LaRue wore a variety of gunbelts, and examples are shown below. | |
(Courtesy of Minard Coons) | Above and left are the gunbelts that LaRue wore in the Eddie Dean Cinecolor oaters at PRC, circa 1945-1946. |
Lash got his own series at PRC, where his role was as 'Cheyenne Davis'. The gunbelt changed, probably to a custom rig made specifically for Lash. | |
After their series at PRC, Lash and 'Fuzzy' did a batch for Ron Ormond's Western Adventure Production company ... and the gunbelt changed again. Lash is also wearing his pants belt with the Lash monogram. | |
Lash also had several pants belts that he wore over the years. Most often, he wore a belt with the "Lash" monogram. And occasionally, he did wear belts with rather large and ornate buckles. Thanks to Wayne Knowles for reminding me that Lash had a later belt which carried a monogram of A L R (bottom right) ... which I'm guessing stood for Al La Rue. |
Did Lash pattern his dark outfit on one of the range costumes worn by George O'Brien? | ||
(Courtesy of Minard Coons) | (Courtesy of Minard Coons) Perhaps he did, though George O'Brien did wear a mix of light and dark colored shirts and hats, and he generally packed a single six-shooter. Above is a youngish George O'Brien in one of his many costumes - this is probably during his early westerns at Fox. Left is LaRue as the 'Cheyenne Kid' in SONG OF OLD WYOMING (PRC, 1945). In an interview with author David Rothel, Lash mentioned that he wore a "George O'Brien shirt" from the Western Costume Company for SONG OF OLD WYOMING. |
(Courtesy of Walter & Elaine Flanagan) Got an e-mail from Elaine and Walter Flanagan about Lash, and we appreciate them also providing the above photo. Walter Flanagan writes: "As a kid, I went to the movies every Saturday morning and saw the usual two westerns. |
(Courtesy of Minard Coons) Above, a business card showing one of Lash's many jobs and ventures during his later years. | (Courtesy of Minard Coons) |
| After his film career ended, Lash had some run-ins with the law, alcohol problems, financial difficulties and other issues. By the 1980s, he seemed to have straightened out his life and became a frequent and very popular and cooperative guest at the western film conventions. |
(Courtesy of Minard Coons) Above from left to right are Al "Lash" LaRue, Max Terhune and Russell Hayden in a 1972 photo. (Courtesy of Minard Coons) Lash at an early 1970s film convention. (Courtesy of Bill Sasser) LaRue was married a bunch of times, with some counts as high as ten or twelve marriages. In the above picture, Lash was re-united with ex-wife Reno Browne (Reno Blair) at the 1987 Charlotte Film Fest. Browne was a great rider and made a batch of films at Monogram in the 1940s with Johnny Mack Brown, Whip Wilson, others. She is ill from the cancer that would ultimately claim her life in 1991. |
(Courtesy of Donn & Nancy Moyer) Above, Al "Lash" LaRue, circa early 1980s. | (Courtesy of Donn & Nancy Moyer) Lash with a beard, early 1980s photo. |
Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on Lash LaRue and Al St. John:
Lash La Rue: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0479017/
Al "Fuzzy" St. John: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0820607/
Lash was one of the first recipients of a Golden Boot award, and he received that recognition at the 1983 award ceremony. If you want more info, go to the Golden Boot Awards page on the Old Corral.
The Los Angeles Times newspaper has an obituary on Lash: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-05-31-mn-10514-story.html
The New York Times newspaper has an obituary on Lash: http://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/31/arts/lash-larue-79-western-star-with-a-whip.html
YouTube has a nine minute video of Lash guesting on a 1984 David Letterman show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wjEP9IWqwc
Sunset Carson chatting with Lash LaRue on the set of ALIEN OUTLAW (1985):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czzT27V30E0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPk4gx0MCbE
Boyd Magers' Western Clippings website has a section on Lash's westerns: http://www.westernclippings.com/westernsof/lashlarue_westernsof.shtml
The Indian Reader has an article on Lash: http://www.indianreader.com/lashlarue.html
LaRue was purportedly married ten or twelve times, and one of his wives was western heroine and great rider Reno Browne (Reno Blair), who worked at Monogram Pictures in the 1940s with Whip Wilson, Jimmy Wakely and Johnny Mack Brown. Click on the Heroines section off the Old Corral homepage to read about Reno Browne/Reno Blair.
Martin Hart's American Widescreen Museum website has info on Cinecolor: http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/oldcolor/cinecolor2.htm