Rusty Richards (Sons of the Pioneers), Loren Janes, Dean Smith and I believe his wife, who was always so quiet I never got to know her. RUSTY RICHARDS Rusty had long been an admirer of the Sons of the Pioneers and had met Tim Spencer earlier on in his career. While attending a movie, The Searchers, he was thrilled to see an old friend appearing on the screen but less than thrilled when his date failed to recognize the name of Ken Curtis, or, for that matter, the Sons of the Pioneers. Despite that setback Rusty later married Amy Fitzpatrick who in very short order became a confirmed Pioneer fan. In 1963, Pat Brady mentioned to a friend of Rustys that the Pioneers were looking for a tenor singer--an opening created by the departure of Tommy Doss. Not too surprisingly the friend recommended Rusty. He is also known as a tremendous song writer. LOREN JANES One of the key figures in the development of modern cinematic stunt design, improved safety procedures and co-founder of the Stuntmens Association of Motion Pictures & Televsion, Loren Janes ranks alongside Dar Robinson, Hal Needham and Yakima Canutt for his contributions to movie stunt work. James has lent his athletic skills to many amazing stunt sequences in over 130 feature films, and has doubled for some of Hollywoods biggest stars including Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Jack Nicholson and even Debbie Reynolds in a career spanning nearly half a century. He has contributed his talents to such spectacular films as The Ten Commandments (1956), Spartacus (1960), The Magnificent Seven (1960), Planet of the Apes (1968), The Towering Inferno (1974) and Beverly Hills Cop (1984) DEAN SMITH Finis Dean Smith (born January 15, 1932) is a former American track and field athlete and stuntman, winner of gold medal in 4x100 m relay at the 1952 Summer Olympics. Born in Breckenridge, Texas, Smith won the Amateur Athletic Union championships in 100 m in 1952. At the Helsinki Olympics, he was fourth in the 100 m and ran the leadoff leg for American gold medal winning 4x100 m relay team. Dean was there with our good friend and neighbor, Bob Mathias. After graduating from University of Texas at Austin, Smith played professional football for the Los Angeles Rams and the Pittsburgh Steelers but never played in a regular season game. After his sports career, Smith performed as a professional rodeo cowboy and stuntman in various Western movies as The Alamo, The Comancheros, How The West Was Won, McLintock!, Rio Conchos, Big Jake, and El Dorado. He also appeared in such Western TV shows as Tales of Wells Fargo, Maverick, Gunsmoke, Lawman, Have Gun Will Travel, The Iron Horse and Walker, Texas Ranger. In 2006 he was inducted into the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame Dean Smith is a member of the Stuntmans Hall of Fame. In 1997 he was named All American Cowboy and in 1998 he received a Golden Boot Award. In 2007 he received the Silver Spur award for his contribution as a stuntman (one of the best) in the film busines • 1952 - Won gold medal at the 1952 Olympic Games • 1980 - Inducted Stuntmans Hall of Fame • 1980 - Inducted University of Texas Hall of Honor • 1985 - Inducted Texas Sports Hall of Fame • 1993 - Awarded Annual Ben Johnson Award at Tuolumne County Wild West Film Festival in Sonora, California • 1997 - Awarded The All American Cowboy Award at Bandera, Texas • 1998 - Awarded Golden Boot • 2000 - Awarded American Culture Award for Western Movies and Television • 2002 - Awarded Head of the Class Alvin Davis Award • 2002 - Named to named to the Tombstone Walk of Fame for Stuntman • 2006 - Awarded The Special Service Award at the JWCI Auxiliary 21st Annual Odyssey Ball Rusty, Loren, Dean. Dean jumping at motorcycle, Rusty with Burt Reynolds and John Mitchum
Posted on: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 16:26:20 +0000
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