Lash La Rue

Lash La Rue (June 14, 1917–May 21, 1996) was an actor noted for his roles in low-budget Westerns. This image is a book cover. ... This image is a book cover. ... is the 165th day of the year (166th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... For other uses, see Actor (disambiguation). ... Justus D. Barnes, from The Great Train Robbery The Western is one of the classic American literary and film genres. ...

Early life and education

Born Alfred LaRue in Gretna, Louisiana, USA of Cajun ancestry, he was raised in various towns throughout Louisiana but in his teens the family moved to Los Angeles, California where he attended St. John's Military Academy. The city of Gretna is the parish seat of Jefferson Parish, in the US state of Louisiana. ... Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles and peoples of other ethnicities with whom the Acadians eventually intermarried on the semitropical frontier. ... Nickname: Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates: , State County Settled 1781 Incorporated April 4, 1850 Government  - Type Mayor-Council  - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa  - City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo  - Governing body City Council Area  - City  498. ...

Films

He began acting in films in 1944 as Al LaRue, appearing in two musicals and a serial before being given a role in a Western film that would result in him being cast in a cowboy persona for virtually the rest of his career. He was given the name Lash because of the 18-foot-long bullwhip he used to help bring down the bad guys. The popularity of his first role as the Cheyenne Kid, a sidekick of singing cowboy hero Eddie Dean, not just brandishing a whip but using it expertly to disarm villains, paved the way for La Rue to be featured in his own series of Western films. After appearing in all three of the Eddie Dean Cinecolor singing Westerns in 1945 - 6, he starred in quirky B-Westerns from 1947 to 1951, at first for Poverty Row studio PRC, later for producer Ron Ormond. La Rue developed his image as a cowboy hero dressed all in black and inherited from Buster Crabbe a comic sidekick in the form of "Fuzzy Q. Jones" played by the great Al St. John. Justus D. Barnes, from The Great Train Robbery The Western is one of the classic American literary and film genres. ... For other uses, see Sidekick (disambiguation). ... Eddie Dean is a fictional main character of Stephen Kings The Dark Tower series of novels. ... Poverty Row is a slang term used in Hollywood from the late silent period through the mid-fifties to refer to a variety of mostly short-lived small studios, many clustered in the area of Los Angeles, USA known as Gower Gulch, near the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower... Buster Crabbe Buster Crabbe (February 7, 1908 – April 23, 1983) was an American athlete turned actor, who starred in a number of popular serials in the 1930s and 1940s. ... Alfred St. ...

La Rue was very different from the usual cowboy hero of the era--- dressed in black, he spoke with a "city tough-guy" accent, somewhat like that of Humphrey Bogart, whom he also somewhat resembled. His use of a bullwhip was what really set him apart from bigger stars such as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. His influence was felt throughout the dying medium of B-Westerns; for example, he had an imitator, Whip Wilson, who starred in his own brief series, and even Roy Rogers started picking up and using a bullwhip in a couple of his Republic Studios Westerns made in the same period. Humphrey DeForest Bogart (December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957) was an American actor. ... Orvon Gene Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998) was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television. ... Dale Evans and Roy Rogers at the 61st Academy Awards Leonard Franklin Slye (November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998), who became famous as Roy Rogers, was a singer and cowboy actor. ... Dale Evans and Roy Rogers at the 61st Academy Awards Leonard Franklin Slye (November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998), who became famous as Roy Rogers, was a singer and cowboy actor. ... Republic Pictures Corporation (aka Republic Entertainment) is an independent film, television, and video distribution company that was originally a movie production-distribution corporation with studio facilities, best known for its specialization in quality B pictures, westerns and movie serials. ...

LaRue also made frequent personal appearances at small-town movie theaters showing his films, during his film heyday of 1948 - 1951, with the result that he was the only cowboy star most children of the time ever got to see and meet in person. His skillful displays of stunts with his whip live on movie theater stages also convinced young Western fans that there was at least one cowboy hero who could do in real life the same things he did on screen.

Lash LaRue Western comic books were published first by Fawcett Comics and later by Charlton Comics, between 1949 and 1961. They were among the most popular Western-themed comics of the era, running for more than 100 (usually monthly) issues. A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... Whiz Comics #2, the first appearance of Captain Marvel, the companys most popular character. ... Big C logo, used from Sept. ...

In the later 1950s he appeared in featured roles in a number of episodes of the television series 26 Men and Judge Roy Bean as well as appearing in a continuing role as Sheriff Johnny Behan on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, but after many decades of popularity, interest in Westerns faded quickly and LaRue made a living from appearances at Western film buff conventions and sometimes as an evangelist on the rodeo and country-music circuit. A role as the villain in a pornographic Western, Hard on the Trail, led him to repentance as a missionary for ten years, as he had not been informed of the adult nature of the film and would not have consented had he known (he did not appear in any pornographic scenes). The film was released without the pornographic scenes titled Hard Trail to eliminate the double entendre.^[1] Late in his career he appeared in two low-budget horror films shot in the South, Alien Outlaw and The Dark Power. In the last of these films, he plays a park ranger who makes extensive use of the bullwhip to battle wild dogs and attacking zombies. Judge Roy Bean (c. ... This article is about the lawman; Wyatt Earp is also the name of a card game. ... Pornography (from Greek πορνογραφια pornographia — literally writing about or drawings of harlots) is the representation of the human body or human sexual behaviour with the goal of sexual arousal, similar to, but (according to some) distinct from, erotica. ... Two Mormon missionaries A missionary is traditionally defined as a propagator of religion who works to convert those outside that community; someone who proselytizes. ... A double entendre is a figure of speech similar to the pun, in which a spoken phrase can be understood in either of two ways. ...

La Rue was also noted for instructing Harrison Ford in how to use the bullwhip for the Indiana Jones movies. For the silent film actor, see Harrison Ford (silent film actor). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Dr. Henry Indiana Jones, Jr. ...

LaRue often returned to his native Louisiana, where he was a regular at the jam sessions at the Dew Drop Inn in New Orleans. In his autobiography, Backbeat, drummer Earl Palmer recalls: A jam session is a musical act where musicians gather and play (or jam) without extensive preparation or predefined arrangements. ... New Orleans is the largest city in the state of Louisiana, United States of America. ... Backbeat can mean one of two things: Backbeat or Back beat is a style of rock music percussion Backbeat is a 1994 bio-pic of the early career of The Beatles, starring Stephen Dorff, Sheryl Lee, and Ian Hart Categories: Disambiguation ... Earl Palmer (October 25, 1924) is a legendary drummer and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ...

"Lots of white people wanted to come to the Dew Drop. Most were turned away, but they let a few in. Every time the cowboy actor Lash LaRue came in town, he came by. He played a hell of a guitar and was a regular guy that people liked."

La Rue died in Burbank, California and is believed to be interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. For other uses, see Guitar (disambiguation). ... Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. ... Gates of Forest Lawn Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a cemetery in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California. ... Nickname: Location of Glendale within Los Angeles County and the State of California. ...

Trivia

• Professional wrestler John LeRoux borrowed his ring name from La Rue, dubbing himself "Lash LeRoux" in 1999.
• In the film Pulp Fiction, Winston Wolf refers to Vincent Vega as Lash LaRue and asks if he can keep his spurs from jingling and jangling.
• He was mentioned in The Statler Brothers song "Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott?"
• He is mentioned in the Tom Paxton song "My Pony Knows the Way."
• In the Rockford Files episode 'A Material Difference', Jim asks if Angel is moonlighting as Lash LaRue.
• He was one of several people injured from a tornado while in attendance at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia, MO on August 20, 1952

... John Mark LeRoux (born November 22, 1976 in Lafayette, Louisiana) is a Cajun American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Lash LeRoux. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Pulp Fiction is an Academy Award-winning 1994 film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who co-wrote the screenplay with Roger Avary. ... The cover of the Statlers 1991 album All American Country The Statler Brothers are an American country music vocal group founded in 1955 in Virginia. ... Randolph Scott (January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987) was an American motion picture actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. ... Thomas R. Paxton was born October 31, 1937 in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest child of Burton and Esther Paxton. ...

References:

• Lash LaRue, the King of the Bullwhip, by Chuck Thornton and David Rothel (Empire Publishing, NC, 1988). ISBN 0-944019-06-4.

• The King of the Bullwhip: Lash La Rue, the Man, not the Legend, by Charles M. Sharpe (Sharpeco, NC, 1996). ASIN B0006QS5T6.

Quotes

• (Winning a fight handily, pauses) "You sure you don't want to try something else?"

References

External links

• Western Star Lash LaRue
• http://www.b-westerns.com/dean.htm
• Lash LaRue imitator Whip Wilson

See also: Other notable figures in Western films