John Quade
(Deceased)
John Quade, actor,was born on April
1, 1938 in Kansas City, Kansas with the name of John William Saunders.
He graduated from Highland Park High School in Topeka, Kansas in 1956.
He had played tackle on the football team, and he played track and
basketball as well.
Quade made his first movie in 1972.
Probably most folks remember him best from his role as "Cholla," the
tough-as-nails, slightly dumb leader of "The Black Widows" motorcycle
gang in two of Clint Eastwood's films. Those were "Every Which Way But
Loose" in 1978 and "Any Which Way You Can" in 1980.
His Western movie credits included
roles in Clint Eastwood's movies, "High Plains Drifter" and "The Outlaw
Josey Wales", as well as in "The Last Hard Men," "Rancho Deluxe," "Bad
Company".
His Western TV credits included guest roles on Bonanza, Longarm, No
Man's Land, Big Bend Country, Cattle Annie and Little Britches, How the
West Was Won, Go West Young Woman, Kung Fu, Dusty's Trail, Cade's
County, The High Chaparrel, The Wild Wild West, and on Gunsmoke. He
also appeared in the 1993 mini-series, "Return to Lonesome Dove".
Quade stopped acting in the mid-1990s, but did some writing and
directing of a few independent films.
In his private life after his acting
career, John Quade (aka John Saunders) became a Christian and was quite
active in efforts to oppose any expansion of the government, whether
Federal or State.
Joe
Taylor wrote a memorial regarding his friend and Christian brother,
John Quade. In it, Mr. Taylor says: "John and I had become friends in
1978 and were working on the proposal for his major film production
called The Mayflower Project and The American Vision. This was at about
the time he did the Clint Eastwood film 'Every Which Way But Lose.'
Another Christian friend and I went to see it. And since he was
becoming recognized as a Christian leader, we were critical of him
appearing in a film that was so profane and with the typical caviler
immorality. This brought him to tears. He agreed, but had already
signed with Clint Eastwood to be in the sequel, Every Which Way You
Can. A few days later, he gladly reported that Eastwood had agreed to
re-write his part. But what happened put a permanent breach between
John and Clint. Eastwood told John, 'Yeah John, we’ll re-write your
part.' And that he did. Eastwood’s new lines insulted John personally,
but more importantly he insulted his religion. I don’t think John ever
did another film with him and I have personally avoided watching any
more of Clint Eastwood’s films myself.
"In Hollywood, to refuse to do a movie because of moral
convictions was considered a big 'no no.' More than once, we sat in Bob
Burns while John read the script to a new movie and after a few pages,
he’d say with quiet regret, 'I can’t do this.' I’m sure he turned down
hundreds of thousands of dollars in acting jobs just based on his moral
convictions. This was further exacerbated when he ran for California
State Representative as a staunch conservative. And this probably got
John black-balled to a large extent."
John Quade died of a heart attack at
the age of 71 on August 9, 2009 at his home in Rosamond,
California.
His wife, Gwen, told an interviewer for the Los Angeles Times after his
death, "He was one of the
nicest men you'd ever want to know, but he looked mean and nasty. He
looked like he could do murder and mayhem at any moment, but he was a
big teddy bear -- the kind that he just loved little kids, but they
were always afraid of him.
"His face definitely stands
out in a crowd. He had to be careful he didn't overshadow scenes just
by the way he looked. The first film he did with Clint Eastwood, Clint
hired him for his face and told him afterward that he felt like he got
a bonus because John could act."
References:
1. Wikipedia
2. Internet Movie Database
3. Los Angeles Times, August 13, 2009
4. Joe Taylor, "Memorial of John Quade," published online in "Mt.
Blanco".
Johnny Quarles
Johnny Quarles, author, was living in Enid,
Oklahoma when he began selling his novels. Now he lives in Santa Fe,
New Mexico. He joined Western Writers of America in September,
1989.
He writes, "I began writing in April, 1985. My
first novel was a spy thriller, Finders Keepers, Losers Die,
which was completed that year. I followed that with a mainstream novel,
Black Creek, about the last big coal mines to close in
southern West Virginia in the 1960's. Right now, however, I am only
interested in the Western field."
He has two western novels with Berkley Publishing,
Brack and Varro's Revenge.
Dr. Ron Querry
A native Oklahoman, Dr. Ron Querry has a
background that includes service in the Marines, cattle ranching and
university teaching. He has a Ph.D. in American studies from the
University of New Mexico and is a fulltime writer.
Ron Querry's books include (University of New
Mexico Press) and Growing Old at Willie Nelson's Picnic: And Other
Sketches of Life in the Southwest (Texas A&M University Press,
1983).
Anthony Quinn
(Deceased)
Anthony Quinn, actor, was born Anthony Rudolfo Oxaca in
Chihuahua, Mexico, on April 21, 1915. His parents, a Mexican mother and
a Mexican-Irish father, were dirt poor. They immigrated to El Paso,
Texas where his father worked on railroads. Then they moved to
California where he did manual labor in the citrus orchards.
Anthony Quinn grew up in East Los Angeles. As a
young man, he became interested in artistic endeavors. There is a story
that he was an apprentice in the studio of Frank Lloyd Wright, the
reknown architect. Supposedly, Wright suggested that the boy take up
acting to cure a lazy tongue. And somewhere along the line Quinn also
had plastic surgery, which improved his looks.
Quinn got himself into movies as an extra, after
working at such jobs as hod carrier, construction worker, boxer, and
taxi driver.
It was in "The Plainsman," Cecil B. De Mille's
1936 epic where he was a Cheyenne warrior, that he met his future
father-in-law. That was the mighty Cecil B. De Mille himself. The very
next year Quinn married his first wife, actress Katherine De Mille. She
was De Mille's adopted daughter. She and Quinn were married for 19
years and together had three of his 13 children.
Despite his obvious connection to one of
Hollywood's most powerful men, he continued in small character parts in
B-movies like "Waikiki Wedding," "Bulldog Drummond in Africa,"
"Television Spy" and "Texas Rangers Ride Again."
However, Quinn had found a niche where he could
live and work and get to know people. He became the Foreign Guy. He
played in roles as a Mexican, Italian, Arab, American Indian, and
Greek.
He won his first Oscar for his work in the 1952
film "Viva Zapata!" He played the brother of Mexican revolutionary
leader Emiliano Zapata.
In 1956 he won his second Best Supporting Actor
Oscar for playing the Dutch artist Paul Gauguina in Lust for Life.
His role as Alexis Zorba in "Zorba the Greek" was
the capstone of this great period. His role as Alexis Zorba seemed to
personify the Quinn himself. It was one of those rare, perfect unions
of man and part.
Anthony Quinn's Western films included The
Plainsmen (1936), Union Pacific (1939), The Texas Rangers Ride Again
(1940), They Died With Their Boots On (1941), The Ox-Bow Incident
(1943), Buffalo Bill (1944), California (1946), Viva Zapata! (1952),
Seminole (1953), Ride, Vaquero! (1953), Man From Del Rio (1956), The
Ride Back (1957), Warlock (1959) and Heller in Pink Tights (1960).
Quinn write his autobiography, The Original Sin,
in 1972, and followed it with a second volume, Suddenly Sunset.
Anthony Quinn also was a talented painter and
sculptor. He favored cubist and post-impressionist oils. In December of
1982, Quinn held an art show in Honolulu. His works sold for up to
$40,000 each. He took in a cool two million dollars that day.
Anthony Quinn Library? Yes, there is an Anthony
Quinn Library. It was originally named Belvedere Library. Belvedere
Library was established in January 1914 as a pioneer branch of the
newly founded Los Angeles County Public Library. By 1925, when the
library was moved to a store-front facility at 111 North Ditman Ave.,
the collection had grown to several thousand books. In 1937 the library
was relocated to 3713 Michigan Avenue. The library remained there until
1973, when it was moved to its present location. On January 5, 1982 the
library was renamed in honor of actor Anthony Quinn; his childhood home
occupied the site of the present-day library.
Quinn had a total of thirteen children (nine sons
and four daughters) by three wives and three mistresses.A son from his
first marriage, drowned at age 3 in W.C.Fields swimming pool.
Anthony Quinn died of pneumonia at a hospital in
Boston, MA., on June 3, 2001. He was 86.
CLICK HERE to see the
complete filmography of Anthony Quinn.
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.
I tell you, now is the time of God's favor,
now is the day of salvation.
--- Bible: 2 Corinthians 6:2
© 1999-2010 by Stan Paregien, Sr.
This page last updated on April 27, 2010
