PRORODEO Sports News - July 26, 2024

TIME CAPSULE SLIM PICKENS Rodeo to the Movies

Pickens made it big in Hollywood BY PRCA STAFF H e was born Louis Bert Lindley Jr. in 1919 in Kingsburg, Calif., and began entering rodeos at age 14, much to the displeasure of his father. So, the young cowboy would sign up with a different name at each rodeo. One day, he asked “the feller in charge of the rodeo” to give him a good name and the man said, “Kid, why don’t you sign up as Slim Pickens, ‘cause that’s what it’s gonna be!” The nickname stuck. His joined the Cowboys’ Turtle

PRCA ProRodeo file photo A young Slim Pickens, above, began entering rodeos at the age of 14. His career soon took a different path as he became a regular on the big screen for hundreds of movies and TV shows.

Association as a roughstock contestant, but life changed dramatically one day when the clown was a no-show and Pickens volunteered to fill his spot – and a star was born. He doubled as a bullfighter, where he’s credited with bringing a measure of style and sophistication to the arena. He dressed in the colorful silks of an authentic Spanish/Mexican torero and worked the bulls with a cape, Latin-style. In 1950, he was spotted by a movie producer while working a rodeo and soon appeared in Rocky Mountain , starring Errol Flynn. He didn’t quit rodeo immediately, but Hollywood paychecks and avoiding injury from 2,000-pound bulls was a combination too appealing to ignore. Pickens appeared in hundreds of movies and TV shows. His big break came in the 1964 movie Dr. Strangelove – as Maj. T.J. “King” Kong, a B-52 commander, he famously rode a hydrogen bomb headed for in the final scene while waving his cowboy hat. Pickens, who was soon in even greater demand for movie and TV spots, said, “The dressing rooms and the checks all started gettin’ bigger.” In 1974, he played Taggart, perhaps his best-known role, in the satirical Blazing Saddles . Pickens and his wife, Margaret, had three children. They owned a ranch near the old gold mining town of Columbia, Calif., and he also had a ranch near Pinedale, Wyo., where he loved to hunt. Pickens died in 1983 and was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2005.

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ProRodeo Sports News 7/26/2024

ProRodeo.com

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