Page M - 10Stan Paregien, Editor
Corry McDonald
Corry McDonald worked for 33 years in atomic and nuclear weapon engineering, while pursuing his love of wilderness travel and environmental concerns. He is the author of Wilderness: A New Mexico Legacy (Sunstone, 1985), one of 10 books selected in 1985 by the Books-Across-The-Sea Panel of the English Speaking Union as being representative of American life. He also wrote, The Dilemma of Wilderness (Sunstone Press, 1986).
Francis McDonald
Francis McDonald, actor, was born on Aug. 22, 1891 in Bowling Green, KY. His movie career ran from 1915 to 1965. During that 50 years of film making, he appeared in 236 movies--a great number of them Westerns.
Here is a sampling of the Western films in which Francis McDonald appeared: The Valley of Hell (1927), Honor of the Mounted (1932), Terror Trail (1933), Cheyenne Tornado (1935), The Plainsman (1936), Wild West Days (1937), Union Pacific (1939), The Carson City Kid (1940), Wild Bill Hickok Rides (1941), Buckskin Frontier (1943), Zorro's Black Whip (1944), South of the Rio Grande (1945), My Pal Trigger (1946), Duel in the Sun (1946), The Paleface (1948), Apache Chief (1949), Gene Autry and the Mounties (1951), Fort Osage (1952), Calamity Jane (1953) and The Saga of Hemp Brown (1958).
Francis McDonald made numberous appearance in TV Westerns, including: The Virginian, Bat Masterson, Wagon Train, Law of the Plainsman, Wichita Town, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Maverick, Man Without a Gun, Tombstone Territory, Broken Arrow, Have Gun Will Travel, The Gene Autry Show, Annie Oakley, The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, The Range Rider and The Lone Ranger.
Francis McDonald died on Sept. 18, 1968 in Hollywood, CA.
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Francis McDonald.
Kay L. McDonald
Kay L. McDonald was born in Salem, Oregon and graduated from North Salem High School. She had written a full-length novel by the time she graduated from high school. Later she completed a correspondence course with the Famous Writers School and began writing in her spare time, while working full-time as a secretary.Kay L. McDonald has done three books for Walker and Company: The Brightwood Expedition, The Vision of the Eagle (actually the prequel to her first book) and The Vision is Fulfilled (1983). Her first and third novels were finalists for the WWA Spur Awards in 1977 and 1984, respectively.
Russel P. McDonald
A retired building inspector and construction analyst, Russel P. McDonald has penned numerous articles in Mature Living, Real West, Desert Magazine and Airline Pilot. And, writing under the names Russ McDonald and Russell Parks, he is also the author of Footloose and Fancyfree and Truckin' CBers And Other Liars.
Walt McDonald
Walt McDonald and Janet Neugebauer won a Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2000 for their book of poetry, "Whatever the Wind Delivers".
Bart McDowell
Bart McDowell served as a lieutenant in the Navy during World War II. He worked as an associate editor of Town Journal and The Rotarian. And he even made his living as a freelancer in South America before joining the editorial staff of National Geographic in 1957. His publications with the National Geographic Society include The American Cowboy, The Revolutionary War, Gypsies, and Journey Across Russia.
Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire, country music star and actress, was born Reba Nell McEntire on March 28, 1955 in McAlester, OK. She was born to Clark and Jacqueline McEntire. She grew up on a rocky piece of ranch land near Chockie, in southeast Oklahoma. Her father was a rodeo performer who used his winnings to buy a small plot of land and then added to it as he was able.
Her mother taught in a one-room school house nearby. She was also an accomplished singer, and she taught each of her children how to sing and encouraged them to perform.
Reba and the other four children were required to do their fair share of the chores on the ranch. And that included getting up at 4 a.m. and working until time for school. And on weekends it meant working from 4 a.m. to "dark-thirty".
Reba McEntire began rodeoing when she was eleven years old. And, as a teenager, she and brother Pake and sister Susie performed as "The Singing McEntires".
She graduated from high school in 1972. And she went off to Southeastern State University (Durant, OK), where she majored in elementary education and studied piano and violin.
The year 1974 was a big one for the young girl from Chockie. She sang the national anthem at the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City. And one of those who was greatly impressed by her unusual singing style and presence was none other than recording star and songwriter Red Steagall.
Steagall talked her into going to Nashville and recording a demo. And she was quickly signed to a recording contract by Mercury Records. Things were going good.
That's when she met and began dating a married man with two sons. That man was Charles Battles. He was 10 years older than she, and he was a no-nonsense cattleman and steer wrestler. They married in 1976.
Meanwhile, Reba's singing career took off like a rocket. Her first album, Reba McEntire, was released in 1976. And in 1977 she appeared on the stage of the famed Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
In 1982 she had her first single to reach Number One of the charts. That was "Can't Even Get the Blues No More".
In 1984 she moved from Mercury Records to MCA Records, with the promise of more creative control over her records. In 1986 she was voted "Entertainer of the Year" by the Country Music Association, and she won her first Emmy.
Then she decided to divorce Charles Battles, after being together for 11 years. She was 32 at the time.
In 1988, she formed Starstruck Entertainment to oversee the various aspects of her career
Reba's second marriage was to Narvel Blackstone. That was in 1989. He was a musician in her band at the time they started dating. They have one son, Shelby. A reporter in 2001 asked her what lessons she wanted to teach her son and she said, "I'm trying with all my heart to teach him to respect women. And he should not think that money is the most important thing in the world. He shold know that we work hard and that he is loved. And I want him to learn that being kindhearted is very important. That compassion is the foundation for everything" (Parade magazine, June 3, 2001, p.5).
In 1991 Reba's entire band died in a plane crash following a concert in southern California.
In 2000 Reba McEntire was named the #2 Best-selling Female Artist of all genres of All Time ( Barbra Streisand was #1). And that same year she was named the #1 Best-selling Female Country Singer of All Time.
Reba starred for nearly a year (2000-2001) on Broadway in New York City in a rivival of the play, Annie Get Your Gun, based on the life of famed shootist Annie Oakley.
Reba McEntire's Western acting credits also include The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (TV, 1991), Maverick (1994), and Buffalo Girls (TV, 1995).
CLICK HERE to go to Reba McEntire's official web page.
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Reba McEntire.
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.
Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in him;
let all the upright in heart praise him!
--- Bible: Psalm 64:10
© 2003 by Stan Paregien, Sr.
