By ROBERT GRAYSON
Contributing Writer
If you were a horse who wanted to be in show business, and could express your
occupational preference to your human companion, à la Mr. Ed, there’s a good chance
you’d be bringing home a hefty Hollywood paycheck.
After humans, the greatest number of jobs for extras in movies and television go to
horses. You might not get top billing. You might have to spend your entire career
appearing in stampedes or corral scenes. You might be cast to stand around on a dusty,
Western street, outside a saloon. Or you could be one of those horses the good guys
saddle up when they form a posse to track down some tough hombres.
If you ever doubted how many horses appear in these Westerns, just pop in a tape or
DVD of Silverado or Tombstone, and count how many equine roles you see in these
films. Not to mention all the horses who appeared in the movies when the Westerns
were very popular from the beginning of the 20th century until about the mid-1960s. More
recently, who would Seabiscuit have run against on the big screen if not for other horses
with acting talent?
While the job of an extra might be appealing, everybody wants to be a star. And many
horses have become as famous, or even more famous, than their human co-stars.
Take Silver, for instance, the Lone Ranger’s trusted mount. Clayton Moore, the most
popular of all the Lone Rangers, never appeared onscreen without his mask or some
sort of disguise. Silver, on the other hand, was never in costume. There wasn’t any doubt
which horse was the Lone Ranger’s. In fact, there was never another all-white horse on
the Lone Ranger set. Studio publicity photos picture Clayton Moore wearing his
trademark mask, standing next to his faithful white Stallion.
Face it: In those great days of yesteryear, if you saw an unmasked Clayton Moore or Silver
walking down the street, who would you have recognized first?
Silver was played by a talented, pure-white, part-Arabian horse named Traveler. He was
primarily known for his portrayal of the Lone Ranger’s trusty mount on the television
series that ran from 1949 to 1957. But during that time, Hollywood made several feature
films about Fran Striker’s Western hero, and Traveler was contracted to appear on the
big screen as well.
Though Traveler did have a stunt double, the equine star did most of his own stunts,
including his most famous trick-rearing up on his hind legs. Traveler was considered a
very talented actor. He could grin, bow, dance, and even untie rope if some bad guys
lassoed the Lone Ranger, and Silver, happening on the scene, needed to free the bound
masked man.
In the full-length Lone Ranger movies of that era, Silver received second billing after
Clayton Moore and before Tonto, played by Jay Silverheels. This was an especially cruel
fate for the Lone Ranger’s loyal Indian companion, since it was Tonto who had told the
Lone Ranger when the pair first spotted the gleaming white horse, “He looks like silver.”
Few know that Tonto’s horse was a brown and white Pinto named Scout, but Silver never
lorded his star status over the second banana’s horse.
Not to be outdone by some equine actor who took the name of a fabled literary equine
hero, like Silver, Roy Rogers’ horse Trigger played himself in more than 80 films and 100
episodes of The Roy Rogers Show on television (1951-1957).
A Golden Palomino, Trigger could do 60 tricks, including holding a pencil in his mouth
and making his mark on a piece of paper. At some point during the course of his long TV
and film career, Trigger performed all 60 of his tricks.
And, like all great Hollywood stories, before Trigger found fame with Roy Rogers, he took
a bit role, appearing in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), starring Errol Flynn and
Olivia deHavilland. The magnificent stallion played the horse ridden by Maid Marian
(Olivia deHavilland), galloping through Sherwood Forest. But then, when Republic
Pictures was casting for the role of Roy Rogers’ horse, casting directors happened upon
Trigger, whose name at the time was Golden Cloud. But so what? Wasn’t Roy Rogers
really Leonard Sly? The rest is great Western history.
Roy’s wife, Dale Evans, rode a famous quarter horse in the couple’s films as well. The
pearl-colored mount with a black tail and mane was called Buttermilk (both onscreen
and off). But unlike Trigger, who was a gentle showman, Buttermilk was feisty, and in
action scenes would often give Dale the ride of her life. Buttermilk was trained as a
working horse for roping, and liked to show off his speed and agility. He could run fast
and turn on a dime, often dumping his rider in the process. But after a while, Trigger
managed to teach Buttermilk that you could take it easy in this acting gig, and Dale
Evans’ horse became very comfortable and easygoing in front of the camera.
Champion, Gene Autry’s horse, made more than 70 Hollywood films. At the height of his
popularity, the brown Tennessee walking horse, with a blaze face and white stockings,
had four stand-ins, or stunt horses, because Hollywood producers wanted to make sure
the famed equine actor suffered no severe injuries on the set.
But when Champion started out as Gene Autry’s mount, he did many of his own stunts
and was billed as the “World’s Wonder Horse.” Autry wanted only the best for his horse,
so when Champion traveled he had his own three-room trailer, complete with music and
running water.
In 1940, Champion became the first flying horse: He flew on a plane, cross-country, from
New York to Los Angeles. Five rows of seats were removed from a TWA DC-3 to make
room for a stall for Champion. Unfortunately, Champion was not graced with a long life,
and several other horses, also named Champion, succeeded the original actor as Autry’
s trusty four-footed companion. But none of them equaled the original Champion’s
legendary 70-film career.
Elizabeth Taylor may have been a budding beauty in 1944, but all eyes were on a black
thoroughbred, named King Charles, in the MGM flick National Velvet. Taylor was 11 years
old when she made the film, which also starred Mickey Rooney. But the real headline
grabber was the lead horse in the movie, called The Pie, played by King Charles.
Why all the fuss over the lead horse? Well, King Charles was the grandson of racing
legend Man O’ War, and many bought tickets just to see him in the film. Taylor and King
Charles became very close during the filming, and the movie’s producer, Pandro S.
Berman, gave the horse to the young child star after the film was completed. That was
King Charles’ only movie appearance.
Unlike King Charles, the horse that appeared in the 1946 version of Black Beauty had a
long acting career. Originally named Highland Dale, the all-black American saddle horse
was nicknamed “Beauty” during the filming of the popular movie, and the name stuck.
Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars rode Beauty in various films: He was Clark Gable’s
horse in the 1952 movie Lone Star; Joan Crawford saddled him up in Johnny Guitar
(1954); and Ward Bond rode him in Gypsy Colt (1954).
Following his movie career, he was cast in the television series Fury from 1955 to 1960.
One of the lead actors in the television show about a boy, the boy’s horse, and a
widowed rancher was played by Peter Graves, later of Mission: Impossible fame. Beauty
had so much work in Hollywood that his owners were able to demand a hefty $1,500 an
episode for the Fury television show; they also made money when the show went into
syndication after its run on NBC. When Beauty retired in 1960, he ranked second only to
Lassie in net income as an animal actor.
Which brings us to Mr. Ed. Though he really wasn’t a movie star, no story about acting
horses would be complete, of course, without mentioning the horse who could talk. Mr.
Ed was once the most popular horse in Hollywood, appearing on a weekly CBS TV show
from 1961 to 1966.
Ed was played by a gentle, lovable Golden Palomino named Bamboo Harvester. A ham
of a horse, who loved the camera and people, Bamboo Harvester was known as a one-
take wonder. He would do the scene right the first time, every time. If anyone messed up,
it was the humans, not the horse.
He actually performed many of his own tricks. He could pick up a pencil in his mouth and
dial a phone, or unlock the stable door and saunter out. He could write with a pencil in
his mouth, and could open a file drawer and then take out a file.
Bamboo Harvester was the top animal actor in Hollywood for years, winning the most
coveted award for animal actors (the Patsy) every year from 1962 to 1965. Offscreen, the
equine TV star would often visit children’s hospitals, posing for photos with youngsters
on his back.
But Mr. Ed was not without its movie roots. The show can trace its origins to the
Hollywood film series Francis the Talking Mule. A mule is the offspring of a male donkey
and a female horse, and in the Francis films that were produced in the 1950s, Francis,
played by a mule name Molly, was able to communicate with a befuddled Peter Stirling,
played by Donald O’Connor. The films were directed by Arthur Lubin, who went on to
create the Mr. Ed TV series. The loquacious mule’s character originated in a novel called
Francis, by David Stern, and was adapted into a screenplay in 1949.
Mr. Ed first came to life in a series of short stories by Walter Brooks that appeared in
magazines in the 1950s. Mr. Ed still lives in reruns and Francis the Talking Mule can be
seen on videos and DVDs. If you look closely enough in the film Francis in the Navy
(1955), you’ll see then-Hollywood unknown Clint Eastwood in one of his first big-screen
roles.
Over the years, four-footed mounts have established quite a toehold on the big screen.
So the next time you’re driving through the great outdoors and spot a beautiful horse,
leisurely grazing in a field, you might want to consider whether you’d like to saddle up or
simply sidle up to get a closer look at what could be an up-and-coming Hollywood star.
First published Jan. 5, 2005 in The Animal Companion.
Contributing Writer
If you were a horse who wanted to be in show business, and could express your
occupational preference to your human companion, à la Mr. Ed, there’s a good chance
you’d be bringing home a hefty Hollywood paycheck.
After humans, the greatest number of jobs for extras in movies and television go to
horses. You might not get top billing. You might have to spend your entire career
appearing in stampedes or corral scenes. You might be cast to stand around on a dusty,
Western street, outside a saloon. Or you could be one of those horses the good guys
saddle up when they form a posse to track down some tough hombres.
If you ever doubted how many horses appear in these Westerns, just pop in a tape or
DVD of Silverado or Tombstone, and count how many equine roles you see in these
films. Not to mention all the horses who appeared in the movies when the Westerns
were very popular from the beginning of the 20th century until about the mid-1960s. More
recently, who would Seabiscuit have run against on the big screen if not for other horses
with acting talent?
While the job of an extra might be appealing, everybody wants to be a star. And many
horses have become as famous, or even more famous, than their human co-stars.
Take Silver, for instance, the Lone Ranger’s trusted mount. Clayton Moore, the most
popular of all the Lone Rangers, never appeared onscreen without his mask or some
sort of disguise. Silver, on the other hand, was never in costume. There wasn’t any doubt
which horse was the Lone Ranger’s. In fact, there was never another all-white horse on
the Lone Ranger set. Studio publicity photos picture Clayton Moore wearing his
trademark mask, standing next to his faithful white Stallion.
Face it: In those great days of yesteryear, if you saw an unmasked Clayton Moore or Silver
walking down the street, who would you have recognized first?
Silver was played by a talented, pure-white, part-Arabian horse named Traveler. He was
primarily known for his portrayal of the Lone Ranger’s trusty mount on the television
series that ran from 1949 to 1957. But during that time, Hollywood made several feature
films about Fran Striker’s Western hero, and Traveler was contracted to appear on the
big screen as well.
Though Traveler did have a stunt double, the equine star did most of his own stunts,
including his most famous trick-rearing up on his hind legs. Traveler was considered a
very talented actor. He could grin, bow, dance, and even untie rope if some bad guys
lassoed the Lone Ranger, and Silver, happening on the scene, needed to free the bound
masked man.
In the full-length Lone Ranger movies of that era, Silver received second billing after
Clayton Moore and before Tonto, played by Jay Silverheels. This was an especially cruel
fate for the Lone Ranger’s loyal Indian companion, since it was Tonto who had told the
Lone Ranger when the pair first spotted the gleaming white horse, “He looks like silver.”
Few know that Tonto’s horse was a brown and white Pinto named Scout, but Silver never
lorded his star status over the second banana’s horse.
Not to be outdone by some equine actor who took the name of a fabled literary equine
hero, like Silver, Roy Rogers’ horse Trigger played himself in more than 80 films and 100
episodes of The Roy Rogers Show on television (1951-1957).
A Golden Palomino, Trigger could do 60 tricks, including holding a pencil in his mouth
and making his mark on a piece of paper. At some point during the course of his long TV
and film career, Trigger performed all 60 of his tricks.
And, like all great Hollywood stories, before Trigger found fame with Roy Rogers, he took
a bit role, appearing in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), starring Errol Flynn and
Olivia deHavilland. The magnificent stallion played the horse ridden by Maid Marian
(Olivia deHavilland), galloping through Sherwood Forest. But then, when Republic
Pictures was casting for the role of Roy Rogers’ horse, casting directors happened upon
Trigger, whose name at the time was Golden Cloud. But so what? Wasn’t Roy Rogers
really Leonard Sly? The rest is great Western history.
Roy’s wife, Dale Evans, rode a famous quarter horse in the couple’s films as well. The
pearl-colored mount with a black tail and mane was called Buttermilk (both onscreen
and off). But unlike Trigger, who was a gentle showman, Buttermilk was feisty, and in
action scenes would often give Dale the ride of her life. Buttermilk was trained as a
working horse for roping, and liked to show off his speed and agility. He could run fast
and turn on a dime, often dumping his rider in the process. But after a while, Trigger
managed to teach Buttermilk that you could take it easy in this acting gig, and Dale
Evans’ horse became very comfortable and easygoing in front of the camera.
Champion, Gene Autry’s horse, made more than 70 Hollywood films. At the height of his
popularity, the brown Tennessee walking horse, with a blaze face and white stockings,
had four stand-ins, or stunt horses, because Hollywood producers wanted to make sure
the famed equine actor suffered no severe injuries on the set.
But when Champion started out as Gene Autry’s mount, he did many of his own stunts
and was billed as the “World’s Wonder Horse.” Autry wanted only the best for his horse,
so when Champion traveled he had his own three-room trailer, complete with music and
running water.
In 1940, Champion became the first flying horse: He flew on a plane, cross-country, from
New York to Los Angeles. Five rows of seats were removed from a TWA DC-3 to make
room for a stall for Champion. Unfortunately, Champion was not graced with a long life,
and several other horses, also named Champion, succeeded the original actor as Autry’
s trusty four-footed companion. But none of them equaled the original Champion’s
legendary 70-film career.
Elizabeth Taylor may have been a budding beauty in 1944, but all eyes were on a black
thoroughbred, named King Charles, in the MGM flick National Velvet. Taylor was 11 years
old when she made the film, which also starred Mickey Rooney. But the real headline
grabber was the lead horse in the movie, called The Pie, played by King Charles.
Why all the fuss over the lead horse? Well, King Charles was the grandson of racing
legend Man O’ War, and many bought tickets just to see him in the film. Taylor and King
Charles became very close during the filming, and the movie’s producer, Pandro S.
Berman, gave the horse to the young child star after the film was completed. That was
King Charles’ only movie appearance.
Unlike King Charles, the horse that appeared in the 1946 version of Black Beauty had a
long acting career. Originally named Highland Dale, the all-black American saddle horse
was nicknamed “Beauty” during the filming of the popular movie, and the name stuck.
Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars rode Beauty in various films: He was Clark Gable’s
horse in the 1952 movie Lone Star; Joan Crawford saddled him up in Johnny Guitar
(1954); and Ward Bond rode him in Gypsy Colt (1954).
Following his movie career, he was cast in the television series Fury from 1955 to 1960.
One of the lead actors in the television show about a boy, the boy’s horse, and a
widowed rancher was played by Peter Graves, later of Mission: Impossible fame. Beauty
had so much work in Hollywood that his owners were able to demand a hefty $1,500 an
episode for the Fury television show; they also made money when the show went into
syndication after its run on NBC. When Beauty retired in 1960, he ranked second only to
Lassie in net income as an animal actor.
Which brings us to Mr. Ed. Though he really wasn’t a movie star, no story about acting
horses would be complete, of course, without mentioning the horse who could talk. Mr.
Ed was once the most popular horse in Hollywood, appearing on a weekly CBS TV show
from 1961 to 1966.
Ed was played by a gentle, lovable Golden Palomino named Bamboo Harvester. A ham
of a horse, who loved the camera and people, Bamboo Harvester was known as a one-
take wonder. He would do the scene right the first time, every time. If anyone messed up,
it was the humans, not the horse.
He actually performed many of his own tricks. He could pick up a pencil in his mouth and
dial a phone, or unlock the stable door and saunter out. He could write with a pencil in
his mouth, and could open a file drawer and then take out a file.
Bamboo Harvester was the top animal actor in Hollywood for years, winning the most
coveted award for animal actors (the Patsy) every year from 1962 to 1965. Offscreen, the
equine TV star would often visit children’s hospitals, posing for photos with youngsters
on his back.
But Mr. Ed was not without its movie roots. The show can trace its origins to the
Hollywood film series Francis the Talking Mule. A mule is the offspring of a male donkey
and a female horse, and in the Francis films that were produced in the 1950s, Francis,
played by a mule name Molly, was able to communicate with a befuddled Peter Stirling,
played by Donald O’Connor. The films were directed by Arthur Lubin, who went on to
create the Mr. Ed TV series. The loquacious mule’s character originated in a novel called
Francis, by David Stern, and was adapted into a screenplay in 1949.
Mr. Ed first came to life in a series of short stories by Walter Brooks that appeared in
magazines in the 1950s. Mr. Ed still lives in reruns and Francis the Talking Mule can be
seen on videos and DVDs. If you look closely enough in the film Francis in the Navy
(1955), you’ll see then-Hollywood unknown Clint Eastwood in one of his first big-screen
roles.
Over the years, four-footed mounts have established quite a toehold on the big screen.
So the next time you’re driving through the great outdoors and spot a beautiful horse,
leisurely grazing in a field, you might want to consider whether you’d like to saddle up or
simply sidle up to get a closer look at what could be an up-and-coming Hollywood star.
First published Jan. 5, 2005 in The Animal Companion.
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