Stan Paregien, Editor
Hal Taliaferro
Hal Taliaferro, cowboy movie actor, usually played one of the "bad guys" in the early Western movies. He was also known as "Wally Wales".
Bad dudes: Slim Whittaker
and Hal Taliaferro
Bob Tallman
Bob Tallman, rodeo announcer, has been a prominent voice on the pro rodeo circuit for many years. I first met Bob in Snyder, Texas, in 1989 or 1990, when he was in town two consecutive years to announce the local rodeo.Tallman is a commercial spokesperson for products ranging from Justin Boots and Wrangler Shirts to Winn-Dixie Beef.
Bob Tallman was reared in Oregon, but now makes his home on a spread near Weatherford, Texas. In December of 2000, he was named the "Announcer of the Year" by the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association. That was his fifth time to win that award.
Tallman runs a business called Buckers Inc. That outfit uses DNT analyses and other scientific methods to establish blood lines of rodeo-quality bulls. The idea is that bulls can be produced with greater athletic ability (i.e., bucking) by selective breeding, just as greyhounds can be bred for running.
So Tallman's company has establish a "Rodeo Stock Registry" patterned after the American Quarter Horse Association registry.
Ellen Lee Tatara
Ellen Lee Tatara is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College. She has lived and worked in places as far apart as New York City and Brazil. She has written three books, including Gambler's Game, under the name of Lee Magner for the Dell Candlelight Ecstacy Romances series.
Buck Taylor
Buck Taylor, TV and movie actor and painter, was born as Walter Clarence Taylor III on May 13, 1938 in Hollywood, CA. He is the son of the great character actor, comedian and musician, Dub "Cannonball" Taylor.
Buck Taylor played the part of the gunsmith, "Newly O'Brien," on the TV show, "Gunsmoke," for seven years (1967-75). His appearances on other Western TV series included "The Young Riders," "Paradise," "Death Valley Days," "Branded," "The Virginians," "The Big Valley," "The Legend of Jesse James," "Wagon Train," and "The Monroes."
Buck Taylor's Western films include "Pony Express Rider" (1976), "Doc Hooker's Bunch" (1976), "The Sacketts" (1979, TV), "The Legend of the Lone Ranger" (1981), "Cattle Annie and Little Britches" (1981), "Triumphs of a Man Called Horse" (1982), "Wild Horses" (1985, TV), "Louis L'Amour's Down the Long Hills" (1986, TV), "Gunsmoke: Return to Doge" (1987, TV), "Desperados: the Outlaw Wars" (1989, TV), "Conagher" (1991, TV), "Tombstone" (1993), "Rough Riders" (1997, TV), and "Wild Wild West" (1999).
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Buck Taylor.
CLICK HERE to go to Buck Taylor's personal web page, featuring his paintings.
Dub Taylor
(Deceased)
Dub Taylor, actor and musician, was born Walter Clarence Taylor II on Feb. 26, 1907 in Richmond, VA. He lived in Augusta, Georgia, and Greenville, South Carolina early in his life. He finally wound up in Oklahoma City where he attended Classen High School. He often entertained the students with the harmonica and the xylophone.
In his late teens he met Larry Rich, a vaudeville star. Rich was impressed with Taylor's talent and invited him to go to New York. He was a big hit in the Big Apple. And it was there that he met his wife, Florence Dean, who was also in show business.
Dub Taylor's first film was "You Can't Take It With You" ( 1938), starring Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur. The film won an Oscar for the best picture and d irector for that year. The renowned Frank Capra directed Taylor in that film and was very impressed by Taylor's acting skills.
In his autobiography, The Name Above The Title, Frank Capra said of Dub Taylor: "That left just one more daffy part to cast -- Ed, Essie's xylophone playing husband. I was interviewing xylophone players when in walked a merry oaf wearing a perpetual infectious grin as big as a sunburst. Sweat drops gleamed on his receding forehead.
"I'm Dub Taylor, suh, and I kin play the xylophone." His very presence evoked laughter. 'Have you ever played in a picture, Mr. Taylor?' I asked. "No suh, I ain't. But I played in the Rose Bowl on the Alabama football team.' His Southern accent dripped hominy grits. I asked him to play the xylophone that I had in the office.
"I'll play you a love song, Mr. Capra. I'll play you 'Dinah.' The uproar he raised on the xylophone would wake the dead. He made 'Dinah' sound like four anvil choruses. The louder I laughed, the louder he played. I cast him on the spot."
Columbia decided that Taylor would make a good western sidekick and cast him with their relatively new cowboy hero, Bill Elliott. Taylor's first film in the series was Taming of the West (1939). He continued with Elliott through 1942.
During the filming of the Elliott series, Taylor did a film for Republic called "One Man's Law" starring Don "Red" Barry. After his work with Elliott, Columbia teamed Taylor with Russell Hayden, formerly of the Hopalong Cassidy films. He appeared as "Cannonball" in nine films with Hayden.
Dub Taylor was added to the Charles Starrett series in 1943. Taylor worked with Starrett until 1946, when he was replaced by Smiley Burnette.
In 1947 Monogram put Dub Taylor in the sidekick role in the Jimmy Wakely films. He was in 15 Wakely film between 1947 and 1949. But Wakely did not appreciate Taylor's in-your-face style of slackstick humor. So their relationship was somewhat strained.
Dub Taylor appeared in guest roles on these TV Westerns: "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin," "Zane Grey Theater," "The Westerners," "Temple Houston," "The Wild, Wild West," "The Loner," "The Virginian," "Gunsmoke," "The Big Valley," "The Monroes," "Bonanza," "Cimarron Strip," "The High Chaparral," "Alias Smith and Jones," "How the West Was Won," "Little House on the Prairie," and "Bret Maverick".
His Western films are too many for me to list. Here is a sampling: "The Taming of the West" (1939), "The Return of Wild Bill" (1940), "Hands Across the Rockies" (1941), "The Lone Prairie" (1942), "Saddles and Sagebrush" (1943), "The Last Horseman" (1944), "Rustlers of the Badlands" (1945), "Frontier Gunlaw" (1946), "Ridin' Down the Trail" (1947), "Okahoma Blues (1948), and "Across the Rio Grande" (1949).
He also appeared in "Riding High" (1950), "The Story of Will Rogers" (1952), "The Fastes Gun Alive" (1956, playing the banjo), "The Hallelujah Trail" (1965), "The Shakiest Gun in the West" (1968), "The Wild Bunch" (1969), "A Man Called Horse" (1970), "Support Your Local Gunfighter" (1971), Junior Bonner (1972) and "Maverick (1994).
For many years Dub Taylor fought being called "Cannonball," though the nickname stuck with him. And he wanted to be known as a professional, serious actor. So, again, for many years he ran from his work in B-Westerns, never even telling his grandchildren about them. He seems to have had a change of heart, late in life, and even referred to himself sometimes as Cannonball. He will always be "Cannonball" to me and to most others who grew up watching those great Westerns.
Dub Taylor died of congestive heart failure on October 3, 1994 in Los Angeles, CA. He was 87 years old.
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Dub Taylor.
Janelle Taylor
Janelle Taylor has written the following westerns for Zebra about the romance of a Sioux warrior and a white captive: Savage Ecstasy (1981), Defiant Ecstasy (1982), Forbidden Ecstasy (1982), Bittersweet Ecstasy, Brazen Ecstasy (1983), Tender Ecstasy (1983), and Stolen Ecstasy (1985).
Janelle Taylor won the Romantic Times 1985 award for "Best Indian Series. She is also the author of First Love, Wild Love (1984), Savage Conquest (1985), Golden Torment (1984), Love Me With Fury (1983), Moondust and Madness (Bantam, 1986)and Destiny's Temptress (1986). In the spring of 1989, she went on a book tour for Bantam's April release of her book, Wild, Sweet Promise. She was voted into the Romantic Times' "Hall of Fame".
Paul Taylor
Paul Taylor is a former advertising/public relations executive. He is devoting his time now to freelance writing and, when time permits, to backpacking. He is a staff writer for Discover Bullhead/Laughlin Magazine. His articles have appeared in American West, True West, Frontier Times, and Old West.
Robert Taylor
(Deceased)
Robert Taylor, actor, was born Spangler Arlington Brugh on Aug. 5, 1911 in Filley, Nebraska. He majored in music at Doane College in Nebraska. Then he moved to California in the early 1930's and studied medicine at Pomona College. But the acting bug bit him and he changed his major and the direction of his life.It didn't take long for Hollywood to sit up and take notice of this extraordinarily handsome man with the deep, authoritative voice and comanding stage presence. He signed a contract with MGM and soon was being tauted as "The Man With the Perfect Profile".
During World War II he spent his service time directing 17 United States Navy training films. Then in 1937, while nn loan to 20th Century-Fox for "This Is My Affair," he and co-star Barbara Stanwyck fell in love. They married in 1939.
World War II came along at the end of 1941. Robert Taylor joined the U.S. Navy and worked as a flight instructor for the Air Transport division. He also directed some 17 training films.
After the war Taylor made a variety of films that were box office successes. And from 1959 to 1962 he starred in "The Detectives" TV series.
Robert Taylor's Western films included Cattle King (1963), Miracle of the White Stallions (1963), and Return of the Gunfighter (1967, TV).
Robert Taylor died of lung cancer on June 8, 1959 in Santa Monica, CA. He was interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, CA. in the Garden of Honor, Columbarium of the Evening Star. He was married to actress Barbara Stanwyck from 1939 to 1951, and to actress Ursal Thiess from 1954 until his death in 1969.
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Robert Taylor.
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.
Praise the Lord.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
--- Bible: Psalm 106:1
© 2003 by Stan Paregien, Sr.
