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Saddle Pals & Sidekicks



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

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

Find A Grave site has a photo of the marker for Edwards at Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park, North Hollywood, California: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/1742/cliff-edwards

 Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on Cliff Edwards: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0249893/




(From Old Corral collection)

Raymond Hatton (1887-1971) began his Hollywood work around 1917 or so, and was still working in TV and movies into the 1960s.

Iowa Birth Index has Raymond William Hatton born July 7, 1887 in Red Oak, Montgomery County, Iowa to J. B. Hatton and Anna M. Matthews. He passed away October 21, 1971 in Los Angeles, California.

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 him 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

Find A Grave reports that Hatton is interred at Joshua Memorial Park, Lancaster, California: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8748235/raymond-hatton

 Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on Raymond Hatton: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0369058/



(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.


(From Old Corral collection)

Above from L-to-R are Carey taking care of a young, moustached Randolph Scott.  On the right wearing the buckskins is a relatively young Raymond Hatton. In the rear center is Francis Ford (the brother of famous director John Ford). This is a 1950 re-issue lobby card for the film THE THUNDERING HERD (Paramount, 1933) which was re-titled as BUFFALO STAMPEDE.


(From Old Corral collection)

Above is the title lobby card for STRANGER FROM SANTA FE (Monogram, 1945). In this, Brown was 'Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie' and Hatton was 'Marshal Sandy Hopkins', which was the same role he played in Monogram's earlier Rough Riders westerns with Buck Jones and Tim McCoy.




(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 Index.  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), the first of the Elliott-Ritter series at Columbia. After this film, Taylor became the saddle pal to former Hoppy sidekick Russell Hayden who was in a new series at Columbia. And after the Hayden group, Taylor was 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.



(Courtesy of Bobby J. Copeland)

Above - Bobby Copeland with Buck Taylor (left) of TV's GUNSMOKE and his father, Dub 'Cannonball' Taylor (right).

Buck Taylor has a website which showcases his paintings and prints: https://bucktaylor.com/

 Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on Dub Taylor: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0852305/




(From Old Corral collection)

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 Carrillo.

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).

2. in his younger days, Devine played semi-pro football. He used the name 'Jeremiah Schwartz' as a pseudonym while playing semi-pro in order to maintain his college football eligibility. (Actor Jim Beaver wrote the Devine bio for the IMDb and mentions this football eligibility reason for the 'Jeremiah Schwartz' name.)

Les Adams has Devine identified in about 175 sound films - that number includes 57 westerns and 2 serials.

One of those westerns was CANYON PASSAGE (Universal, 1946) and in that film, Andy's sons Tad and Denny Devine also had roles.

You may want to check the In Search Of ... page on the Old Corral, and then go to the California Death Index. There you will find a record for: Andrew V. Devine, born 10/07/1905 in Arizona, passed away on 2/18/1977. There is a corresponding record in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI), but his name is listed as Andy Devine.

Devine passed away from leukemia.

Devine grew up in Kingman, Arizona and the Mohave Museum of History and Arts has many photos of Andy at: https://ehive.com/objects?accountId=4938&query=andy+devine

Aviation veteran Dick Probert and Andy established the Probert-Devine Aviation Corporation in 1946 at Whiteman Airpark near Pacoima, California. An April, 1949 newspaper article on the Google news archive mentions that Devine had sold his interest in the flying service to his partner: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fhMvAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gdwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6223,7185066&dq=flying+andy-devine&hl=en

The Google newspaper archive has an article on how Andy got his raspy voice: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-gc0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=LPUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7335,643186&dq=voice+andy-devine&hl=en

The Fifties website has a profile on Devine and his ANDY'S GANG TV show: https://fiftiesweb.com/tv/andys-gang/

Find A Grave reports that Devine was cremated and his ashes were given to family or friend: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3955/andy-devine

 Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on Andy Devine: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0222596/



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

(Courtesy of Les Adams)



(From Old Corral collection)

Above are Bill Elliott, Adrian Booth, Jack Holt, Hank Bell and Andy Devine in a scene from THE LAST BANDIT (Republic, 1949). Note that both Elliott and Devine are wearing butt forward gunbelts.



(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.



(From Old Corral collection)

Above are Roy Rogers and Andy Devine in a lobby card from BELLS OF SAN ANGELO (Republic, 1947). Devine is playing his "Cookie Bullfincher" sidekick role. Note that Andy is using the long barrel Colt revolver and the butt forward belt and holster rig. He used a similar butt forward gunbelt in THE ADVENTURES OF WILD BILL HICKOK TV show.


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