Sammy Baugh

Sammy Baugh

Full name: Samuel Adrian Baugh

1914 - 2008

(From Old Corral collection)

Above - publicity still of Baugh as "Ranger Tom King Jr." in the KING OF THE TEXAS RANGERS serial.

Football legend Slingin' Sammy Baugh played for Texas Christian University (TCU) and was with the Washington Redskins from 1937 - 1952. Baugh passed away on December 17, 2008 in Rotan, Texas at the age of 94. He had been suffering from alzheimer's and dementia, and more recently, from pneumonia, low blood pressure and kidney problems.

Les Adams chatted with Texan Sammy Baugh for a 1974 issue of the late Bob Malcomson's Those Enduring Matinee Idols, a wonderful publication about the sound era cliffhanger. For those of you who have TEMI, the interview is in Chapter 26, Volume 3, Number 6. You'll find the complete interview on the subsequent webpages.

Les adds:

"This is an interview I did with Baugh in the 70's. I've seen him many times since - I first met him when he was coaching Hardin-Simmons in Abilene. Most of his KING OF THE TEXAS RANGERS thoughts are here.

While Tom Steele did double him in a lot of shots, the guy who slid down the wire from the top of the oil derrick was Dave Sharpe. William Witney and Tom Steele (on separate occasions) told me that Baugh was as fine a rider and horseman as they had seen.

He has seen the serial complete since the interview as I took him a tape a few years later, but as mentioned in the interview he had only seen pieces of it over the years. One time was when he had the Hardin-Simmons University team in Oklahoma playing Tulsa. A couple of his players came knocking on his door at the hotel with the news that he was in a movie on television they were watching in their room. He said they were so impressed he didn't bother telling them that wasn't him doing most of that jumping and fighting.

Several tidbits: He was certainly taken with Pauline Moore ... more so than what I used, but in a nice way. Sportswriter Grantland Rice, mentioned in the interview, was the father of Columbia/MGM actress Florence Rice. The Bill Saal footnoted on the last page is the "S" in Ken Maynard's KBS WorldWide films."

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above is the title lobby card from Chapter 6 of KING OF THE TEXAS RANGERS. Directed by John "Jack" English and William Witney, this serial was released in October, 1941, several months prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Note the gal next to Sammy Baugh - certainly doesn't resemble leading lady Pauline Moore. Wonder who she is.

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above is a duotone lobby card - and a crop/blowup - from Chapter 5 of KING OF THE TEXAS RANGERS. From L-to-R are Kermit Maynard, Baugh, Duncan Renaldo, Howard Hughes and Joseph Forte (in the suit).

Above - Pauline Moore and Baugh.

(From Old Corral collection)

Above - 'Slinging' Sammy Baugh comes to the aid of Duncan Renaldo in KING OF THE TEXAS RANGERS (Republic, 1941).

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above is a crop from a lobby card from the serial, showing from L-to-R: unidentified player, Howard Hughes, Baugh, and William Kellogg. Kermit Maynard is seated. Early on in KING OF THE TEXAS RANGERS, Baugh wore a twin holster set ... and then all of a sudden, the leftside gun and holster was gone. In the B&W publicity still at the top of this page, Baugh is shown with the single holster.

The blowup below shows the two-gun rig. And Baugh's pistol(s) were Smith & Wesson or Colt double-actions, not the traditional single-action Colt.

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on the KING OF THE TEXAS RANGERS (Republic, 1941) chapterplay: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033786/

Baugh is a charter member of the NFL Hall of Fame, having been elected during the initial round in 1963: https://www.profootballhof.com/players/sammy-baugh/

Baugh is also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame: https://footballfoundation.org/hof_search.aspx?hof=1537

The Texas Sports Hall of Fame has info on Baugh: https://www.tshof.org/apps/search?q=baugh

The Handbook of Texas Online at the Texas State Historical Association has a bio on Sammy Baugh: https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/baugh-samuel-adrian-slingin-sammy

ESPN has a bio on Baugh: https://www.espn.com/classic/biography/s/Baugh_Sammy.html