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Bruce Dern
Bruce Dern, actor, was born on June 4, 1936 in Chicago, IL. He graduated from New Trier Township High School East in Winnetka, IL., where he was a track star. He went on to place 9th in the half-mile at the Australian Olympics in 1956.
He was nominated for an Oscar for "Best Supporting Actor" in the film, "Coming Home" (1979). And, ironically, in 1982 he was nominated for a "Razzie Award" as "Worst Actor" for his role in "Tattoo". He is the father of actress Laura Dern.
Bruce Dern holds the distinction of being one of the very few men to have killed cowboy star John Wayne. That was in the 1972 film, "The Cowboys," when he filled ol' John plum full of holes. His other Western movies include "The War Wagon" (1967), "Hang 'Em High" (1967), "Will Penny" (1968), "Support Your Local Sheriff" (1969), "Posse" (1975), "Harry Tracy, Desperado" (1982), "Wild Bill" (1995) and "All the Pretty Horses" (2000).
Dern also appeared in such TV Western series as "Stoney Burke," "High Chaparral," "Gunsmoke," "Bonanza," "The Big Valley," "Branded," "Laredo," "Rawhide," "The Virginian," and "Wagon Train".
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Bruce Dern.
Arthur H. DeRosier, Jr.
Arthur H. DeRosier, Jr. is the author of Removal of the Choctaw Indians (University of Tennessee Press, 1970).
Harvey Derrick
Harvey Derrick, singer and musician, was born on Sept. 23rd in Pawhuska, OK. He now lives in Edmond, OK.
He lived and worked most of his younger years on a ranch. He is a soft spoken, easy going Oklahoman who's performance, whether in the church, on the football field or on the stage, has gained the admiration, respect, and love of friends, fans and fellow veterans. Born September 23rd in Pawhuska, Ok, he was an all-star athlete. But, he joined the U.S.Army when he graduated from Edmond High School(Edmond,OK). During his twenty-one years (ten Active Duty) of military service, he has served in special services, logistics, administration, and was a member of the United States Army Europe Honor Guard.
After the army, he received a football scholarship at Missouri Southern State College, in Joplin Mo, and became the most prolific scorer in that school's history. He still holds most of the kicking records at MSSC, including the longest field goal, 57 yards. He was voted Most Valuable Player his sophomore year, and was high in the running for the All-American Team his junior year. He was inducted in the College's Football Hall of Fame in 1994. Hampered by a leg injury his senior year, he decided to go back to Oklahoma after receiving his bachelor's degree and start working on his songwriting career.
Harvey sang in churches all over Oklahoma as a child and was an End-Man, "Mister Bones", in a Minstrel Show for almost two years. He won first place in his highschool talent show, his senior year, singing two of his original compositions. He has performed at state fairs, clubs, show cases, restaurants, concerts, and many charity events from coast to coast, and appeared on the Louisiana Hayride, as well as live radio and television shows. He produced and hosted a thirty minute country music show that aired on local Oklahoma City television fifteen times in 1985, which was picked up by a satellite company and aired throughout the world.
Harvey was the president of the SONGWRITERS OF OKLAHOMA, with nine consecutive terms in that position, a member of the MIDWESTERN COUNTRY ENTERTAINER'S ASSN., and is the owner of Gusher Records and Furrow Music (BMI).
Harvey recorded his first record in 1983, and his first album in 1984 "Dreams On The Line" which contained his nationally acclaimed patriotic song "Butterfield's Taps" that was the number one most requested song on KEBC Radio, Oklahoma City in 1985. He has had thirty-nine of his original songs published and recorded. He wrote the lyrics to the theme song of the OKLAHOMA COUNTRY MUSIC ASSO.. In May of 1987, his "Dreams On The Line" album was released in England by an English Record label and reached number #9 on their charts. In 1992 He recorded and released a limited edition of Cowboy Recitation Songs he co-wrote entitled "Tales Of The Western Trail" which was placed in the archives of the Dickinson Research Center of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum ( Formerly the National Cowboy Hall of Fame). He also wrote a song for the "ORDER OF THE PURPLE HEART" which was accepted by that association and a song adopted by the "Procrastinators Of America.
Harvey was a regular on thursday nights and Saturday afternoons for five and a half years at the famous Bluebell Saloon in Guthrie, OK. (That was the joint where Tom Mix worked as a bartender before he went on to the 101 Wild West Show and then on to fame and riches as a Hollywood cowboy. And, no, Harvey did not perform there when ol' Tom was bartending!).
Derrick was co-host of the KOKC Jamboree, a live radio music show for 4 years at KOKC Radio in Guthrie, OK. He was the MC of the Back Porch Jamboree in Kingfisher, Ok for three years. He is a regular performer at the Cowboy Poetry Gathering held at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center. He performed two seasons in Branson, Mo with his "Almost Together" trio. He has been an instructor at Moore Norman VoTech, teaching Creative Song Lyrics. He narrates children's cowboy books for Pelican Publishing Company out of Gretna, LA.
Music has always been a part of Harvey's life. Even though he did not learn to play a guitar until he was a junior in highschool, he spent many hours listening to his uncles and grandmother playing music and singing. Those down home, simple and wholesome roots, as well as his patriotic loyalty, have remained deep in his heart and mind and now come out in many of the lyrics he writes in songs. His single, "Lets Not Forget Our Veterans", is an example of his touching lyrics, that chills the spine and brings tears to the eyes of every Red Blooded American who hears it. He has been working for fifteen years on an album of Patriotic songs, or stories he calls them, which include some of our country's little known or forgotten heroes, places, and events.
Though he has a voice that is said to be a mixture of such greats as Jim Reeves, Marty Robins, and Johnny Horton, with a style of his own, his ambition is to be a successful song writer so he can help young talented artists and writers, as a promoter, producer, and publisher in the music industry. One of his greatest pleasures would be to write a song that launched some young unknown artist to stardom.
Harvey Derrick records, in the U.S.A., on the Gusher Record Label and makes guest appearances at private parties, opries, clubs, showcases, jubilees, on radio and television shows, and at charitable and patriotic events.He can be contacted at P.O Box 4121, Edmond, OK 73083-4121
You may also listen, on-line, to a sampling of his songs by CLICKING HERE
Harvey's most recent posting on YouTube is a patriotic song titled, "Let's Not Forget Our Veterans."
And here is one of his writings:
Cowboy Recipe
by Harvey Derrick
Start with a two-gallon mixing bowl.
-3 Cups of ground granite stone
-2 Cups of independence
-1 Cup each of integrity, reliability, humility
-1/2 Cup of kindness
-1/4 Cup of free spirit
-5 Teaspoons of humor
-3 Teaspoons of orneriness
-1 Teaspoon of sugar
-1 Pint of gin-u-wine
-1/2 Gallon of pure sweat and blood
Stir vigorously for ten minutes
Pour equal portions into a pair of western boots
Cover with a wide brimmed Stetson hat
At sunrise, place outside in open air
When the sun sets, your Cowboy will be done
© 1991 Harvey Derrick
The Desert Sons
The Desert Sons of Tucson, AZ., were known for their close harmony and love of the West. They disbanded in 2002.The group included John Ryberg , Benny Young , Slim Tighe, and Skelly Boyd .
Andrew DeQuasie
Andrew DeQuasie is the author of Thirsty (Walker & Co., 1983).
Austin Deuel
Austin Deuel was a combat artist in Vietnam. Deuel's paintings hang in the US Marine Corps Museum in Washington, D.C. and in many other collections. He has written seveal articles in Western Horseman and Artist of the Rockies. He is the author of Canon de las Artistas, an illustrated book on prehistoric painting in Baja California.
Andy Devine
(Deceased)
Character actor Andy Devine was born as Andrew Vabre Devine in the high desert town of Flagstaff, Arizona in 1905. He was reared just down Highway 66 (now Interstate 40) to the west, in the dusty, desert town of Kingman.
In 1926, young Devine was going to college in Flagstaff and playing football there. But his father fell ill with cancer and was sent to Los Angeles for treatment. The elder Devine continued to get worse, and that's when Andy went to visit him and stayed until he died that year.
As luck would have it, the athletic young Andy was hanging around the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in his letterman sweater when a casting director spotted him. And the rest, as they say, is history.
In the 1940's he played in many Roy Rogers movies as "Cookie Bullfincher". He amassed an impressive number of film roles during his life, an amount topping 400.
The other impressive number in his life was his girth. He was a big man. A really, really big man who regularly weighed somewhere between 300 to 350 pounds. And he often used that weight for comic emphasis, often pushing the bad guy to the floor with a hefty shove of his mid-section.
His Western films included "Destry Rides Again" (1932), "Stagecoach" (1939), "Buck Benny Rides Again" (1940), "When the Daltons Rode" (1940), "Canyon Passage" (1946), "Bells of San Angelo" (1947), "Springtime in the Sierras" (1947), "On the Old Spanish Trail" (1947), "The Gay Ranchero" (1948), "Under California Stars" (1948), "Night Time in Nevada" (1948), "Grand Canyon Trail" (1948), "The Far Frontier" (1948), "Slaughter Trail (1951), "Montana Belle" (1952), "Two Rode Together" (1961), "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962), "How the West Was Won" (1962), "The Ballad of Josie" (1967), "The Over-the-Hill Gang" (1969), and "The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again" (1970, TV).He easily made the move from the Big Screen to TV and became "Jingles P. Jones" in the "Wild Bill Hickok" series starring Guy Madison. He even had his own TV show for awhile, called "ANDY'S GANG". CLICK HERE to see a video clip from "Andy's Gang" that is posted on YouTube.
Then, later in life, he had small roles in the "Flipper" TV series as a character called "Hap".
His first marriage ended in divorce in about 1931. Devine then married Dorothy Irene House in 1933. It was a marriage that lasted until his death. They had two children, Tad and Denny. Andy and Dorothy bought a house and 5 acres in Van Nuys, and lived there for some 21 years. He was the honorary mayor of the town for 19 of those years.
His doctor discovered in about 1957 that Andy had diabetes. Devine took the news very seriously and within a year had lost nearly a hundred pounds.
It was also in about 1957 that the Devines moved from Van Nuys to Newport Beach.
No matter what he did, there was never any mistaking that sqeaky, gravelly voice. One of his favorite lines when asked whether he had unusual or deformed vocal nodes, he would laugh and say, "No, I have the same vocal nodes as Bing Crosby, but his are in tune."
Stan Paregien standing on "Andy Devine Avenue"
in Kingman, Arizona on March 20, 2010.
(Photo by Peggy Paregien)
Andy Devine's versatility is show by the fact that he has not one but two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He has one star in honor of his work in radio, and that is located at 6258 Hollywood Boulevard. He and Guy Madison actually perfected their respective roles in "The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok" in the radio version, then rode it to even more popularity on TV. Between 1936 and 1942, he appeared in well over 70 episodes of Jack Benny's wildly popular nationwide radio program.
His second star honors his work in television, and it is located at 6366 Hollywood Boulevard.
It was in 1973 that Andy Devine began having problems that, upon treatment, turned out to be lukemia.
He was 71 years of age when he died from a heart attack in 1977 in Orange, California. Many movie stars, including old friends John Wayne and James Stewart, attended his funeral. And former Sons of the Pioneers member Ken Curtis, better known as "Festus" on the Gunsmoke TV series, sang at the funeral service. Devine was buried in Corona Del Mar, California.
Today you may find an Andy Devine Fan Club page on . . . yes, you guessed it, . . . Facebook. Not bad for a gentleman who has been gone for over 30 years.
CLICK HERE to read a detailed biography of Andy Devine done by the Mohave Museum of History and Arts, of Kingman, Ariz. Many photos.
CLICK HERE to see Andy Devine's complete filmography.
References:
1. Wikipedia.org
2. International Movie Database
3. Answers.com
4. Joe Colurra, "Andy Devine: Big Man, Bigger Talent," on ClassicImages.Com .
5. I am indebted to Ed Rittershausen, up in the north country of Montana, for calling my attention to some factual errors in the original posting.
Brandon DeWilde
(Deceased)
Child actor Brandon DeWilde with Alan Ladd in "Shane"
Brandon DeWilde died in a car accident on July 6, 1972. He was first interred in the Glen Haven Memorial Park in San Fernando, CA. Then he was reinterred in the Pinelawn Memorial Park in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York.
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.
Please take a look at Stan's other web site, Paregien.Net
"You were made by God and for God --- and until you understand that, life will never make sense."
-- Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, p. 19.
© 2000-2010 by Stan Paregien, Sr.
[ This page was last revised on July 5, 2010 ]
