his alma mater an honorary Doctor of Literature degree. That was in recognition of his signficant accomplishments as a writer.He spent many years collecting and recording the words and phrases uses by working cowboys, and the result was his must-read book: THE COWMAN SAYS IT SALTY (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 1971).
Sierra Sterling Adare
Sierra Sterling Adare has written articles for such publications as the Wyoming State Journal, NOLS Cookery, NOLS Instructor Newsletter, Crossroads Monitor, United Caprine News, and The Leader.Sierra Adare writes, "I grew up in the West and always wanted to write the unique lifestyle, present and past, we in the West enjoy. I love to go backpacking in the mountains, cross-country skiing and observing wildlife." She serves as the marketing secretary for the National Outdoor Leadership School.
Click here to go to Sierra Adare's own web site.
Iris Adrian
This book, REEL CHARACTERS, by Jordan Young, includes an interview with movie actress Iris Adrian (Past Times Publishing, 1986).
Her movie credits included: Blue Hawaii (1962), The Errand Boy (1961), Carnival Rock (1957), The Fast and The Furious (1954), Highway Dragnet (1954), G.I. Jane (1951), The Misadventures of Buster Keaton (1950), Stop That Cab (1950), The Lovable Cheat (1949), The Paleface (1948), Vacation in Reno (1946), The Bamboo Blonde (1946), Cross My Heart (1946), It's a Pleasure (1945), Bluebeard (1944), I'm From Arkansas (1944), Shake Hands With Murder (1944), Career Girl (1944), Lady of Burlesque (1943), Spotlight Scandals (1943), Ladies' Day (1943) , To the Shores of Tripoli (1942), Road to Zanzibar (1941), and Lady Luck (1936)
John Agar
(Deceased)
John Agar was born in Chicago, Illinois on January 31, 1921. He attended Harvard School for Boys in Chicago, Illinois. Then he graduated from Pawling Prepatory School in Pawling, New York.
He served his country for three years as a physical training instructor with the U.S. Army Air Corp.
John Agar married Shirley Temple, the nation's #1 Sweetheart, in 1945. And he soon signed a seven year contract with David O. Selznick. His first movie was in 1948 as Lt. O'Rourke in the classic Western, "Apache," starring John Wayne and his wife, Shirley Temple. The marriage ended in 1949.
However, by the early 1950's his leading man status soon faltered, and the quality of his roles diminished. He admits that he was not ready for his overnight success, nor for the inevitable title of “Mr. Shirley Temple". And those and other problems led to a period of alcoholism, including several drunken driving arrests.
Agar's other Western movies included She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), Along the Great Divide (1951), Woman of the North Country (1952), The Lonesome Trail (1955), Star in the Dust (1956), Ride a Violent Mile (1957), Flesh and the Spur (1957), Frontier Gun (1958), Cavalry Command (1963), Law of the Lawless (1964), Stage to Thunder Rock (1964), Young Fury (1965), Waco (1966), Johnny Reno (1966), The Undefeated (1969), Chisum (1970) and Big Jake (1971).
He also appeared in "The Virginian," "Branded," and "Rawhide" TV Western series.
In the last thirty years he has appeared in some sixty motion pictures and some one hundred television shows. He has performed on stage and has sung in theaters and night clubs.He has been married to his second wife, Loretta (former model Loretta Barnett Combes), for well over 40 years.
John Agar died on April 6, 2002.
CLICK HERE to go to John Agar's official web site.
Sam Agins
(Deceased)
Sam Agins, Western singer and entertainer, was born on June 4, 1919, in Denver, Colorado. Both of his legs were paralyzed from birth. He spent the first ten years of his life flat on his back, unable to do the normal things that other kids did.His life changed dramatically, though, when his family moved to Corona, Calif. Through his contact with Mexican farm workers he learned how to braid and tool leather. And through his contact with some good-hearted cowboys, he learned how to ride a horse and to use a rope.
Then one day his father handed him a beat-up old guitar that he had taken as a trade-in on a used tire. Those same Mexican friends helped him coax some music from the guitar, and he found he could draw a crowd with it and the few songs he knew. Later, he would also play the fiddle.
He was a young man in 1940, when he left home -- still paralyzed from the waist down -- and found work in a military quartermaster depot. He was a member of the civilian police and handled the main gate. Then he became an aircraft instruments mechanic, working as a civil service employee of the Army Air Service Command.
However, sometimes life has funny little twists and turns. And one day he heard the cowboy song, "Don't Fence Me In." That title just jumped up at him and slapped him in the face. He decided he wasn't going to sit at a mechanic's bench the rest of his life, and he quit and moved to Tucson, Arizona.
Sam Agins continued his leather work and became an expert craftsman at creating Western jewelry. He sold his handiwork through retail outlets, including his own stores. And he started getting jobs providing entertainment for visitors to the scores of Dude Ranches in the area. That was a "job" that he truly loved.
However, Agins did not limit his entertainment talent to Dude Ranges. In fact, during the 1940's and 1950's he entertained disabled youth in rehab centers, disabled veterans and children in hospitals. And for a long period he was an Ambassador for Goodwill Industries. He also entertained and educated prisoners in New Mexico, University students throughout the West, and visitors to the Smithsonian Institution's Festival of American Folklife.
Singin' Sam Agins wrote many songs, collected and recorded the songs that others wrote, and even established his own recording company, Haywire, in the 1970's. His other writing includes an autobiography, 3 Dimes and a Button, several plays, poems, magazine articles, news columns, and a photographic essay entitled Round Legs.
"More than anything else," Sam told an interviewer when he was only 30, "I want to show by example that 'handicapped' doesn't have to mean 'helpless.' I want folks in beds and wheelchairs to realize that many of them can get out and make their own way."
Singin' Sam Agins practiced what he preached. Though paralyzed from the waist down, he drove himself to his entertainment appointments all over the Southwest. And kept right on preaching his gospel of "being all you can be"until he retired from entertaining in the late 1980's.
Singin' Sam Agins, a remarkable man by any standard, died in Sun City, Arizona on March 28, 1996. His son, Joe Agins, said of his father, "He basically dedicated his life to the preservation of the cowboy way and the songs, stories, humor, poetry, and crafts that define the true American cowboy" (email to me on 8/31/03).
CLICK HERE to go to a web site that was created in honor of Sam Agins by his son, Joe Agins.
Claude Akins
(Deceased)
Claude Akins, Broadway and movie actor, was born in Nelson, Georgia on May 25, 1926. Akins studied his craft at Northwestern University and became a Broadway actor. Then he won a small role in the Oscar-winning film, "From Here to Eternity" (1953) and his career took off.
His rugged looks made him a natural for tough-guy roles. Claude Akins achieved stardom relatively late in life through such films as "Movin' On" (1974), "B.J. and the Bear" (1979), "The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo" (1979) and "Legmen" (1984).
He died on January 27, 1994.
CLICK HERE to go to the complete filmography of Claude Akins.
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This listing is far from complete and may contain errors. Therefore, all Westerners and/or their agents are requested to submit recommended changes by contacting Stan Paregien through his e-mail address.
The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what makes them stumble.
--- Bible: Proverbs 4:18-19
© 2003 by Stan Paregien, Sr.
