Page M - 7Stan Paregien, Editor
Robin May
(Deceased)
Robert Stephen "Robin" May was born in England in 1929. He was an actor from 1953-63. He started writing in 1966, producing mainly children's educational magazines. He wrote more than 50 books for adults and children, with most having something to do with the American West and the performing arts. May was easily identified at WWA Conventions by his gray mustache and goatee.Robin May's books include Operamania (1966), Theatremania (1967), The Wit of the Theatre (1969), Who's Who In Shakespeare (1972), A Companion to the Theatre (1973), with G.A. Embleton Wolfe's Army, The Gold Rushes, True Adventures of the Wild West, Behind the Baton: A Who's Who of Conductors (Merrimack Publishing, 1983), Gunsmoke (with Joseph G. Rosa), The Story of the Wild West, Cowboy: The Man and the Myth (with Joseph G. Rosa), The American West, Indians, Gunfighters, Plains Indians of North America, History of the American West, Daniel Boone and the American West (Watts, 1986), A Colonial American Merchant, and A Plantation Slave.
Robin May died on May 18, 1997, after suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
Ardath Mayhar
Ardath Mayhar was born in Timpson, Tex. on Feb. 20, 1930. She married Joe Mayhar in 1958. Her career has included being a partner in a dairy farm, owning a bookstore and raising chickens.Ardath Mayhar is the author of nearly 200 published short stories and 23 books. She is especially well known for her fantasy novels, including Wierdbook, Black Lizard, New Blood, Necropolis, Dragon, Masques, Wierd Tales, Witch World, and Sorcerer's Apprentice.
Others of Ardath Mayhar's books are How the Gods Wove in Kyrannon (1979), The Seekers of Shar-Nuhn, Runes of the Lyre (1982), Makra Choria (1987), The Wall (1987), The Absolutely Perfect Horse (Harper, 1983), Medicine Walk (Athenium, 1985) and Carrots and Miggle (Atheneum, 1986), Exile on Viahil (Doubleday, 1984), Golden Dream (Ace Books, 1983),Khito Freedom (Ace Books, 1983), Lords of the Triple Moons (Ace Books, 1984), The Saga of Grittel Sundotha (Macmillan, 1985), Soul-Singer of Tyrnos (Ace Books, 1983), and World Ends in Hickory Hollow (Doubleday, 1985).
Ardath Mayhar writes her Western novels under the pen name of Frank Cannon.
Ken Maynard
(Deceased)
Ken Maynard, cowboy and movie actor, was born on July 21, 1895 in Vevay, Indiana. He was the older brother of fellow cowboy movie star Kermit Maynard.
Ken Maynard joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in 1911. He served in the U.S. Army during World War I, and married his first wife while stationed at Ft. Knox, KY.
After his military duty, he cowboyed and hit the rodeo circuit. It was about then that he married his second wife, Jeanne Knudson, a marriage that lasted just three years. And by 1924 he was under contract with Cosmopolitan Pictures, a company owned by newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst.
Ken Maynard bought his movie horse, Tarzan, in 1925 (it died in 1940). And on Aug. 17, 1925 he married his third wife, Mary Leeper of South Bend, IN.
It was in 1929, while under contract to Universal Pictures that he became the very first Silver Screen Singing Cowboy.
By 1936 he was performing around the nation with the Diamond K Ranch Wild West and Circus. From 1937 to 1940 he worked with the Cole Brothers Circus. On Nov. 15, 1939 he married his fourth wife, Bertha Rowland Denham. They were married until her death in 1968.
After his retirement from the movies in the 1940's, he faded from public view. He appeared in one film in 1970 and that was it. He had made some 87 films, virtually all of them Westerns.
He actually spent the last years of his life living alone in a mobilehome, drinking himself to death.
Ken Maynard died due to alcoholism and severe malnutrition on March 23, 1973 in Woodland Hills, CA. He is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery ( Church yard section, Lot 2840, Space 1 ) in Cypress, CA.
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Ken Maynard.
Kermit Maynard
(Deceased)
Kermit Maynard, cowboy and movie actor, was born on September 20, 1897 in Vevay, IN. He was the younger brother of cowboy actor Ken Maynard.
Kermit Maynard, largely due to the influence of his brother Ken, was hired as a Hollywood stuntman and double for leading men. And, because of his resemblance to his brother, he often acted as a double for Ken Maynard.
Kermit Maynard just did not have real charisma or star power, so he never came close to the popularity of his older brother. However, to his credit, he did star in a series of low-budget westerns. And he found plenty of work up until about 1960 as a member of the posse or as one of the bad guys in Western films. That is why he has nearly twice as many film credits as his brother.
Kermit Maynard died on January 16, 1971. His remains are at Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park ( Garden of Rest, Lot 408 ) in North Hollywood, CA.
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Kermit Maynard.
Virginia Mayo
Virginia Mayo, actress, was born Virginia Clara Jones on November 30, 1920 in St. Louis, MO. She was the daughter of a newspaper reporter and his wife. The family had a rich heritage in the St. Louis area. Her great, great, great, grandfather served in the American Revolution and later founded the city of East St. Louis, IL.
After graduating from high school in 1937, Virginia Jones became a member of the St. Louis Municipal Opera before she was signed to a contract by Samuel Goldwyn of MGM studios in 1943.
Virginia Mayo and Joel McCrea
in "The Tall Stranger".Virginia Mayo appeared in such Westerns as Colorado Territory (1949), The Flame and the Arrow (1950), Along the Great Divide (1951), Devil's Canyon (1953), The Proud Ones (1956), The Big Land (1957), The Tall Stranger (1957), Fort Dobbs (1958) and Fort Utah (1967).
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Virginia Mayo.
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.
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
--- Bible: Romans 12:11-12
© 2003 by Stan Paregien, Sr.
