G.D. Spradlinby Stan ParegienGervase Duan (better known as "G.D.") Spradlin died on Sunday, July 24, 2011 of natural causes at his cattle ranch in San Luis Obispo, CA. He was 90 years of age.
G.D. Spradlin was born on Aug. 31, 1920 in the Daylight Township located near Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. It was there that he grew up and graduated from high school, then earned a degree in education from the University of Oklahoma. During World War II he served as an air traffic controler in the U.S. Army Air Force over in China. After the war, he returned to Pauls Valley and in 1948 received his law degree from the University of Oklahoma.
Spradlin was a sharp young man and he was hired by a fast-growing company, Phillips Petroleum Company headquarted in Bartlesville, OK. He quickly advanced through the ranks and soon headed Phillips Petroleum's legal department in far off Caracas, Venezuela. He came back to Oklahoma in 1951 and soon went into the oil business for himself.
He became an independent oil producer and was smart enough and lucky enough to become very wealthy in just a period of nine years. He officially retired in 1960, at the ripe old age of 40. That same year he was the director of John Kennedy's presidential campaign in Oklahoma. Then he spent over a year cruising the Carribean in his yacht with his family.
G.D. backed into acting quite accidentally. His daughter Wendy was in an acting class at the Mummer's Theater in Oklahoma City in 1963. The teacher, after meeting him and hearing his voice and watching his demeanor, urged him to try out for a part in a local production of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". He did so, and--to his surprise--he got the role. And he also got the bug, the acting bug.
However, in the meantime he went back to school and in 1965 earned his master's degree in Latin American Studies at the University of Miami. Never shy or timid, he returned to Oklahoma City and made his first time entry into politics by running for mayor. He lost and turned back to acting, moving his family to Los Angeles, California in 1966. It was not long before he starting getting small parts in this and that. He made his first appearance in a Western TV series in Bonanza in 1959. He also made guest appearances in Alias Smith and Jones, The Virginian, The Big Valley, and Pistols 'n' Petticoats.
In 1967, G.D. Spradlin told a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, "Being rich changes surprisingly little. You'll still have to have an absorbing interest in life, something to do to make you feel alive." And for this man that interest was in acting.
He hit the jackpot in 1968 by appearing in the class Western movie "Will Penny" starring mega-star Charlton Heston. He was on his way as a professional actor. He appeared in Monte Walsh (1970), Sam Hill: Who Killed Mr. Foster (1971, TV), and the The Hunting Party (1971). He also appeared in the dark comedy "The War of the Roses" and in "MacArthur" and "North Dallas Forty". His breakthrough movie role was as corrupt U.S. Senator in director Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather: Part II" (1974). In that movie he woke up, as you may recall, drenched with the blood of a prostitute as punishment by The Godfather. In 1979 he was an Army general in Coppola's Vietnam war movie "Apocalypse Now". In 1988 he appeared in "Oklahoma Passage," a movie made by the Oklahoma Educational TV Authority. His other Westerns included The Oregon Trail (1976, TV), Dream West (1986, TV series), and Riders of the Purple Sage (1996, TV). He retired from acting in 1999, at about the age of 79.
Spradlin's grandson, Justin Demko, told one reporter "Mr. Spradlin had often remarked that the hardest job he ever had was going door to door selling life insurance when he was a law student. But he learned salesmanship skills that served him well in Hollywood: he would arrive for appointments with producers, directors and casting directors in an expensive suit, exuding polished charm. Receptionists would usher him in to their bosses under the impression that he must be a well-heeled investor, not just another eager actor" (Douglas Martin, "G.D. Spradlin, Prolific Character Actor, Dies at 90." The New York Times (NY, NY: July 26, 2011).
Michael Phillips, a movie critic for the Chicago Tribune recalled that Spradlin "had a marvelously distinctive voice, like a high-end power tool set to whirrrrrrr, with a little whistle in the upper register" (July 29, 2011).
G.D. Spradlin's had two children, Tamara Kelly and Wendy, with his first wife Nell Hulsizer. They had five grandchildren. After her death in 2000, he married Frances Hendrickson in 2002.
References:
Martin, Douglas. "G.D. Spradlin, Prolific Character Actor, Dies at 90." The New York Times (NY, NY: July 26, 2011).
McLellan, Dennis. "G.D. Spradlin dies at 90; veteran character actor." The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA; July 26, 2011).
Phillips, Michael. "Farewell to 2 character actors of distinction." The Chicago Times (Chicago, IL: July 29, 2011).
Triplett, Gene. "Actor born in Oklahoma dies at 90." The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK: July 26, 2011).
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of G.D. Spradlin.
Last updated on July 30, 2011.
Agnes Wright Spring
(Deceased)
Agnes Wright was born in Delta, Colo. in 1894. Spring and her three sisters all got college educations and all became writers (Rachel Wright Fish, the late wife of Howard Fish, was also a member of WWA). She was the first woman editor of the student newspaper at the University of Wyoming and later became editor of the Pi Beta Phi sorority magazine. She was also the first female to enroll for engineering courses at UW. She graduated in 1913 with a degree in civil engineering, but no one would give a woman a job in that field so she became Assistant State Librarian in the State Supreme Court at Cheyenne, Wyo.
Agnes Wright Spring was given a scholarship to study at Columbia University's Pulitzer School of Journalism. There she became friends with Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Chapman Catt. The school closed down when World War I started and she moved back to Wyoming and became the state historian, state librarian and state superintendent of weights and measures.
In 1921 young Archer Spring, an oil geologist, courted and married her. They moved to Fort Collins, Colo. and took over a cherry tree farming operation. And it was then that the first of her twenty books, Casper Collins: The Life and Exploits of an Indian Fighter of the Sixties (1927), was published. Others of her books included History of Pi Beta Phi (1937), Wyoming Guide (1940), History of Wyoming National Guard (1940), Seventy Years Cow Country (1943), William Chapin Deming (1943), Collected Writings and Addresses of William Chapin Deming, 4 Vols. (1946-47), The Cheyenne and Black Hills Stage and Express Routes (1947), A Bloomer Girl on Pike's Peak (1949), The First National Bank of Denver (1960), Horse Wrangler (1960), The Cheyenne Club (1961).
And in collaboration with Maurice Frink and Turrentine Jackson she wrote, When Grass Was King (1955). Then in collaboration with Robert West Howard, Roy Coy and Frank Robertson she wrote, Hoofbeats of Destiny. However, during the Depression their cherry tree orchard went bad and they returned to Wyoming, where she became director and one of the writers and editors of the book produced by the Wyoming Federal Writers Project. The Springs moved to Denver during World War II and she became the Colorado state historian. She is the only one to ever serve as state historian for two different states.
On the basis of her 20 books, 13 short stories and over 600 articles, as well as her pioneering spirit, Agnes Wright Spring was honored with membership in the national Cowboy Hall of Fame and in the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame. And in 1978 the members of the WWA recognized her great contributions to the study and love of the West by awarding the Saddleman trophy to her.
Agnes Wright Spring died in Fort Collins, Colo. on March 20, 1988. Kit Collings did a detailed account of her career in an obituary that appeared in the April, 1988 issue of The Roundup.
Ed Stabler
Ed Stabler is a singer/guitarist well-known for his rich singing voice and smooth, fingerpickin’ guitar style. Ed started singing old cowboy songs early on, thanks to a Colorado ranch background and the gift to him of a guitar at the age of ten.. During his abbreviated college career in the sixties, he sang in various folk clubs and coffee houses, always including cowboy songs with what was then “mainstream” folk music.
Ed’s musical influences range from bluegrass and traditional performers such as Doc Watson to Hawaiian slack key guitarists Sonny Chillingworth and Gabby Pahinui, to Bach and Mozart, to the Flying W Wranglers, to Woody Guthrie and a host of others. Many of his songs tell wonderful stories about people and events in the west.
He has always remained true to his western roots, while his life has run in diverse directions. For example, he has been a deputy sheriff, television news anchor, radio dee jay, full-time western musician and now raises quarter horses near Mertzon, Texas.
Ed Stabler's recordings include: PONIES - Western Songs and Poetry (1990;out of print and no longer available); His Knibbs and the Badger (duet with Katie Lee; 1992;out of print and no longer available); Partner of the Wind (1993, cassette only); Long Roads, Legends and Lies (1995, CD and cassette). Since his 1995 recording, he’s collected much new material from many contemporary western song writers, and has collaborated on several songs himself.
He was nominated for eight awards in 1996 by the Academy of Western Artists, including Entertainer of the Year. The Western Music Association nominated him for Instrumentalist of the Year in 1997 and 2000.
Ed Stabler is available for performance. For booking information, contact him at P. O. Box 1030, Mertzon, TX 76941-1030. Phone: (325) 835-5023, or e-mail to emstab@outdrs.net.Check out his web presence at http://www.myspace.com/edstabler and http://www.youtube.com/EdStabler
Kelly Henson, EdStabler & Jean Prescott are pictured at left as they performed at the National Cowboy Symposium in Lubbock in September of 2009. [Photo by Stan Paregien]
Luther Standing Bear
(Deceased)
Luther Standing Bear, a Sioux Indian actor, was born in 1868.He died on February 20, 1939, and is buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery ( Section 2W, Grave 399 ) in Hollywood, CA .
Gerald Stanley
Gerald Stanley is a professor of history at California State University. His articles have appeared in Western Outdoors, Midstream, American West and other magazines. His article, "Children of the Grapes of Wrath," in American West was the subject of a news feature on the NBC national news and may be made into a movie-of-the-week for TV.
Barbara Stanwyck
(Deceased)Barbara Stanwyck was born as Ruby Stevens on July 16, 1907. She became an orphan at an early age. She then worked long hours in a factory, until she became a stage and cabaret dancer. That's when she married her first husband, Frank Fay, a performer in vaudeville. They moved to Hollywood to try to make it big. And by 1944 Barbara Stanwyck had become the highest-paid woman in America.
Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck
in "The Moonlighter" (1953)
She had roles in several low-budget films like "Night Nurse" and "Ladies They Talk About". Then she performed in higher budgeted films such as "Cattle Queen of Montana" (with future president Ronald Reagan), "Annie Oakley," "Ball of Fire," "Double Indemnity," "The Lady Eve," and "Stella Dallas". But she is best remembered for her role as the matriarch in TV's "Big Valley" Western series.
She was nominated for the "Best Actress" Oscar, not just once but a remarkable FOUR times. But she never won an Oscar. However, she did receive Emmys and Golden Globes for her TV roles in "Big Valley," "The Thorn Birds," and "The Barbara Stanwyck Show".
She was married to actor Robert Taylor, her second husband, from 1939 to 1951. Barbara Stanwyck died of congestive heart failure on January 20, 1990. She was cremated and the ashes were scattered in California.
Charles Starrett
(Deceased)Charles Starrett, actor, was born on March 28, 1903 in Athol, Mass. He attended Dartmouth College, where he played football. And when he was hired as an extra for the film, The Quarterback (1926), he got the acting bug.
Starrett, a handsome and personable young man, began in vaudeville. He progressed to the legitimate stage and finally to the lights of Broadway in New York City. And it was there in 1930 that Paramount studios put him under contract to do films for them.
In 1933, he helped organize the Screen Actors Guild.
In 1936, he would sign with Columbia and over the next 16 years, star in 115 Westerns. His defining role was as the "Durango Kid". He was sort of a Superman in chaps. Whenever he was needed to save the day, he would change closes and switch to his black horse.
Charles Starrett retired from acting in 1952 as the old "B-Western" style movies were at their end.
Charles Starrett died of cancer at Borrego Springs, Calif., on March 22, 1986. His body was cremated and the ashes were scattered over Darthmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.
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.
Be completely humble and gentle;
be patient, bearing with one another in love.
--- Bible: Ephesians 4:2
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