Buster Crabbe
(Deceased)
Buster Crabbe was born Clarence Linden Crabbe on Feb. 7, 1908 in Oakland, CA. He graduated from the University of Southern California.He was making movies by the early 1930's. But he also won a gold medal in the 400-meter free-style swimming competition at the 1932 Olympics. That background as an Olympic swimmer made him a natural competitor against Johnny Weissmuller ("Tarzan"), and he did some "jungle" movies.
However, Paramount soon found a nitch for him as the star of several Western movies based on Zane Grey's popular novels.
Buster Crabbe and his favorite horse, "Falcon"He then changed studios, and Universal set him in some very successful sci-fi serials -- "Flash Gordon" and then "Buck Rogers".
In 1940 he did a string of "Billy the Kid" westerns. But his acting career was basically over. He devoted most of his time to business matters and to operation of a boys' camp in New York.
Buster Crabb died of a heart attack on April 23, 1983, in Scottsdale, AZ.
CLICK HERE to see Buster Crabbe's complete filmography.
CLICK HERE to visit scholarly web site dedicated to the preservation of Buster Crabbe films.
Broderick Crawford
(Deceased)
William Broderick Crawford was born on Dec. 9, 1911 in Philadelphia, PA.Broderick Crawford appeared in these Western movies: "The Texas Rangers Ride Again" (1940), "When the Daltons Rode" (1940), "Trails of the Vigilantes" (1940), "Badlands of Dakota" (1941), "Men of Texas" (1942), "Bad Men of Tombstone" (1949), "Lone Star" (1951), "Land of the Comanches" (1952), "The Last Posse" (1953), "The Fastes Gun Alive" (1956), "Kid Rodelo" (1965), "The Texican" (1966) and "Red Tomahawk" (1967).
Broderick Crawford sufferred a series of strokes and died on April 26, 1986. His remains were buried at the Ferndale Cemetery in Johnstown, New York.
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Broderick Crawford.
Joan Crawford
(Deceased)
Joan Crawford, actress, was born Lucille Fay LeSueur on March 23, 1904 in San Antonio, TX. Her mother had a whole series of marriage partners, including four by the time Joan was 16 years old.
In 1915 Lucille and her mother were living in Kansas City, KS. That is when Lucille won an amateur dance contest in 1923. And that exposure led to dance chorus work in Chicago, Detroit and New York.
On Jan. 1, 1925 she moved to Hollywood. She soon adopted the stage name of "Joan Crawford" and by 1928 she had become a movie star.
Shortly after arriving in Hollywood, Crawford earned quite a reputation as a flamboyant and risqué figure off-screen, as she cavorted about town in shockingly short skirts. Bette Davis, not necessarily one to be casting aspersions about sexual misconduct, once sniped about Crawford's numerous liaisons, "She's slept with every male star at M-G-M except Lassie." The truth about Crawford's sex life was that she was an earthy bisexual, who went through men and, when they were available, women with the same ruthlessness she applied to clawing her way to the top.
Devoured by her insatiable need for stardom, Crawford wrote over 70,000 letters a year to her many thousands of fans at the zenith of her popularity. In her forty-year career, Crawford appeared in more than eighty films, turning in one Oscar-winning performance, in "Mildred Pierce" (1945).
Joan Crawford's Western movie credits included "The Law of the Range" (1928), "Montana Moon" (1930), and the darkly oddball "Johnny Guitar" (1954). She also appeared in two episodes of "The Zane Grey Theater" in 1956.
In about 1945, with 70 films already to her credit, she married the Chairman of the Board of Pepsi Cola Company. He died of a heart attack in 1959, but she assumed his position and hung on to it until forced out in 1972. And she continued to make a few films.
However, in 1974 she saw a photography of her that revealed her age so badly that she immediately retired from acting. She drowned her sorrows in vodka, and sought comfort in the teachingsof Christian Science.
Joan Crawford died of cancer on May 10, 1977 in New York City. Her remains are in the Ferncliff Cemetery (Main Mausoleum, Unit 8, Alcove E, Crypt 42) in Hartsdale, NY. When her large estate was settled, her four adopted children received very little: $77,500 each for Cathy and Cindy. But nothing at all for Christopher or Christina "for reasons best known to them".
CLICK HERE to view the complete films of Joan Crawford.
Johnny Crawford
Johnny Crawford, actor and singer and musician, was born into a family of entertainers on March 26, 1946 in Los Angeles, CA. He began performing at about the same time he began to walk. In 1955 his singing impersonation of Johnnie Ray led to a contract with Disney, where he became one of the original Mouseketeers.Johnny Crawford's acting credits include over 250 television productions, 15 movies, and 12 plays. He received an Emmy Nomination at the age of 13 for his role as "Mark McCain" in the western television series, The Rifleman. The show debuted in 1958 and ended in 1963.
Chuck Conners and Johnny Crawford
in a promo for "The Rifleman"In 1961, Johnny Crawford was signed by Del-Fi Records. He had five hits during the 1960's: Cindy's Birthday, Rumors, Your Nose Is Gonna Grow, Proud, and Patti Ann. Crawford also had four albums in the top 40. A collection of his Del-Fi recordings from the 1960s, titled "The Best of Johnny Crawford," is available on CD.
Crawford graduated from Hollywood High School in 1964. He had learned how to ride and rope on the set of "The Rifleman," and that experience led him to following the professional rodeo circuit for two years. He was then drafted into the U.S. Army, and spent two years making training films. When he was discharged, he returned to acting and singing.
Johnny Crawford spent two years in New York (1987-1989) as the vocalist in Vince Giordano's "Nighthawks Orchestra". Now he has his own dance band, The Johnny Crawford Dance Orchestra, that specializes in the music of the 1920's. He also produces period music for film and special events.
In 1995, after being a bachelor for many years, Johnny married his high school sweetheart. He and wife Charlotte live in Hollywood in a vintage home built in 1927.
Johnny Crawford's Western films included Courage of Black Beauty (1957), Indian Paint (1965), El Dorado (1967), The Resurrection of Broncho Billy (1970), The Gambler: The Adventure Continues (TV, 1983), All American Cowboy (TV, 1985), and The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (TV, 1991).
He also made guest appearances on these TV Westerns: The Lone Ranger, Have Gun Will Travel, The Restless Gun, Zane Grey Theater, Tales of Wells Fargo, Branded, Rawhide, The Big Valley, and Paradise.
CLICK HERE to go to the official Johnny Crawford web site.
CLICK HERE to go to a fan's web site that has lots of photos of Johnny Crawford
T. Shannon Crawford
(Deceased)
T. Shannon Crawford was born in 1937 in South Dakota, the son of a rodeo performer and working rancher. He worked the family ranch, then became a rodeo clown and bull fighter. He also was an auctioneer, having raduated from the Western College of Auctioneering.T. Shannon Crawford began performing cowboy poetry in 1991. He appeared at many of the largest cowboy poetry gatherings across the nation, and was a regular at both the National Festival of the West and at the Arizona Cowboy Poetry Gathering. He recorded two audo tapes. In 1995 he published his book of cowboy poetry, Open Mic. He died in 1998.
John Creasey
(Deceased)
John Creasey was born on Sept. 17, 1908 in Surrey, England, the 7th of nine children of a poor coachmaker. He had polio as a youth and overcame it. Between the age of 14 and 21, he held 25 different jobs.
Creasey wanted to be a writer. So he stayed up late at night to write. He collected a grand total of 734 rejection slips from publishers before his first sale in 1925, at the age of 17. But once he broke the barrier, he never looked back. Creasey was the author of more than 550 novels under as many as 28 pseudonyms. His first Western novel was Two-Gun Girl (1937), under the name of "Tex Riley". Some 30 others were also Westerns.
First using a typewriter and then in later years reverting to ballpoint pens and lined paper, he was able to turn out a book in ten days or so, producing by 1971 a total of 50 million words and 75 million books sold. Of course, turning out so many books so quickly did result in a historical mistake or two. Not the least of which was one book in which he had a coyote, rather than a buzzard, flying in the sky (see The Roundup, May, 1971, p.1).
However, he was such a success that he owned a Georgian mansion on 13 acres near Salisbury, England, and he commuted between that estate and his second home in Tucson, Ariz. Creasey said the secret to his writing was this: "I write, I read, I revise, I ponder, I puzzle--and then I revise some more.... If you take only one hour a day and write two hundred and fifty words and you do this for two hundred and fifty days you have a book.
"How many words a day do I write? Between six and seven thousand. And how many hours does that take? Three on a good day, as high as thirteen on a bad one" (The Roundup, July, 1971).
He was an unsuccessful candidate for Parliament in 1950 on the Liberal Party ticket. He attended the 1955 WWA convention in Santa Rosa, Calif. In 1961, his book Gideon's Fire (written under the pseudonym of J.J. Marric) won an "Edgar" from Mystery Writers of America. He died on congestive heart failure at his home on June 9, 1973, just three weeks after his fourth marriage. He was survived by three sons, Colin, Martin and Richard. (See his photo and obituary in the Aug., 1973 issue of The Roundup.)
Richard Crenna
(Deceased)
Richard Crenna, actor, was born in Los Angeles on Nov. 30, 1926.
He began his acting career at the age of 10 as a performer on the radio. He was a regular on the "Burns and Allen" (George Burns & Gracie Allen) comedy radio show. Then he made his mark as the screechy-voiced teenager Walter Denton on the radio comedy, "Our Miss Brooks". When that radio show moved to the new medium of TV, Richard Crenna moved with it. And he also starred in the film version in 1955.
Later, he starred in the TV series "The Real McCoys "(1957–63) and "Slattery's People" (1964–65). He won an Emmy for his work as the lead character in the 1985 TV show, "The Rape of Richard Beck" (about a macho police officer and his reaction to being sexually assaulted).
Richard Crenna's movies include "Wait Until Dark" (1967), "Breakheart Pass" (1975), "Body Heat" (1981), "The Flamingo Kid" (1984; he received a Golden Glove nomination for "Best Supporting Actor" for his work in this film), "Hot Shots! Part Deux" (1993), "Jade" (1995), and "To Serve and Protect" (1999). He was best-known to younger audiences for his roles in the "Rambo" films as Sylvester Stallone's Green Beret mentor, Col. Samuel Trautman.
His Western credits included "Catlow" (1971), "The Man Called Noon" (1973), "Wild Horse Hank" (1979), and such made-for-TV films as "Honky Tonk" (1974), and "Montana" (1990; script by Larry McMurtry).
Richard Crenna was still active in his acting career when, at the age of 76, he became ill with pancreatic cancer. He died in a hospital in Los Angeles, CA. on Jan. 17, 2003.
Linda Cristal
Linda Cristal, actress, was born as Marta Victoria Moya Burges, on Feb. 25, 1934 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
She had gone into semi-retirement to raise her two sons when John Wayne coaxed her out to do the part of Flaca in his epic film, "The Alamo" (1960). After that, though, she took assignments only as the whim struck.
Linda Cristal was the last main cast member to be added to "The High Chaparral" TV Western. And she got the part through her sheer determination and perseverance. David Dortort had been auditions actresses for three weeks, seeking just the right person with stunning good looks and a fiery personality who could breathe life into the aristocratic Victoria Montoya, and he had just about given up hope of ever finding the right person. When Linda finally heard about the part, her agent thought the role had already been case, but she urged him to check, and history was made.
Linda Cristal's Western films included "Comanche" (1956), "The Last of the Fast Guns" (1958) and "The Alamo" (1960). She played the part of Victoria Cannon in the TV Western series, "The High Chaparral".
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Linda Cristal.
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.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
--- Jesus the Christ (Bible: Luke 6:36)
© 2003 by Stan Paregien, Sr.
