Walt LaRue, 91, cowboy, artist, singer, songwriter, stunt man
Hoodoo
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From - http://www.cowboypoetry.com/sincenews8.htm
Walt LaRue, 1918-2010
http://www.cowboypoetry.com/images/waltlaruemay90.jpg
Pat Richardson sent the sad news of the death of Walt LaRue on June 12,
2010. Pat writes, "Walt was damn sure a cowboy, artist, singer,
songwriter, and stunt man, but most of all he was a great guy; there'll
never be another one like him."
Walt LaRue was a popular cartoonist and many of his cartoons appeared in
the Rodeo Cowboys' Association publication, The Buckboard. Some of his
work is collected in the 1989 book, Rodeo Cartoons from the Buckboard.
That book includes biographical information that tells "Walt LaRue was a
rodeo cowboy during the 1940s and 1950s, belonged to the Cowboys Turtle
Association and the Rodeo Cowboys Association, and is a gold card member
of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association."
His cartoons appeared in advertisements (including for Levi Strauss),
newspapers, and magazines. See one of his 1948 cartoons here
<http://snipurl.com/xxzwi> [books_google_com].
Rodeo Cartoons from the Buckboard also tells that Walt LaRue was born in
Canada to American parents, came to the U.S. as a boy, and lived most of
his life in California. He worked as a guide and packer in the Rocky
Mountains and High Sierras.
His illustrations appear in many books, including Buck Ramsey's Grass,
Cowboy Poetry: The Reunion, and Good Medicine. In Buck Ramsey's Grass,
Bette Ramsey writes in the Acknowledgements, "Illustrations by Walt
LaRue—artist, musician, songwriter, movie stunt man, bull rider, and one
of my favorite people—captured the essence of Buck's poem in the first
edition. For this book, Walt provided several unpublished drawings
depicting the journeys and trial of Billy Deaver." In the first edition,
Buck Ramsey wrote, "Not enough can be said about the drawings of Walt
LaRue, my good friend maintaining a bastion of the cowboy faith out
there in Hollywood."
His fine art was also celebrated. See some examples here
<http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/search/Search_Repeat.aspx?searchtype=IMAGES&artist=5959>.
Walt LaRue performed as a stunt man in countless films (see a list here
<http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0479023/>). He received the Golden Boot
Award in 2007 (see a photo here).
Walt LaRue was a musician and songwriter as well. His song, "Pretty
Pauline," has been recorded by Dave Stamey, Skip Gorman, and others.
His story, "Square Head," is included on the CD Elko! A Cowboy's
Gathering from the Western Folklife Center, recorded live at the 20th
Annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in 2004.
Walt LaRue was born August 8, 1918.
Poet, writer, editor and publisher of Cowboy magazine Darrell Arnold
shares his words:
Walt LaRue was one of those men who God seems to have blessed
more than other men. It's as if Walt's spirit had lived more than one
life, and each time it lived, it learned more and added to the
knowledge, talent, and ability of the life that followed.
He was born in Canada, of American parents. He had relatives
who had horses, and Walt learned to ride. He spent part of his early
life as a guide and packer in Glacier National Park and also in Yosemite
and the High Sierras of California. That horseback work led to rodeoing,
and Walt spent part of the next 12 years of his life traveling to
rodeos, riding bareback horses and
bulls.
In 1942, he joined the Cowboy's Turtle Association (card number
1848), the forerunner of the Rodeo Cowboys Association (R.C.A.), which,
in turn, became the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (P.R.C.A.).
Throughout his life, Walt was proud of his status as a Gold Card Member
of the P.R.C.A.
Rodeoing eventually led Walt to a career as a Hollywood
stuntman. He had the good fortune to be part of that business during the
1940s and 1950s, Hollywood's golden age of Westerns. He appeared in
hundreds of movies and television shows, doing stunts that mostly
involved horse work.
Besides the work itself, which was fun and exciting for an
athletic young man, Walt enjoyed the behind-the-scenes life of the movie
business. He was a natural storyteller, and his tales of all that went
on behind the cameras enthralled any and all lucky enough to be within
hearing distance.
Entertaining came naturally to Walt. He could also play the
guitar and sing, and he'd happily perform for anyone who wanted to
listen to his cowboy songs and his humorous old-time-radio-show act.
Throughout his life, Walt was a superb artist, his lifetime of
cartoons, sketches, drawings, and paintings numbering in the thousands.
His greatest influences were the works of Charlie Russell and Will
James, and evidence of both can be seen in Walt's work.
Walt did drawings and paintings commercially for Levi Strauss,
Weber Bread, Blevins Buckles, Paul Bond Boots, and other businesses,
and, from 1945 to 1952, Walt drew cartoon covers for The Buckboard, the
official magazine of the R.C.A.
It was always a treat for anyone to sit down with Walt in a
restaurant. He would tell humorous stories of his rodeo days or his
years in the movies, and, while he did so, he'd pull out a pen and reach
for the nearest napkin or paper place mat and sketch a quick drawing of
a horse, or a bronc ride, or a cowboy. Who knows how many people have
eagerly scooped up one of Walt's restaurant originals and treasure them
to this day?
You could always tell where Walt was in a restaurant. He'd be
in the most crowded booth, surrounded by laughing people. One time, when
Walt was a guest entertainer at the Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko,
Nevada, he was holding sway at a breakfast table in the restaurant at
the Stockman's Hotel. While his enthralled listeners delighted in his
tales of the movie business, Walt grabbed a small biscuit plate and made
an excellent drawing of a cowboy on a bronc. He handed it to one of the
people at the table.
The next thing you know, Walt's audience spilled over into the
adjoining booths, and biscuit plates appeared in front of Walt from all
over the restaurant. One wonders if the staff of the Stockman's
Restaurant ever figured out where those plates disappeared to?
Walt didn't mind being loved and adored by his many friends and
fans, and, in 2007, he was recognized by the movie industry, as well,
when he was presented a Golden Boot Award.
Walt's life was a long and happy one. He was one of those
fortunate individuals who lived the kind of life he wanted to live. Walt
was quoted once as saying "I've enjoyed doing what I've done, a lot of
different things. I've been able to paint, and entertain a little, and
rodeo, and work in the movies. I could have made a living at any one of
them. I've been kinda lucky, I do what I want to do."
It says a lot about a man if a smile comes to someone's face at
the mere mention of his name. Walt LaRue was such a man. People loved to
be near him, and they seldom left his company with anything other than
warm feelings. He had many friends and many fans who wished they could
be his friends.
Walt LaRue passed from this earth on Saturday, June 12th at the
age of 91.
His life was a life well lived.
Information received from the Stuntmen's Association:
One of SAMP's lifetime members, Walt LaRue. passed away over
the weekend. His service will be held Saturday, June 26th at 12:00PM at
Forest Lawn in Hollywood.
Forest Lawn — Hollywood Hills
6300 Forest Lawn Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90068
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