Peggy Simpson Curry
(Deceased)
Peggy Simpson Curry was born in Scotland in 1911, Peggy Simpson and her family moved to Walden, Colorado where she grew up on a real working ranch. At the tender age of nine, her first poem, "Evening on the Ranch," was published in the Jackson County Star newspaper. And a star was born. But before that star could really shine, it needed a little polish.
She attended high school in Denver, then majored in journalism at the University of Wyoming. She married Bill Curry in 1937. She wrote, "My first sales were to love pulp magazines that provoked lifted eyebrows among my friends. I didn't care; I was so excited and proud of my first check for forty-five dollars that I carried it around until the editor wrote to ask if I had received it" (The Roundup, Sept., 1956; see her photo there).
She was often called the Poet Laureate of Wyoming, but besides poetry she also wrote novels, children's fiction, short stories and even sold a TV script to Walt Disney Enterprises. She taught creative writing at Casper College, beginning in 1951.
Her articles and poetry appeared in such magazines as Saturday Evening Post, Good Housekeeping, Boy's Life, South Dakota Review, The Writer, and National Writer. Her books included Fire in the Water (1951), Red Wind of Wyoming (1956), So Far From Spring (1956, reprinted by Pruett, 1984), The Oil Patch (1959), Creative Fiction Writing from Experience (1964), A Shield of Clover (1970), editor of Western Romances (1973), and Summer Range (Dooryard, 1981).
She collected many awards during her life, including two Spur Awards from Western Writers of America. One in 1957 for her short-story, "The Brushoff" (Saturday Evening Post). And the second in 1970 for "In the Silence" (Boy's Life). Perhaps the honor she most cherished, though, was the fact that for many years her old hometown of Walden, Colorado celebrated April 13th each year as "Peggy Simpson Curry Day" to salute the successful writer.
Peggy Simpson Curry died in 1987 at the age of 76. A "Peggy Simpson Curry Memorial Scholarship Fund" was established at Casper College Foundation, 125 College Dr., Casper, WY 82601. (See the profile of her by Jean Mead in the July-Aug., 1984 issue of The Roundup.)
Thomas A. Curry
(Deceased)
Thomas A. Curry once wrote in The Roundup, "I turned out my first Western at twenty and sold it to A.L. Sessions, editor of People's Magazine, owned by Street & Smith. I received twenty-five dollars, and was naturally puffed up with pride."
His father and mother each wrote and sold plays for the theatre, and his father even wrote a Western--Gold Mounted Guns--that won the 1922 O. Henry prize.
Tom Curry graduated from Columbia University in 1922 with a degree in chemical engineering. And at 23 he went to work as a reporter for the New York American, covering the "Tenderloin" district. Those experiences, chasing ambulances and working with police, caused him to start writing detective stories for Black Mask magazine. Then he expanded to write for the Western, sports, fantasy and aviation markets. His work appeared in McClure's, American, Elks, Youth Companion, Texas Rangers Magazine and others.
It was while doing regular stories for Texas Rangers Magazine that he created and popularized a character called "The Rio Kid". Soon his character had his own magazine, The Rio Kid Western.
However, when the new-fangled thing called "television" knocked the props out of the pulp fiction market in 1950, Curry fell back on his engineering degree and went to work for Door-Oliver, Inc., an engineering outfit. He stayed with them for 14 years.
Then he returned to writing, achieving success this time with full-length novels for Arcadia House and Avalon Books. He was the first to write under the house name of "Jackson Cole" (Roundup, Nov., 1976, p.10), and he also used the pseudonym "Jeff Jeffries," among others. He was a long-time member of Western Writers of America.
He died in 1976, at the age of 75, of an embolism at his home in Norwalk, Conn. (See his obituary in the Dec., 1976 issue of The Roundup.)
Betty Jane Louise Curtis
Betty Curtis was born on April 30, 1931 at Harrisburg, Penn. She received the B.S. in Library Science from Millersville University in January, 1961. And she earned the M.S. in Library Science from Drexel University in 1966.
From 1951-54, she served in the Women's Army Corps at Fort Devens, Mass. She was a Special Service Librarian with the 7th Infantry Division in Korea from 1963-64. During the years 1970-72, she worked for the State Library at Harrisburg, Pa. and also worked with the library at St. Joseph's Hospital in Reeding, Penn.
From 1972-1984 Betty Curtis worked in the library of the Veterans Administration Center at Lebanon, Penn. And from Feb., 1984 until December, 1987 she was employed by the Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, Carlisle, Penn.
Her articles have appeared in Special Services Newsletter, Graduate Woman, Black History Museum Newsletter, and Medical Reference Services Quarterly. And her article, "Selma Burke: Art and Humanization," appeared in the 1983 book, Nine to the Universe.
Betty Curtis became a member of WWA in 1980. She is also a member of the American Association of University Women. In 1969 she received the Humanitarian Fellowship Award from the Save the Children Foundation. In 1989 she received the Performance Award from the Veterans Administration Center in Lebanon, Penn. And in 1982 she received the Viola Whiteward Foundation Award. She is currently working on a biography of her great uncle who rode with the 10th Cavalry in Mexico in 1917-18.
When not reading novels by her favorite writers, Will Henry and Jack London, she enjoys research her family history and traveling throughout her beloved West.
Ken Curtis
(Deceased)
Ken Curtis, the son of a county sheriff, was born Curtis Gates in Lamar, Colorado on July 2, 1916. Ken Gates remained in Colorado through college, where he took pre-med courses. After giving up dreams of being a doctor, he traveled to Los Angeles to seek his fortune as a singer.He became friends with pop singer Jo Stafford, and she was kind enough to send Ken's demo recording to band leader Tommy Dorsey. Dorsey liked what he heard and signed Ken Gates as the replacement for a fellow who was moving on to other things -- that was Frank Sinatra. And he required Ken to adopt the stage name of Ken Curtis.
Even with the new name, though, Ken Curtis did not have the charismatic appeal of a Frank Sinatra. So it was a mutual parting of the ways when World War II came along and Ken decided to join the Army.
After World War II ended and he was discharged, Ken Curtis did guest stints on various stage and radio shows. And once again it was his friend Jo Stafford who came to the rescue. He appeared on her radio show one day and sang "Tumbling Tumbleweeds". And that song propelled his new career as a Western actor/singer.
Then he joined the famous Sons of the Pioneers. In 1949 Tim Spencer retired from performing, due to some throat problems. But he continued managing the Sons of the Pioneers for several years. Tim Spencer's place was filled by Ken Curtis. It was Ken who sang the lead on Tim Spencer's latest song, "Room Full Of Roses".
In 1952 Ken Curtis married Barbara Ford, the daughter of famous Western movie director John Ford.
In 1953, with record sales slumping, the Sons of the Pioneers left RCA-Victor and signed with Coral Records. Soon thereafter, both Ken Curtis and Shug Fisher left to do more movie and TV work. So the group replaced them with Dale Warren (born in Summerville, KY., on June 1, 1925) and Deuce Spriggens.
The contract with Coral was not a productive association. In 1955 the Sons of the Pioneers returned to RCA-Victor. And Ken Curtis and Bob Nolan joined the Sons for some studio work, while the actual touring group was made up of Hugh and Karl Farr, Dale Warren, Deuce Spriggens, Tommy Doss and Lloyd Perryman.
Meanwhile, Curtis was also making Western movies, with appearances in several John Ford films, including "The Searchers," "How the West Was Won," and "Rio Grande." One might think that his luck in winning such high-profile roles was due, at least in part, to his 1952 marriage to Ford's daughter. That certainly did not hurt him.
In 1964 Curtis landed his signature role in the TV Western "Gunsmoke". For many fans he will always be identified as deputy marshal Festus Haggen. He remained with the program, as one of its most popular characters, until it ended in 1975.
Gunsmoke's guns: James Arness & Ken Curtis
In 1983-84, Ken appeared in another TV western series, "The Yellow Rose," with Cybill Shepard and Sam Elliott. The critics like the show but the ratings remained low and the show was cancelled.
One of the albums recorded by Ken Curtis ("Festus Haggin").
In 1977 Ken's long-time friend, actor Andy Devine, died from a heart attack in Orange, California. Many movie stars, including old friends John Wayne and James Stewart, attended his funeral. And Ken Curtis sang at the funeral service.
Ken Curtis retired to his ranch near Fresno, California. He died at Fresno on April 29, 1991 at age 74.
Some of his other Western movies included: Conagher (1991), Once Upon a Texas Train (1988), California Gold Rush (1981), The Young Land (1959), The Call of the Wild (1949), and Riders of the Pony Express (1949).
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Ken Curtis.
Nancy Curtis
Nancy Curtis operates High Plains Press, a regional publishing company concentrating on books about Wyoming and the West. She established the company in 1985.
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis was born as Bernard Schwartz in New York on June 3, 1925. Bernie, as he was called by his friends, joined the Navy in 1943. Upon his discharge, he joined the Dramatic Workshop of the New School.
In 1948 he moved to California where his talent and knock-down handsome face got him into the movies. And in 1951 it also got him married to the beautiful actress Janet Leigh. They had two daughters, Kelly and Jamie Lee.
It was during my junior year, in the fall of 1957 , that I got to see and talk with Tony Curtis. I lived just a couple of miles west of Piru, Calif., a popular location for film companies. And Tony Curtis came to town to film scenes of "The Defiant Ones" (1958), co-starring Sidney Portier. About a dozen of us ditched school one day to go down and watch the filming. We stood down by the creek as Tony did a scene where he was fleeing the authorities and fell down in the creek several times. He repeated the scene several times, each time with a change of clothes, until the director was satisfied. Then Tony and the guy who played "Alfalfa" in the "Our Gang" series played poker with a couple of other men, in between takes.
Sidney Portier was not on the set that day. And I remember one of us asking Tony Curtis who the female lead was in the movie. He laughed and said, "There is no female lead. Sidney and I fall in love."
About that time word spread that the truant officer was in the area, so we all split. We still got caught, but it was definitely worth the hastle.
Tony and Janet divorced in 1962. He went on to marry several other women and to father several more children.
In 1993 Tony Curtis and Barry Paris collaborated to write, "Tony Curtis: The Autobiography" (William Morrow and Company, Inc.). The book is now out of print.
Tony Curtis went through a period when he had a substance abuse problem, but apparently successfully overcame it.
Along the way he found he had a talent for and a love of art, and is now a successful artist. .
The Western films of Tony Curtis include Winchester '73 (1950), Sierra (1950), Kansas Raiders (1950) and The Rawhide Years (1956).
CLICK HERE to view Tony Curtis's complete filmography.
Micheal F. Cusack
Michael F. Cusak was a co-author with Caleb Pirtle of Fort Clark on Texas's Western Frontier (Eakin Publications, 1985).
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 through his e-mail address.
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
--- Bible: Psalm 19:7-8
© 1999-2010 by Stan Paregien, Sr.
This page last updated on July 5, 2010
