Tom Selleck, Charlton Heston, Pawnee Bill to be honored at April Western Heritage Awards
Tom Selleck (Associated Press file photo)
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Hollywood stars Tom Selleck and the late Charlton Heston will enter the Hall of Great Western Performers in spring at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
Selleck and Heston will be inducted into hall April 17 during the museum’s annual Western Heritage Awards. The black-tie affair honors principal creators in 16 categories of Western music, literature, television and film.
Also at the event, Oklahoma rancher and photographer Bob Moorhouse and legendary Wild West entertainer Pawnee Bill will be inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners. And guitarist, composer, recording artist and historian Don Edwards will receive the Chester A. Reynolds Memorial Award.
For induction into the Hall of Great Western Performers, actors must have made significant contributions to the perpetuation of the Western film, radio or theater.
Born in Detroit, Mich., Tom Selleck was raised in Los Angeles and with his sister and two brothers. He attended the University of Southern California on a basketball scholarship., and originally intended to study architecture. During college, he supported himself through modeling work in print and billboards. He made his television debut on “The Dating Game” his senior year, and later signed a seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox. Selleck’s first walk-on television role as a cowboy on the show “Lancer,” marked his first of many cowboy roles.
Although known best for his iconic role in the television series “Magnum, P.I.,” Selleck’s easy-going persona proves ideal for the Western genre of movies and television. His first major cowboy role was in the 1979 Western “The Sacketts,” where he worked alongside Western legends Glen Ford and Ben Johnson. He followed “The Sacketts” with another Louis L’Amour classic, “The Shadow Riders” in 1982. The 1990 motion picture “Quigley Down Under” is hailed by some critics as the actor’s best feature work. More recently, Selleck Westerns include “Last Stand at Saber River” in 1997, “Crossfire Trail” in 2001, and “Monte Walsh” in 2003. All three movies won a bronze Wrangler for outstanding television feature film in the Western Heritage Awards.
Charlton Heston (The Oklahoman Archives)
Born John Charles Carter in Evanston, Illinois, in 1923, Charlton Heston studied acting at Northwest University, where he met his wife, Lydia. After serving three years in the Army Air Corps during World War II, Heston and his wife moved to the New York theatre district. Heston’s deep voice, chiseled features and demanding presence soon landed him larger-than-life roles in many Western films. The 1968 Western “Will Penny” was a film Heston often referred to as his favorite piece of work on screen.
One of Heston’s first Westerns was “Pony Express” in 1953, in which he played the legendary Buffalo Bill Cody. He portrayed another frontier icon a few years later in “The Far Horizons” as William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Other famous Heston Westerns include the 1958 film “The Big Country” opposite Gregory Peck, “The Mountain Men” in 1980 and “Tombstone” in 1993.
Heston also was a tireless activist and supporter of the arts. He was the first chairman and president of the American Film Institute and was elected six times as president of the Screen Actors Guild. In the early 1960s he campaigned for racial equality throughout the Southwest and participated in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 civil rights march in Washington, D.C. He lent his talent and energy to a number of federal agencies and institutions, such as the Department of Energy and Agriculture, the Red Cross and NATO. He was named co-chairman of President Reagan’s Task Force on the Arts and Humanities and served as president of the National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2003.
His contribution as an actor and humanitarian resulted in an abundance of prestigious awards. Heston was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 1997 for his lifetime achievement in the performing arts. In 2003, President George W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, for his accomplishments in movies and politics. A few of his many acting awards include two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe awards and a bronze Wrangler for Best Theatrical Motion Picture for his role in “Will Penny.”
Induction into the Hall of Great Westerners honors individuals who promote America’s rich Western heritage through leadership and patronage of art, business, industry, environmental, education, humanitarian, government or philanthropic organizations.
Pawnee Bill (The Oklahoman Archives)
Born Gordon William Lillie in Bloomington, Ill., in 1860, Pawnee Bill was a Wild West performer, buffalo hunter and Indian interpreter. Considered one of the last legends of the Old West, Pawnee Bill was a friend to the Pawnee Indians, and eventually went on to entertain and educate international crowds with his famous Wild West Shows.
Pawnee Bill moved into Indian Territory in 1875, and quickly immersed himself in the life and language of the Pawnee Indians. He accompanied the Pawnee on their annual buffalo hunts and learned to live among the tribe. He soon became a teacher to the Pawnee Indians and served as an interpreter and secretary to an Indian agent. He later became an Indian interpreter and performer for “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show,” which provided inspiration for the Western enthusiast.
In 1888, Pawnee Bill organized his own Wild West Show where his wife, May, became an impressive act for her marksmanship and riding. Two decades later, he merged his show with that of his childhood role model, known as Buffalo Bill. The popular attraction became known as “The Two Bills’ Show.” The combined traveling attraction later became “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Pawnee Bill’s Great Far East Show.” The new spectacle featured Mexican cowboys, Pawnee and Sioux scouts, Arab jugglers and Chinese and Japanese performers. In 1930, he built the tourist attraction Pawnee Bill’s Old Town and Trading Post in Pawnee. The tourist attraction helped preserve the Old West with rustic cabins, buffalo steak restaurants, Indian dancing, tepees and grazing buffalo.
Bob Moorhouse
Bob Moorhouse is an established rancher, horse breeder and photographer from Guthrie, Texas. He was vice-president and general manager of the Pitchfork Land and Cattle Co. of Guthrie, Texas; Benjamin, Texas; and Eskridge, Kansas. Pitchfork predominantly raises commercial Hereford and Crossbred cattle, as well as American Quarter Horses. He has been with Pitchfork for 25 years and currently serves on its board of directors. and is an ambassador of the ranch.
Almost 20 years ago Moorhouse became a successful photographer. A collection of his works became the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum’s first traveling exhibition. Titled “Hoofbeats on the Pitchfork Ranch,” the collection has traveled extensively throughout the United States and Europe. He has been published in numerous publications, such as The Cattleman, Western Horseman, Quarterhorse Magazine, American Cowboy and Range. His photography also is displayed at major oil companies, businesses and private offices.
In 1990, the museum established the Chester A. Reynolds Award in honor of its founder. The award recognizes outstanding contributions by an individual, group or institution perpetuating the ideals, history and heritage of the American West.
Don Edwards (AP file photo)
Born in New Jersey in 1938, as the son of a Vaudeville magician, Don Edwards was exposed at an early age to a vast array of music. He taught himself how to play the guitar at the age of 10 and moved to Texas when he was 16. Edwards was drawn to the cowboy way of life by the books of Will James and “B” Western movies that featured cowboys like Tom Mix and Ken Maynard. As a teenager, he worked ranches in Texas and New Mexico and chased rodeos before He landed his first entertainment job as an actor, singer and stuntman at Six Flags Over Texas in 1961. He made his first record in 1964 and has since recorded more than 15 albums, participated in numerous collaborations with other artists and has authored three song books. Edwards has contributed much to the preservation and celebration of traditional cowboy music and played Smokey in the 1997 film “The Horse Whisperer.”
He has two albums, “Guitars & Saddle Songs” and “Songs of the Cowboy,” included in the Folklore Archives of the Library of Congress. As a result of 40 years of research, Edwards completed “Saddle Songs,” a compilation of classic cowboy ballads presented through two separate recordings and a book of the songs’ histories, lyrics and music. To add to his resume of talent, Edwards portrayed the role of “Smokey” in Robert Redford’s 1997 film “The Horse Whisperer.” He also was featured on the movie’s soundtrack.
The 2010 Western Heritage Awards are sponsored by the ConocoPhillips Company, Wrangler, W.S. Bowlware Construction, Inc. and The Oklahoman, with support from Museum Partners Devon Energy Corporation, Chesapeake Energy Corporation and the E.L. and Thelma Gaylord Foundation.
The Western Heritage Awards is a star-studded event that attracts red carpet-walkers from across the nation and around the world. For reservations and information about the 2010 Western Heritage Awards, call 478-2250, ext. 219, or go to www.nationalcowboymuseum.org.
-BAM
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