Stan Paregien, Editor
Lois Horn Sackman
(Deceased)
Lois Horn Sackman began writing at the age of eight and won many prizes for her poetry. She taught speech and English for 28 years, finally retiring in 1981, the year she was named Teacher of the Year in Wyoming. Many of her articles appeared in the Billings Gazette newspaper and in Empire.
Lois Horn Sackman is the author of two novels: Homecoming and Autumn Harvest (both by Misty Mountain Press). She died in 1988.
Raymond St. Jaques
(Deceased)
Raymond St. Jaques was born James Arthur Johnson on March 1, 1930 in Hartford, CT. After a divorce, his mother moved her family to New Haven, CT. Young James Arthur Johnson Simeon Baldwin Elementary School, and in 1946 entered Troup Junior High School. With his mother’s encouragement, Raymond enrolled in the school's Social Arts Course (a college preparation course). Then he went to Hillhouse High School. He became a member of the Drama Club. This was an achievement in itself for very few black students were involved in school activities during the 1940’s. He graduated from Hillhouse in 1951.In 1952, the Korean War was going on and he enlisted in the Air Force.. While in the service, he continued to develop his talents by arranging plays and entertaining servicemen at a base in Denver, Colorado. Soon after his discharge from the Air Force, Raymond attended the Actor’s Studio, the Institute for Advanced Theatre Arts, and the Herbert Berghot Institute.
The Johnson family attended St. Lukes Episcopal Church on Whalley Avenue. Raymond was an active participant at St. Luke s as well as at the “Q” House (Community House), on the lower end of Dixwell Avenue. Through the years of Raymond St. Jacques’ childhood into his youth and adolescence, the “Q” House was his “home away from home”
Early in the 1950’s Raymond St. Jacques changed his name because there had been another Raymond Johnson in the Theatre who was getting his credits.
On Broadway, he appeared in the musicals “Seventh Heaven” and “Cool World,” as well as “Night Life”, a play by Sidney Kingsley. Off Broadway, he performed in “The Blacks”, and “Man With the Golden Arm.” In summer stock, he performed in “Raisin in The Sun”, “Purley Victorious”, and “Julius Ceasar.”
His TV appearances have included “Roots” (part one), “Sophisticated Gents and the Monk”, “Cagney and Lacey”, “Trapper John”, “Hardcastle and McCormack”, “The Fall Guy.” All told Raymond St. Jacques starred in over 300 television shows during the course of his career. Some of the roles ranged from a regular on “Rawhide” to “Fantasy Island.”
The acting career of Raymond St. Jacques has also included such films as: “Cotton Comes to Harlem”, “Come Back Charleston Blue”, “Cool Breeze”, “Uptight”, “The Pawnbroker”, “The Comedians”, “Mr. Moses”, “Black Like Me”, and “Secret Files of the FBI.”
In 1974, Raymond formed his own film company, “St. Jacques Organization, Inc., which produced and directed the film “The Book of Numbers.” St. Jacques was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, Black Motion Picture and Television Producers Association, and past member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science Scholarship Fund.
He was a guest lecturer and speaker across the country, including speeches to both the NAACP and the Urban League at their national conventions. Once he was arrested in Washington, D.C., on the steps of the South African Embassy, protesting against the government’s apartheid policy.
Raymond St. Jacques played the character "Simon Blake" on the TV Western series "Rawhide" during the 1965-66 season. When he joined the cast of "Rawhide" in 1965, Raymond St. Jacques became the very first black actor regularly featured on a Western show.
Raymond St. Jacques died of lymph cancer on Aug. 27, 1990 in Los Angeles, CA.
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Raymond St. Jacques.
Al St. John
(Deceased)
Al St. John, cowboy actor, was born on Sept. 10, 1892 in Santa Ana, CA. His parents were entertainers in vaudville, so he spent much of his youth traveling from town to town with them. His uncle was Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, a star in Hollywood.Somewhere along the way Al St. John discovered that he had excellent balance and acrobatic skills. And he honed those skills on a bicycle and a unicycle until he himself became a headliner in vaudville.
Then Hollywood came calling. Mack Sennett hired him to join his cast of characters in the zany "Keystone Cops" film series. And he was good at everything asked of him, including doing much of the tough stunt work. That was even though he was only 5' 7" tall and was very thin. Much of this time he was on an annual contract that paid him $5,000 per week.
Al St. John, the movie actor, was making a lot of money. And investing it wisely, or so he thought. Like many others of the time, he was investing heavily in the stock market and buying on margin. So when the stock market crashed on Black Thursday in October of 1929, he lost over $700,000 in one day.
By 1930, though, Al St. John had found another niche that suited him to a "T". That was in playing sidekick roles in Western movies. His first role was with Tom Mix in "Hello Cheyenne" (1928). He also rode the cimema trail with stars Bob Steele, Big Boy Williams, Bos Custer, William Boyd, Jack Randall, Buster Crabbe, Don "Red" Berry, George Houston, Robert Livinston, and Bill Cody. He appeared in 43 Westerns just between 1940 and 1943. And he continued in this genre until the last Lash LaRue film was in the can in 1951. He made about $1,000 per film that he made with Buster Crabbe.
Al St. John actually became far better known as "Fuzzy St. John". He was hired as a sidekick to star Fred Scott in a role written for actor Fuzzy Knight. No one thought to change the script, using the name Fuzzy, and the name stuck.
St. John was one who drank quite a bit, though apparently it was never a problem for him on the job until his later films with Lash LaRue. That's when his "cocktale lunch breaks" began to slur or drop his lines. LaRue, who had been an alcoholic himself, flatly called St. John an alcoholic.
After the death of his first wife and the end of the Lash LaRue series, Al St. John make personal appearances all over the country. He entertained at local theatres, county fairs, rodeos--anywhere he could get an audience.
Al St. John, better known as Fuzzy St. John, died of a heart attack on Jan. 31, 1963. He was in his hotel room, resting between performances. Not a bad way to go.
Marin Sais
(Deceased)
Marin Sais, actress, was born on Aug. 2, 1890 in San Rafael, CA. During her screen career she appeared in 64 movies, most of them Westerns. Some of her films included "The Broken Spur" (1921), "The Red Rider" (1925), "A Son of the Desert" (1928), "Fighting Cowboy" (1933), "Rawhide Romance" (1939), "Deadwood Dick" (1940), "Saddlemasters" (1941), and her last film, "The Great Jesse James Raid" (1953).
Marin Sais, also known as Maria Sais, died on Dec. 31, 1971 in Woodland Hills, CA.
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Marin Sais.
M.L. Salmon
M.L. Salmon is a publisher and a used book dealer. His own books include: Gila Descending; Home Is The River; Gazehounds & Coursing; Tales of the Chase; and Signal to Depart. His articles have been published in the Albuquerque Journal, El Paso Post-Herald, New Mexico Wildlife, Fur-Fish-Game, Outdoor Life, Field & Stream, and New Mexico Magazine.
Tim Sampson
Tim Sampson, actor, is the son of the late actor Will Sampson.
His Western movies include Cherokee Kid, The (1996, TV), Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee (1994, TV), Shadowhunter (1993, TV), A Climate for Killing (1991), and War Party (1989).
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Tim Sampson.
Will Sampson
Will Sampson, actor, was born in 1935 in Okmulgee, OK. Will Sampson as a member of the Creek tribe. He was a founder of the American Indian Registry for the Performing Arts. He was the father of actor Tim Sampson.
His most famous role was probably as "Chief Bromden" with Jack Nicholsol inside a mental ward in the 1975 film, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". He also played as "John Stronghart" in the Western TV series, "The Yellow Rose".
Will Sampson's Western films included "Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson" (1976), "The White Buffalo" (1977), "Fish Hawk" (1979), "Born to the Wind" (1982), "Tall Eagle" (1986, TV),
Will Sampson died on June 3, 1987 in Houston, TX., from complications from a heart surgery.
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Will Sampson.
Harold Samuels and Peggy Samuels
Harold Samuels and Peggy Samuels are the authors of Frederic Remington: A Biography (Doubleday, 1982; University of Texas Press, 1985) and Everyone's Guide to Buying Art (Prentice-Hall, 1984).
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.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Serve the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
--- Bible: Psalm 100:1-2
© 2003 by Stan Paregien, Sr.
