 (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above, from L-to-R are surly Richard 'Dick' Cramer, Cliff 'Ukelele Ike' Edwards (1895-1971) and Tim Holt in PIRATES OF THE PRAIRIE (RKO, 1942). In Holt's early 1940s westerns, his sidekicks were Emmett 'Pappy' Lynn followed by Lee 'Lasses' White. Edwards followed White. Most people don't recall Edwards being a western film sidekick, but remember him as the voice of Disney's Jiminy Cricket and for his vocal rendition of "When You Wish Upon A Star". Les Adams has Edwards identified in about 80 sound era films, and of that total, 21 are westerns. David Garrick's tribute site to Cliff Edwards is at: http://www.jazzage1920s.com/cliffedwards/biography/biography.php Jim Tipton's Find A Grave site has a photo of the marker for Edwards at Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park, North Hollywood, California: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1742 Classic Images has an article on Edwards that was authored by Eve Golden: http://www.classicimages.com/2000/october00/cliffedwards.shtml
 Raymond Hatton (1887-1971) began his Hollywood work around 1917 or so, and was still working in TV and movies into the 1960s. Above, Hatton is shown with Johnny Mack Brown during their long run of oaters for Monogram Pictures in the 1940s. He was also a member of the Rough Riders and Three Mesquiteers trio westerns. Brown is riding Rebel and Hatton is atop Lucky/Tex in the above still. When the westerns and serials faded away, Hatton moved to 1950s era television shows and he can be seen in SUPERMAN, WILD BILL HICKOK, KIT CARSON, lots more. Les Adams has Hatton identified in 225+ sound era films which includes 123 westerns and 6 chapterplays. The Silents Are Golden website has a webpage on Hatton: http://www.silentsaregolden.com/photos2/raymondhattonphoto.html The Des Moines Register newspaper site has several articles about famous Iowan Raymond Hatton, including info on the "haunted" Hatton house: http://desmoinesregister.com/extras/iowans/hatton.html http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/FAMOUSIOWANS/50111025 Jim Tipton's Find A Grave site has info on the grave location for Hatton at the Joshua Memorial Park, Lancaster, California: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8748235&pt=Raymond%20Hatton
 (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above, Harry Carey, Sr. and Raymond Hatton in a crop from a lobby card for THE THUNDERING HERD (Paramount, 1933), which starred Randolph Scott. Hatton would wear a similar outfit when he portrayed 'Rusty Joslin' in the Three Mesquiteers - click HERE for a photo.
 (Courtesy of Minard Coons) Above from L-to-R are Jimmy Wakely and his sidekick, Dub 'Cannonball' Taylor (real name: Walter Clarence Taylor) (1907-1994), in a scene from COURTIN' TROUBLE (Monogram, 1948). While best remembered for his western films, I always recall Taylor in his first screen role, playing the xylophone during the never-ending chaos in the screwball comedy, YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU (1938), which starred Jimmy Stewart, Jean Arthur and Lionel Barrymore. In later years, he was seen in a variety of A grade films, such as BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967) and THE WILD BUNCH (1969), as well as lots of TV (including THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW and LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE). Les Adams has identified Taylor in 83 sound films, of which 72 are westerns. You may want to go to the In Search Of ... page on the Old Corral and then check the California Death Records database. There you will find a record for: Walter C. Taylor, born 2/26/1907 in Virginia, Mother's maiden name of MacNaughton, and he passed away on 10/3/1994. There is a corresponding record in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI).
 (Courtesy of Minard Coons) Above from L-to-R are Tex Ritter, Dub 'Cannonball' Taylor and Bill Elliott in KING OF DODGE CITY (Columbia, 1941). Taylor would leave the Elliott series and become the saddle pal to former Hoppy sidekick Russell Hayden, who was in a new series at Columbia. And after the Hayden group, Taylor would be the range assistant to Charles Starrett. Still later, he wound up at Monogram Pictures as the helper to singing cowboy Jimmy Wakely. For those into trivia, Taylor did do a sidekick role in one Republic oater, ONE MAN'S LAW (Republic, 1940) which starred Don Barry.
2007 update: "That Guy: The Legacy of Dub Taylor" is a documentary/biography on Dub Taylor. Directed by Mark Stokes and executive produced by Stokes, James Kicklighter and Kasey Stokes, you can find more info about the project at: http://www.thatdub.com/ A few years ago, Bobby Copeland wrote an article on Dub Taylor for Classic Images, and you can find that article at: http://www.classicimages.com/1997/march/dubtaylor.html Marlene Smith has a website with info on the CASEY JONES TV show which starred Alan Hale, Jr. along with B western sidekicks Eddy Waller and Dub 'Cannonball' Taylor: http://brokenwheelranch.com/caseyjones.htm Buck Taylor has a website which showcases his paintings and prints: http://www.bucktaylor.com/
 Above is a portrait shot of Andy Devine (full name: Andrew Vabre Devine) (1905-1977) during his days playing 'Cookie Bullfincher' in Roy Rogers Trucolor films of the late 1940s. Prior to his work with Roy and Republic, Devine was under contract for over fifteen years to Universal, and he appeared in scores of features including a group of westerns and adventure flicks with Dick Foran and Leo Carillo. However, his most remembered roles include the stage driver in STAGECOACH (UA, 1939) as well as sidekick 'Jingles P. Jones' in the Guy Madison/WILD BILL HICKOK TV series of the 1950s. He was also the host of early TV's ANDY'S GANG, and had a recurring role as 'Hap' in the later FLIPPER TV show. Devine also did radio, and had a semi-recurring role on the Jack Benny show (often in the "Buck Benny" episodes), and he and Guy Madison also did the WILD BILL HICKOK series on radio. Many biographies and webpages on Devine list his real/birth name as 'Jeremiah Schwartz'. Am still investigating that. Over the past few years, there have been e-mails mentioning two possibilities:
1. the 'Jeremiah Schwartz' moniker was a name that Andy used when he purchased a nightclub/bar in California during the 1940s (in order to disguise his real identity).
Les Adams has Devine identified in about 175 sound films - that number includes 57 westerns and 2 serials.
Devine grew up in Kingman, Arizona and the Mohave Museum of History and Arts has a display with info at:
http://www.citlink.net/citlink/m/mocohist/museum/andy1.htm The Time Magazine website has a March 19, 1951 article about the 100th anniversary of the University of Santa Clara, and it includes a mention of Andy Devine: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,858008,00.html The Santa Clara University/Santa Clara Magazine website also includes a mention of football player and alumni Andy Devine: http://www.scu.edu/scm/fall2006/favorite.cfm The Fifties website and the TV Acres website have profiles of Devine and his ANDY'S GANG TV show: http://www.tvacres.com/child_andysgang.htm and http://www.fiftiesweb.com/tv/andys-gang.htm Jim Tipton's Find A Grave site reports that Devine was cremated: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=3955&pt=Andy%20Devine
 Above are Bill Elliott, Adrian Booth, Jack Holt, Hank Bell and Andy Devine in a scene from THE LAST BANDIT (1949).  (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above from L-to-R are Andy Devine, Roy Rogers on the original Trigger, and Bob Nolan in a scene cropped from a lobby card from the Trucolor UNDER CALIFORNIA STARS (Republic, 1948). Devine is riding "Banner" (easy to recognize because of the face blaze). Earlier, Don Barry rode Banner in his Republic series - click HERE. John Wayne and Allan Lane also rode Banner. Does the horse that Nolan is riding look familiar? Think Monte Hale and click HERE. |
Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) has information on Cliff Edwards: 
