Mary Carr
(Deceased)
Mary Carr, actress, was born Mary Kennevan on March 14, 1874 in Germantown, PA.
She appeared in some 129 films, starting with The City of Failing Light (1916) and ending with Friendly Persuasion (1956). She played "Aunt Em" in the 1925 version of Wizard of Oz.
Mary Carr's Western films included The Gold Hunters (1925), Jesse James (1927), The Utah Kid (1930), The Fighting Marshal (1931), Forbidden Trail (1932), Gun Law (1933) and The Oregon Trail (1945).
Mary Carr died on June 24, 1973 in Woodland Hills, CA.
David Carradine
(Deceased)
David Carradine, actor and martial arts expert, was born in Hollywood, CA. His father was the stage and movie actor John Carradine. And two of his half-brothers, Keith Carradine and Robert Carradine, are also actors.
David's first real acting credits were in Broadway productions of "The Deputy" and "The Royal Hunt of the Sun." He kept returning to the stage, where he has played in "Black Elk Speaks"
Then he found Television or TV found him. He was in the TV series, "Shane". That led to his role as the star of "Kung Fu" in the 1970's.
And then he discovered movies or they discovered him. He made more than 75 films, including playing singer Woody Guthrie in "Bound For Glory." His Western films include "The Long Riders (with actor brothers Keith and Robert)," "Mr. Horn" (TV), "By the Dawn's Early Light" (TV)
Carradine was also an author. He wrote a book on Kung Fu philosophy called, Spirit of Shaolin. And he wrote his autobiography and called it, Endless Highway, perhaps a reference to the line in Guthrie's song, "This Land Is Your Land". He also produced two instructional videos, David Carradine's Kung Fu Workout and David Carradine's Tai Chi Workout.
If that were not enough, David Carradine was a composer and musician, as well as a sculptor and painter and pilot. He wrote, played and sang all of the songs for the movie, "American Reel," about a country music singer.
David Carradine died on June 3, 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand. He was there in Thailand shooting a film titled "Stretch". Carradine died under very suspicious circumstances, later determine to be "accidental asphyxiation". He was found hanging by a rope in his closet and completely nude. David Carradine's remains were buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles.
CLICK HERE to go to the Official David Carradine Web Site.
John Carradine
(Deceased)
John Carradine, stage and movie actor, was born as Richard Reed Carradine on Feb. 5, 1906 in New York City. He studied sculpture at the Graphic Art School in New York. And for some time he roamed throughout the Southland selling sketches he had made.
It was in 1925 at a theatre in New Orleans, LA., that John Carradine first stepped onto the American stage. Two years later he moved to Los Angeles and acted in a local theatre, where he came to the attention of Cecil B. DeMille. And the rest is theatrical history. He changed his name to "John Carradine" in 1935. He played the role of Preacher Casey in "The Grapes of Wrath" with young Henry Fonda.
John Carradine had a life-long battle with booze, a losing battle in which his moods shifted more frequently than the desert sands. He and comedian W.C. Fields and actor John Barrymore were close friends and brothers of the bottle.
John Carradine's Western films included everything from the classic "Stagecoach" to the forgetable "Billy the Kid Vs. Dracula".
John Carradine died in Milan, Italy on Nov. 27, 1988 at the age of 82. He had been married four times, and was the father of actors David, Keith and Robert Carradine.
He was inducted, posthumously, into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum's "Great Hall of Westerners" in Oklahoma City on April 12, 2003.
CLICK HERE to see John Carradine's complete filmography.
Keith Carradine
Keith Carradine, actor, was born in San Mateo, California. He is the second of three sons of the legendary actor John Carradine, the others being David and Robert.
Keith found early on that he had two giant gifts: first, a talent for music, and second, a talent for acting. He began playing guitar in a bluegrass band in high school at Ojai Valley School. And he also began acting in local plays. Then he went off to college at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, but he was only in one play before moving on.
His musical talent served him well, as by it he was able to "back" into a career in acting. In March 1969, his older brother David was auditioning for a part the Broadway musical "Hair". Young Keith just went along, as a lark, to provide musical accompaniment for his brother. But the powers that be were so impressed that they hired him instead of his brother. And off he went to the bright lights of Broadway.
In 1970 Keith got his first on-screen role as a young outlaw in "A Gunfight," starring veteran actor Kirk Douglas and country music star Johnny Cash.
Along the way, Carradine kept nourishing his singing and songwriting talents. His big break came when several of his songs were incorporated in the 1975 film, "Nashville". His soundtrack song, "I'm Easy," made it to the top ten on the record charts. And he won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for "Best Song in a Motion Picture in 1975".
It was Keith Carradine created the role of Will Rogers in the Broadway production of "The Will Rogers Follies". It opened at the Palace Theatre on May 1, 1991. He was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Lead Actor in a Musical. And the show itself went on to win six Tonys and a Grammy Award. Carradine performed that role on The Great White Way for one year, then performed in the national touring company that performed in 28 cities over twelve months.
Keith Carradine's Western film credits include "A Gunfight" (1971), "The Long Riders" (1980), "Wild Bill" (1995), "Last Stand at Sabre River" (TV, 1997), "Wooly Boys" (2001), "The Outsiders" (TV, 2002), "Mending Fences" (2002), and "Monte Walsh" (TV, 2003).
At this writing he is scheduled to play Wild Bill Hickok in "Deadwood," an HBO TV Western series to air in 2004. One of his three children is actress Martha Plimpton.
Peggy and I got to meet Keith Carradine at the 2004 Wrangler Awards ceremony at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City on April 17, 2004. He was the Master of Ceremonies and also took home a Wrangler statue for his work in the movie, "Monte Walsh".
He sang "America the Beautiful" (and accompanied himself on the guitar) at the opening of the awards ceremony. Then, toward the end, he even roped Tom Selleck into singing a duet (Keith wrote the cowboy song). Note to Tom: We love you, son, but don't give up your day job to pursue a singing career.
Keith Carradine & Stan Paregien in 2004
at the Western Heritage Awards held at
the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
in Oklahoma City
Robert Carradine
Robert Carradine, actor, was born March 24, 1954. He is the youngest son of the legendary actor John Carradine, and he is a half-brother of David Carradine (of "Kung Fu" fame).
His first film credit was in "The Cowboys" (1972) as one of the kids John Wayne rounded up to drive his cattle to market. His other Westerns include The Long Riders (1980), Gunfighter (1998) and the made-for-TV movie "Monte Walsh" (2003).
In the summer of 2001 Robert Carradine crashed his racing car into a concrete wall at 120 miles per hour. He was an expert driver, having been driving racing cars for almost 20 years, but something went horribly wrong when he was testing out a car in mid-June. His race car was completely totalled. He was rushed by ambulance to Henry Mayo Memorial Hospital in Valencia, California. Had had He broken both legs and fractured his right hand.
Peggy and I got to meet Robert Carradine at the 2004 Wrangler Awards ceremony at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City on April 17, 2004. He received his first-ever Wrangler Award (his brother, Keith, has two) for his role in the movie, "Monte Walsh," with Tom Selleck and his brother Keith.
Robert Carradine and his Award trophy with Stan & Peggy Paregien in 2004
Leo Carrillo
(Deceased)
Leo Carrillo, actor and conservationist, was born on Aug. 6, 1881 in Los Angeles, CA. When his grandparents, Pedro Carrillo and Josefa Bandini, were married in San Diego they had friends in high places. One of them was the Governor of Old California, Pio Pico, and he gave them a little parcel of land as a wedding gift--it was Coronado Island, which they sold some twenty years later for only $1,000.Leo Carrillo appeared in fifteen Broadway plays, and he was in nearly 100 movies during his career. He became an "overnight sensation" as "Pancho," the loveable and comical sidekick of Duncan Renaldo in "The Cisco Kid" TV series. That show, all 156 episodes, was the very first TV show to be filmed entirely in color. It ran for six years.
Leo Carrillo ("Puncho") with Duncan Renaldo
("The Cisco Kid") in about 1952.Leo Carrillo's other Western credits included roles in "Lasca of the Rio Grande" (1931), "Viva Villa!" (1934), "The Gay Desperado" (1936), "The Gir of the Golden West" (1930), "The Arizona Wildcat" (1938), "Twenty Mule Team" (1940), "Wyoming" (1940), "Riders of Death Valley" (1941), "The Kid from Kansas" (1941), "Men of Texas" (1942), "Frontier Badmen" (1943), "Moonlight and Cactus" (1944), "Under Western Skies" (1945), "The Valliant Hombre" (1948), "The Gay Amigo" (1949), "The Daring Caballero" (1949) and "Pancho Villa Returns" (1950).
Leo Carrillo was a man of many interests. He served for nearly twenty years on the "California Beaches & Parks Commission". In honor of that service, they named a beach/park area near Malibu "Leo Carrillo State Park". That beach holds special significance for me, as that was the site of one of my first dates with my wife, Peggy. We enjoyed the beautiful white beach and the cave that you sometimes see in movies.
Carrillo also helped develop the Mexican market area on Olvera Street in Los Angeles, the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and played a large role in getting the relatives of William Randolph Hearst to turn over the "Hearst Castle" at San Simeon to the state of California. Edmund Brown, the governor of California during this period, often referred to Carrillo as "Mr. California".
Leo Carrillo also had a love of the old Spanish ranchos. And in 1937 he bought 840 acres of the Rancho de Los Kiotes, in present-day Carlsbad, CA., for $77 per acre ($65,000). He built 18 new structures to begin his ranching operations, and soon increased his holdings to 2,538 acres. He enjoyed retreating from Hollywood and his political activities to his own working rancho.
Leo Carrillo died of cancer on Sept. 10, 1961 in Santa Monica, CA.
With his passing, most of the property was sold to others. Fortunately, in 1977 the city of Carlsbad stepped in and bought a 10-acre parcel that contained many of the original buildings. Now they own 27 acres and are going to preserve it and promote it as the "Leo Carrillo Ranch".
CLICK HERE to go to the official website of the Leo Carrillo State Museum in Carlsbad, CA.
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Leo Carrillo.
Lenore Carroll
Lenore Carroll has written articles for True West, Baker Street Miscellanea and The Roundup.
Sunset Carson
(Deceased)
Sunset Carson was born as Winifred Maurice Harrison in Gracemont, Oklahoma in 1920. Those who knew him well called him "Michael" or "Mickey". The family moved to Plainview, Texas when he was about eight, and that is where he grew up.Some sources say that his father worked for the Tom Mix Circus and that Tom Mix himself encouraged young Harrison to try his hand at acting in Hollywood.
Carson's first Western movie was for Republic Pictures in 1944. From 1945 to 1946 he starred in eleven Westerns. And he was a big hit on the screen. But off the screen he was out of control, letting stardom go to his head I suppose, and showed up drunk at a Western promotional event with a minor girl on his arm. Republic Pictures promptly fired him.
Sunset Carson eventually wound up at Columbia Pictures.
Squatting, from left to right, Bob Livingston, Roy Rogers,
Don "Red" Barry and Dale Evans. In the back are
Wild Bill Elliott, Allan Lane and Sunset Carson. This
photo was a lobby card from the Roy's 1945 movie,
"Bells of Rosarita".
Sunset Carlson's other Western films included "Sheriff of Cimarron," "Santa Fe Saddlemates" (1945), "Oregon Trail" (1945), "Rough Riders of Cheyenne" (1945), "Cherokee Flash" (1945), "Days of Buffalo Bill" (1946, "Alias Billy the Kid" (1946), "Red River Renegades" (1946), "Rio Grande Raiders" (1946), "Outlaw Country" Two of his films, "Outlaw Grizzly" in 1971 and "Marshal of Windy Hollow in 1973, were never released.
One of Carson's best friends was Western actor and "heavy" Roy Barcroft. Carson worn his guns like Will Bill Elliott, with the butts facing forward. And he named his big white horse "Cactus".
Sunset Carson spent his last days traveling to film festivals, where he would do some trick shooting and talk about his movie experiences. He died on May 1, 1990 in Reno, NV.
This listing is far from complete and may contain errors. Therefore, all Western entertainers and/or their agents
are requested to submit recommended changes by contacting Stan Paregien.
Check out Stan Paregien's other web site, Paregien.Net
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall lack nothing."
-- Psalm 23:1
© 2000-2010 by Stan Paregien, Sr.
[ This page last revised on Feb. 11, 2010 ]
