Stan Paregien, Editor
Robert Wagner
Robert Wagner, actor, was born Feb. 10, 1930 in Detroit, MI. Wagner, also known as R.J., moved to Los Angeles as a kid. He was a golf caddy for Clark Gable.
Wagner's part in a movie was in MGM's The Happy Years in 1950. His career really took off in 1952 with the movie A Song in My Heart.
In the summer of 1956, Wagner started dating Natalie Wood. They were married on December 28, 1957 in Scottsdale, AZ. Eventually, their marriage was torn apart by Natalie's infatuation with actor Warren Beatty. Natalie and Robert divorced in 1963.
Wagner married Marion Marshall on July 22, 1963. They were divorced in 1971. Strangely enough, Wagner and Natalie Woods started dating and remarried at sea on their yacht "Splendour" on July 16, 1972. Natalie drowned in an unfortunate accident on November 29, 1981. She had been drinking and evidently fell overboard, near Catalina Island. In 1991 he married Jill St. John.
In 1968, Wagner moved into television and starred in "It Takes a Thief".
Robert Wagner's Western films included "Broken Lance" (1954), "White Feather" (1955), "The Mountain" (1956) and "The True Story of Jesse James" (1957).
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Robert Wagner.
Jimmy Wakely
(Deceased)
Jimmy Wakely, cowboy actor and singer, was born James Clarence Wakely near Mineola, Arkansas on February 16, 1914. He soon saw the error of his ways and at the age of seven moved to Rosedale, Oklahoma.In 1937 he formed his own musical group, the Jimmy Wakely Trio. The other members were Dick Reinhardt and Johnny Bond (Bond would later work as Gene Autry's lead guitarist for over 20 years).
One day Gene Autry was touring, and made stops in Oklahoma. Wakely and his band met Autry and, impressed with their talent, he invited them to California to work on his nationally syndicated Melody Ranch radio program.
Today that would be sort of like being invited by Garth Brooks to work with him in Nashville. It didn't take long for the Jimmy Wakely Trip to pack up and head west. Their first movie was not with Gene; it was with Roy Rogers (SAGA OF DEATH VALLEY; Republic, 1939). But in 1940, the Wakely group joined the Melody Ranch radio show.
Johnny Bond (far left), Gabby Hayes (beard),
Roy Rogers and to the right of Roy is Jimmy Wakely.However, Jimmy Wakely soon had his own movie contract and a record deal with Decca. So he and his group made guest appearances in the "Range Busters" series at Monogram, Don Barry series at Republic, Johnny Mack Brown and Tex Ritter series at Universal, and the Charles Starrett series at Columbia.
In 1944, Jimmy Wakely signed a Monogram contract and over the next five years, he would star in 28 low-budget Western films. His last movie was LAWLESS CODE (1949). His sidekicks at various times included Lee "Lasses" White and Dub "Cannonball" Taylor.
I have in my library a songbook (4.5" x 6") titled, "Songs Jimmy Wakely Sings". It was published in 1944 and contains 14 songs. It contains eight songs written by Wakely: "On the Strings of My Lonesome Guitar" (w/Smiley Burnett), "Standing Outside of Heaven," "It's Too Late (To Say You're Sorry)," "I'll Never Let You Go Little Darlin'," "Will You Be True to Me" (w/Johnny Marvin), "I'm Casting My Lasso Toward the Sky" (w/his movie sidekick, Lee White), and "Too Bad, Little Girl, Too Bad." It also contains one song, each, by his Trio members: Johnny Bond ("I Wonder Where You Are Tonight") and Dick Reinhart ("Fort Worth Jail").
World War II ended in 1945. And by then audience tastes were changing and TV was beginning to take hold. It was during this twilight of the glory days of B-Westerns that Jimmy Wakely's movies still managed to turn a nice profit.
And Wakely himself was doing very nicely, thank you. He had his own line of comic books. He was scoring hits on both the country and pop charts. And he drew large crowds at his many personal appearances at fairs, rodeos and such.
In 1946 Jimmie Wakely bet a couple of friends in Oklahoma that an Oklahoma cowhand named Jerry Van Meter could not ride a horse from Oklahoma to Hollywood in 50 days. Jerry took the bet and won. That story, long dorman, was the subject of a book in 1999.
Jimmy Wakely had a popular radio show in the 1950s. His recordings with Margaret Whiting, such as "Slipping Around," were mega-hits. And he did quite well with specialty songs such as "Silver Bells". And during this time he started his own record company named Shasta Records. Marilyn Tuttle, wife of singer Wesley Tuttle, often sang backup on Wakely's records.
Jimmy Wakely continued to perform live in concerts in auditoriums and clubs through the 1970's. Often his act included his son and daughter. He was a heavy smoker, though, and it had a debilitating effect on his voice, energy level and lungs as he grew older.
Jimmy Wakely died of emphysema in 1982.
CLICK HERE to go to the official home web page of Jimmy Wakely, maintained by his daughter Lindalee.
Cindy Walker
Cindy Walker has made a lasting mark as a songwriter of exceptional skill and endurance. Her hit country/Western songs include "You Don't Know Me," "In the Misty Moonlight," "Cherokee Maiden," "Miss Molly," "China Doll," and "You're From Texas".
Over 500 of Walker's songs have been recorded, many by such famous artists as Roy Rogers, Elvis Presley, Gene Autry, Eddie Arnold, Tex Ritter, Bing Crosby, Roy Orbison, and Bob Wills.
This native Texan was inducted into the National Song Writers Hall of Fame in 1970. She was inducted into the Western Swing Hall of Fame in 1990. The Texas Music Association in 1996 presented her with the Golden Guitar Award.
Cindy Walker has also been inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, the Country Music Hall of Fame, and the Texas Hall of Fame. And in 1999 she was chosen to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Academy of Western Artists.
Clint Walker
Clint Walker was born Norman Eugene Walker on May 30, 1927 in Hartford, Illinois. He also had a twin sister. He dropped out of high school at the age of 16 and worked at various menial jobs.
In 1944 he enlisted in the merchant marine. When World War II ended, he worked in the oil fields of Texas, as a bouncer in Long Beach, Calif., and worked as a deputy sheriff in Las Vegas. He worked security at many of the casino shows, where his 6'6" frame and handsome features drew a lot of attention from even the performers.
One day he met actor Van Johnson, a native of Oklahoma, who suggested that he give acting a try. Along came the legendary directory Cecil B. DeMille, shortly thereafter, and actually offered him a small role in "The Ten Commandments". Well, Clint Walker tried acting. And he liked it and was good at it. His first major film role was as Tarzan in a comedy starring Huntz Hall (Jungle Gents, 1954).
Then in 1955, with only one film to his credit, he won a contract to play the role of Cheyenne Bodie in a new TV Western named, "Cheyenne". It was a perfect vehicle for him, as he stood 6'6" tall in an era when even 6' was considered tall. The show ran through 1962 and made him a wealthy man.
Clint Walker had a close brush with death during a ski trip. He fell out on the slope and landed on the point of one of his ski poles, impaling his heart. He recovered with no lasting effects.
Clint Walker played Cheyenne Brodie in the TV Western series, "Cheyenne" (1955). It was the very first one-hour Western on TV.
His Western films include "Fort Dobbs" (1958), "Yellowstone Kelley" (1959), "Fiesta De Guarra", "Gold, Glory and Custer" (1959), "The Great Bank Robery" (1969), "Yuma" (1970, TV), "Pancho Villa" (1972), "The White Buffalo" (1977), "Baker's Hawk" (1978) and "The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw" (1991, TV).
Peggy and I got to meet Clint Walker at the 2004 Wrangler Awards ceremony at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City on April 17, 2004. That's when he was inducted into the museum's Great Hall of Western Performers.
Clint Walker with Stan Paregien
(Photo by Peggy Paregien)Clint Walker, actor, is also now Clint Walker, author. He and co-author Kirby Jonas wrote a Western adventure novel called, Yaqui Gold. You can order it at Walker's own web site:
CLICK HERE to go to "Brian's Drive-In Theatre", a web site featuring several photos of Clint Walker.
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Clint Walker.
Dale L. Walker
Dale Lee Walker was born in Decatur, Ill. on Aug. 3, 1935. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1955-59, then settled down in El Paso, Texas. He married Alice McCord in 1960 and they had five children.
He received his B.A. in 1962 from the University of Texas at El Paso. From 1962 to 1966 he was a reporter for KTSM-TV in El Paso. Then he went to work at UTEP, where he spent 20 years as the director of the News & Publication Office. From 1985 until his retirement in the late 1990's he served as the director of Texas Western Press.
Dale L. Walker has written over 400 magazine articles 600 book reviews for publications ranging from Bloomsbury Review to The El Paso Herald-Post. He was the book editor for the El Paso Times and a book columnist for the El Paso Herald-Post, and he is a member of the Herald-Post's "Writers' Hall of Fame". He currently writes a weekly column, "Westerns," for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver.
He is the author of over a dozen books, including The Lost Revolutionary: A Biography of John Reed (with Richard O'Connor, 1967), C.L. Sonnichsen: A Grassroots Historian (Texas Western Press, 1972), Buckey O'Neill: The Story of a Rough Rider (1975), Jack London and Conan Doyle: A Literary Kinship (1981), Will Henry's West (Texas Western Press, 1984), Only the Clouds Remain: Ted Parsons of the Lafayette Escadrille (1980), The Fiction of Jack London: A Chronological Bibliography (Texas Western Press, 1972), editor of In A Far Country: Jack London's Tales of the West (Jameson Books, 1987), editor of No Mentor But Myself: Jack London, The Writer's Writer (1979), editor of Curious Fragments: Jack London's Tales of Fantasy Fiction (1975), Januarius MacGahan (Ohio University Press, 1988), and Mavericks: Ten Uncorralled Westerners (1989).
Dale L. Walker's involvement with Western Writers of America is extensive. He wrote the "Along Publisher's Row" column for The Roundup from 1978-79, served as editor of The Roundup from 1980-85 (for which service he received his first Spur Award from WWA). He has assisted on numerous committees and has spoken at several conventions.
At the 1989 WWA Convention in Portland he received his second Spur Award, this time in the category of "Best Short Nonfiction," for his 3-part series, "The Boys of '98," in True West. Walker is also a member of the Texas Institute of Letters, as well as the National Critic's Circle.
In 2001 the Western Writers of America in convention in Idaho Falls, ID., presented Dale L. Walker with a Spur award in the category of Best Western Nonfiction for his history, Pacific Destiny (Forge Books, 2000). And he also received the Stirrup Award for his article, "Letters From Soapy," judged the best article in The Roundup magazine in the year 2000.
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 your conversation be always full of grace,
seasoned with salt, so that you may know
how to answer everyone.
--- Bible: Colossians 4:6
© 2004 by Stan Paregien, Sr.
