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Jack Fairchild
Jack Fairchild is, in the tradition of Will Rogers, a trick roper and a humorist.
Jack is an outstanding trick roper and showman. His trick roping demonstrations include flat loops, butterflies, zig-zags, wedding rings with multiple bounces, spoke-jumping, forward and reverse ocean waves with jump-throughs, the spell-binding "Texas skip," giant big loops and more!
Jack Fairchild has been awarded 8 first place trophies from the Wild West Arts Club for best comedy, best western costumes, most unusual rope trick, and has won the big loop contest three times. These contests were held at the international convention of the Wild West Arts Club in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Cowboy Jack Fairchild is available for trick roping and comedy performances or as a "strolling" performer. CLICK HERE to go to Jack Fairchild's own web site, where you'll also find his current email address.
Morgan Fairchild
Morgan Fairchild, actress, was born Patsy Ann McClenny on Feb. 3, 1950 in Dallas, TX. She began acting at the age of 10. Her first big role came as a regular in the "Search for Tomorrow" TV-soap, from 1973-77. Then she became a regular character on the "Dallas" TV show in 1978.
In 1980 she was nominated for a "Golden Globe Award" for Best Actress for her role in the TV series "Flamingo Road." And she received an Emmy nomination for a special episode of "Murphy Brown."
Just your typical blonde, she is the author of a book (Super Looks), speaks on various environmental issues, and is deeply interested in anthropology, paleontology and ballet.
She appeared in Willie Nelson's 1986 Western film, "Red Headed Stranger".
Click here to see the complete filmography of Morgan Fairchild.
Richard Farnsworth
(Deceased)
Richard Farnsworth was born in Los Angeles on Sept. 1, 1920. He was reared in the San Fernando Valley of southern California. He had little interested in school and dropped out when he was just fifteen. It was during the Great Depression and times were tough, and he found work at a polo barn as a stable boy.
In March of 2000, he told a reporter that he had said this to his mother: "I know that I'm going to make a living doing something that I don't need a big education for." And he added, "I knew whatever I did, if I could read and write, I could make a living.
At the age of 17, two people from Paramount movie studios came to the barn looking for horses. They mentioned to him that they also needed someone who could ride them. He had been making $7 a week as a stable boy, so they didn't have to do a lot of persuading to get him to take their job at $7 a day. Plus, it would be riding horses instead of shoveling up after them.
And that is how Richard Farnsworth transitioned from stable boy to Hollywood stuntman (a transition similar to that made by actor Ben Johnson). He stood in for and stunted for most of the great Western stars, including Gary Cooper and Roy Rogers. (One of his two sons, Richard "Diamond" Farnsworth," is also a stuntman.)
Over the next forty years he played such parts in hundreds of movies, only occasionally being given a line or two to say. And that was just fine with him, because he was somewhat embarrassed by his high, squeaky voice."
Then in 1978 he got another one of "those" roles in the film "Comes a Horseman," starring Jane Fonda. Director Alan J. Pakula liked Farnsworth and his character so much that he kept padding his role. The result was Farnsworth's first Oscar nomination, in the category of "Best Supporting Actor".
He then acted in scores of films and made-for-TV movies. He credits included roles in "The Natural," "Rhinestone Cowboy," "Misery," "Ann of Green Gables," and "Resurrection."
In 1990 Farnsworth bought a 60-acre ranch near Lincoln, New Mexico and took up residence there in a small two-bedroom house. His first wife, Maggie, and he were married in 1947. She died in 1985.
Farnsworth's Western movie credits included: Desperado: The Outlaw Wars (1989), Snake Treaty (1989), The Grey Fox (his only starring role in a Western; 1983), Waltz Across Texas (1983), Ghost Dancing (1983), Tom Horn (1980), Comes a Horseman (1978), and Buckaroo Bard.
He received a "Wrangler award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, where he was also elected to the Hall of Great Western Performers.
More recently, Richard Farnsworth starred in "The Straight Story". That movie was about an elderly disabled man in Iowa who drove his riding lawnmower 250 miles to see his ailing, estranged brother in Wisconsin. The role earned him a second Oscar nomination, this time in the "Best Actor" category. He thus became the oldest person (at age 78) ever nominated for Best Actor, barely beating out Henry Fonda who was nominated at age 76.
What few people knew was that prior to the filming of "The Straight Story" Farnsworth had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He fought through his own pain to complete the picture. And in all the interviews after his Oscar nomination he never mentioned his health problems.
I had met him at the National Cowboy Symposium in Lubbock, Texas in 1996 or 1997 and was hoping he would attend the 2000 event. He did not. And the reason was that during his last months, he was partially paralyzed and in great pain.
That was the setting when, on Friday night, Oct. 6, 2000, Richard Farnsworth died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 80. He died at his home near Lincoln, New Mexico. His fiancee, Jewely Van Valin, was at the home when he fired the fatal shot. She told the investigaing officers, "He was in incredible pain today. He was going downhill."
He had a cowboy heart, as big as a saddle blanket, and will be missed.
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Richard Farnsworth.
Hugh Farr
(Deceased)
Hugh Farr, singer and actor, was born as Thomas Hubert Farr on Dec. 6, 1903 in Llano, Texas. His parents were both skilled musicians who played for dances and other events. And by 1910, at the age of seven, Hugh was already playing the fiddle.His path was destined to cross in California with transplated Ohioan Leonard Slye (later known as Roy Rogers). They head that direction when Hugh's parents left Texas and moved to southern California just before the start of the Great Depression (1933). Hugh's father, Tom, was a building contractor and work was plentiful for him. And for son Hugh, until Hugh finally was able to make a living with his music.
Rogers had gone to southern California to try to get into show business, but he wound up picking apples and oranges and doing road construction work to make a living while he played on the side. In 1933 Slye talked his friends Tim Spencer (born as Vernon Spencer in Webb City, MO., on July 13, 1908) and Bob Nolan (born as Robert Clarence Nobles at Point Hatfield, New Brunswick, Canada on April 1, 1908) to join him in a trio to be known as "The Pioneer Trio". Bob Nolan played the bass fiddle and Leonard Slye played rhythm guitar, while Tim Spencer contributed his harmony and song writing skills. They produced a smooth blend of harmony singing cowboy and hillbilly songs. They had managed, by 1934, to perform regularly on KFWB-AM radio in Los Angeles, CA. That exposure led to performances for dances and other events in California, to the point where they were often performing some twenty times a week.
That's when they decided to add a fiddle to their act. And they chose Hugh Farr, one of the best around. Soon afterwards they began to call themselves simply, "The Pioneers". Then one day an announcer introduced them as "The Sons of the Pioneers" and they liked that even better.
In 1934 Jerry King began a company called "Standard Radio". He would record artists and sell those transcriptions to hundreds of radio stations across the country who were desperate for pre-recorded programming. He began with none other than The Sons of The Pioneers. That made them not just an up-and-coming local group but a group known throughout the U.S. and in Canada. It was a case of being exactly at the right place at exactly the right time. The Sons of the Pioneers soon won a recording contract with Decca Records in 1934, and released their first songs later that year.
In 1935 the group added another guitarist to the group, Hugh Farr's brother -- Karl Farr.
In July of 1936 the Sons of the Pioneers appeared at the big Texas Centennial celebration in Dallas. And while they were there, they were hired to be in "The Big Show," a movie Gene Autry's was filming on location. One of the thousands of fans who saw the Sons of the Pioneers perform there in Dallas was a young singer named Dale Evans, the future Mrs. Roy Rogers.
Late in 1936, Tim Spencer left the group following some difference of opinion. The group looked around and hired as a replacement a man who had already sung with them on a part-time, fill-in basis. That was Lloyd Perryman. Perryman had been born as Lloyd Wilson Perryman on Jan. 29, 1917, in Ruth, AR.
These five men are considered the "original" Sons of the Pioneers: Leonard Slye (Roy Rogers), Tim Spencer, Hugh Farr, Karl Farr and Lloyd Perryman.
By 1937, Republic Pictures was facing a contract dispute with their Number One cowboy movie star, Gene Autry. So they hedged their bet by signing a handsome young singer named Leonard Slye. That forced Slye, soon to be christened "Roy Rogers," to drop out of The Sons of the Pioneers --the group he himself had formed-- because they were under contract to rival studio Columbia Pictures.
In 1938 the group hired Pat Brady to replace Slye. Brady was a talented bass fiddle player and a natural comic. He was born as Robert Ellsworth O'Brady in Toledo, OH. (He died on Feb. 27, 1972 in Colorado Springs, CO.)
The great singer/songwriter Tim Spencer returned to The Sons in 1938. And it was this particular group --the Farr brothers, Lloyd Perryman, Pat Brady and Tim Spencer-- that were in some 20 movies with cowboy star Charles Starrett between then and 1941.
The Sons of the Pioneers are shown on the set at Columbia Studios with cowboy star Charles "Durango Kid" Starrett . The Sons, from left to right, are: Karl Farr, Tim Spencer, Lloyd Perryman, Charles Starrett, Bob Nolan, Pat Brady, and Hugh Farr.
In 1941, the Sons of the Pioneers followed Roy Rogers over to Republic Pictures. And they were in many of Roy's movies from then to 1948.
With the start of World War II in 1941, many Hollywood stars volunteered to serve their country in the armed forces. Both Gene Autry and Jimmy Stewart joined and became pilots. And others, like Lloyd Perryman and Pat Brady, were drafted into service. When that happened, the two original members were replaced by two Oklahomans: Ken Carson (born in Oklahoma on Nov. 14, 1914) and and Shug Fisher (born as George Clinton Fisher at Spring Creek, OK., on Sept. 26, 1907. Shug Fisher died on March 16, 1984).
By 1944 the Sons of the Pioneers --now made up of Ken Carson, Shug Fisher, Tim Spencer and the Farr brothers-- changed recording companies, leaving Decca for RCA-Victor. This company produced the group with many more instruments and orchestration. They branched off into not only cowboy songs but more pop material. And besides doing their own records, they backed people like Dale Evans and their founder, Roy Rogers, who were also with RCA-Victor.
In 1946, following the end of World War II, Pat Brady and Lloyd Perryman rejoined the Sons of the Pioneers. Ken Carson continued to perform with the group until December of 1947.
In 1949 Tim Spencer retired from performing, due to some throat problems. But he continued managing the Sons of the Pioneers for several years. And he continued to write, of course.
Tim Spencer's place was filled by Ken Curtis. Curtis was actually born as Curtis Wain Gates in Lamar, CO., on July 2,1916. (He died in Fresno, CA., on April 28, 1991). It was Ken Curtis, later known as "Festus Hagan" on the Gunsmoke TV show, who sang the lead on Tim Spencer's latest song, "Room Full Of Roses".
Other changes took place. Soon thereafter bass player and comic Pat Brady left to become Roy Rogers' sidekick on Roy's new TV show. Another founding member, Bob Nolan, left the group in 1949. Nolan, however, continued to supply The Sons with great sons and sometimes did studio work with them.
In 1949, with Nolan's departure, Lloyd Perryman became the leader. And they added Tommy Doss to the group. Doss had been born in Weiser, Idaho on Sept. 26, 1920.
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 they 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. But Spriggens soon left the group, to be replaced by former member Shug Fisher. And Bob Nolan, one of the originals, also called it quits.
Hugh Farr left the Sons of the Pioneers in 1958. He even made several tries at forming his own competing "Sons of the Pioneers" group, but was unsuccessful.
In 1959 Shug Fisher left the Sons of the Pioneers for the last time, and Pat Brady returned to the fold.
Original member Karl Farr died while performing on stage on Sept. 20, 1961. He became quite agitated when one of his guitar strings broke, and he collapsed and died on the spot. His place in The Sons was taken by another talented guitarist, Roy Lanham, who had been born in Corbin, KY., on Jan. 16, 1923.
In 1963, Tommy Doss officially retired from the touring group. However, he continued to do recording sessions with The Sons until 1967. Luther Nallie served as the lead singer from 1968 to 1974.
The 40th anniversary of the Sons of the Pioneers was celebrated in 1972 with a reunion concert in Los Angeles. It brought back together, for perhaps the last time on stage, the original trio of Leonard Slye (Roy Rogers) and his buddies Tim Spencer and Bob Nolan.
Lloyd Perryman led The Sons from 1949 until his death in 1977. Dale Warren took over the management duties and remains active with the group in the year 2000. They are based in their own theater in Branson, Missouri.
The Sons of the Pioneers appeared in some 90 movies between 1935 and 1962. Those were the glory days of the so-called "B-Westerns" and this group appeared with many of the singing cowboy stars.
Karl Farr died on Sept. 20, 1961. Tim Spencer died on April 26, 1974 in Apple Valley, CA. Lloyd Perryman died on May 31, 1977. Hugh Farr died in 1980, as did Bob Nolan (who died on June 16). And Leonard Slye died in 1998.
In 1976 the Sons of the Pioneers were given their own "star" on the Hollywood "Walk of Fame". They were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980. In 1986 the group received a "Grammy" for their classic song, "Cool Water". Ken Griffis wrote a book about them, Hear My Song: The Story of the Celebrated Sons of the Pioneers (revised 1994). And they were inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City in 1995.
Karl Farr
Karl Farr, guitarists and singer and brother to Hugh Farr, was born with the interesting name of Karl Marx Farr in 1909 in Rochelle, Texas.Karl Farr learned to play the mandolin by the age of seven. Then took up the banjo and guitar. He had a distinctive style of playing lead guitar, fostered by the fact that each member of his family played an instrument of some kind. In 1935, a year after his older brother, Hugh, joined the Sons of the Pioneers, Karl jumped in.
He had made it to the big time in entertainment, despite the fact that he could not read a note of music. He was a quick learner and played from memory.
Karl Farr died on Sept. 20, 1961.
The Farr Family
The Farnum Family band is based in Galena, Missouri. It is a five-piece band that plays a lively blend of gospel, bluegrass, cowboy-Western and old-time music.Norm Farnum is the bandleader, with more than years of stage experience under his belt. He picks the five-string banjo and sings lead and harmony vocals. His musical credits include five seasons at Silver Dollar City, three seasons at The Roy Clark Theater and seven years aboard the Lake Queen paddle wheeler.
Trish Farnum, otherwise known as Mom, is the pianist for the group. She is also featured on lead and harmony vocals. She grew up playing music in church, for recitals, school concerts and 4-H programs. In 1987 she first performed in Branson, playing the ragtime piano for the Vaudeville Show at the Shepherd of the Hills, later joining Norm on his Lake Queen cruises. They married in early 1988, and played music as a duet until just a few years ago.
Daniel, who in 2007 was 14, plays the upright bass and lead vocals. Benjamin is 11 years old and can make his mandolin ring as he plays rhythm, and frequently takes a lead break as well. Hannah, at age nine, plays fiddle and handles a good percentage of the instrumentals for the family band; she also sings a sweet gospel song. In addition to the five musicians, seven year old Nathaniel joined the group in August of 2006, singing an occasional special number.
Since forming their band the family has played venues in Vermont, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Iowa, Nebraska and a number of places in their home state of Missouri. In May of 2006 they were invited to play at Silver Dollar City’s Bluegrass and BBQ festival, and were pleased to be asked back for the Southern Gospel Picnic in September, 2007. Most recently they played in Hannibal, Missouri for the 24th annual Land of Mark Twain Bluegrass Festival.
Norm Farnum says, “Our goal is to glorify our Savior and be a blessing to all who hear us. We are mindful of where our talents come from and thankful that we can do something as a family to bring a smile to others.”
The Farnum Family may be reached by phone at 417-357-8286 or by regular mail at P.O. Box 355, Galena, Missouri 65656. Or you may email them at acm@tri-lakes.net. Their web site is: www.farnumfamily.org.
William Fawcett
(Deceased)William Fawcett was born on September 8, 1894 in High Forest, Minnesota. He went off to college and earned a Phd in drama. Fawcett became a Professor of Theatre Arts at Michigan State University. That could have been the end of the story.
However, he loved acting, not just teaching acting. So when World War II ended, he decided to move to Hollywood and give it his best shot. He became one of the busiest actors in town during the 1950's. He was a thin, wiry man and soon was cast playing virtually the same type character in all his films; an ornery, cantankerous, yet fiercely loyal, old coot.
Some of his Western movie credits include "Stars Over Texas" (1946), "Pioneer Justice" (1947), "Tex Granger"(1948), "Ride, Ryder, Ride!" (1949), "COdy of the Pony Express" (1950), "Canyon Riders" (1951), "Springfield Rifle" (1952), "Oklahoma Annie" (1952), "Star of Texas" (1953), "The Law vs. Billy the Kid" (1954), "The Spoilers" (1955), "Canyon River" (1956), "Good Day for a Hanging" (1958), "The Comancheros" (1961), Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter" (1966) and "Hostile Guns" (1967).
For many of us Fawcett is best remembered the ranch hand, Pete, on the "Fury" TV Western (1955-60). His other TV Western credits included: "The Gene Autry Show," "Annie Oakley," The Virginian," "Bonanza," "The Big Valley," "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin," "Maverick," "Gunsmoke," ; "Wagon Train," "The Wild, Wild West," "Rawhide," "Destry," "Temple Houston," "The Dakotas," "The Rifleman," "Cheyenne," "Bat Masterton," "Laramie," "Wanted: Dead or Alive," "The Restless Gun," "Have Gun Will Travel," "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin," "Zane Grey Theater," "Buffalo Bill, Jr.," "The Adventures of Will Bill Hickok," "Cowboy G-Men," "The Range Riders," and "The Lone Ranger."
He died on January 25, 1974 in Sherman Oaks, California at age 79.
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of William Fawcett.
Dorothy Fay
See "Dorothy Fay Ritter" in Section R.
Dorothy was an actress in the B-Westerns, then married Tex Ritter.
Frank Faylen
(Deceased)
He was born as Frank Ruf in St. Louis, Missouri on December 8, 1905. He was born into the acting profession, as his father and mother were the vaudevillian team of "Ruf & Cusik". They lived in a showboat on the Mississippi River.He attended a Catholic college in Kirkwood, MO. But he left to pursue work as a comic pantomimist on the vaudeville stage. And that was his job through the early 1930's.
However, as he was touring southern California he took a screen test. And, walah, he found steady work as a character actor in the movies. That was in 1935. During his career he was in moe than 150 films. Some of his Western credits include "The Eagle and the Hawk" (1950), "Gunfight at the OK Corral" (1957), "North to Alaska" (1960),
You probably also see him each and every December driving that cab as "Ernie" in "It's a Wonderful Life" with Jimmy Stewart.
And he played the part of Herbet T. Gillis, the father of Dobie on the TV series, "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959-63). Faylen appeared on many TV shows, including "Maverick" and "Wanted: Dead or Alive".
Frank Faylen died at age 79 on August 2, 1985 of pneumonia in Burbank, CA.
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Frank Faylen.
Louise Fazenda
Louise Fazenda, actress, was in several early Western movies. She began her film career doing comedy pieces in 1913. Starting in the 1920's she averaged about eight films a year.
In 1927 she married movie-mogul Hal B. Wallis, head of Warner Brothers.
Her Western movie credits include "Rin Tin Tin." Her last movie was in 1939.
Eugene Pallette, Louise Fazenda and Charles Winninger
in the 1931 Western movie, "Gun Smoke".
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.
Sing to the Lord, you saints of his;
praise his holy name.
--- Bible: Psalm 30:4
© 2007 by Stan Paregien, Sr.
