Wes Studi and the Western Heritage Awards

One of my favorite events, offering guests an opportunity to rub shoulders with some legendary western performers…..

                         Down The Road with the Original Buffalo Dale

 Welcome back.  Celebrating 52 years of keeping the Old West alive this week, I take my hat off to President Chuck Schroeder and his staff at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum for a top notch show this past weekend.

It was the 2013 Western Heritage Awards in Oklahoma City which are held every year at what I still call the Cowboy Hall of Fame. The Awards recognize the accomplishments of actors, writers, poets, film makers and musicians who have celebrated western life and culture in their work.

Actor Lou Diamond Phillips and Board Member Wyatt McCrea were the Masters of Ceremonies. Some of you readers may remember that Wyatt is the grandson of the famous movie star Joel McCrea and was also a Bartlesville area resident as a youth. ConocoPhillips was one of the two Major Event sponsors along with Wrangler. Other sponsors with a tie to Bartlesville included Express Employment Professionals and the Oklahoma Ford Dealers. The Ford dealers sponsored the “Outstanding Documentary” award which went to The Dust Bowl, directed by Ken Burns. In addition to prominent actors and directors, there were many famous western writers, singers and songwriters at the awards including Red Stegall and Martin Martin Murphy.

 

A highlight of the evening was the induction of native Oklahoman Wes Studi into the Hall of Great Western Performers. I got a chance to visit with Wes and I learned that this guy has led a fascinating and eventful life.  Studi was born in 1946 in Nofire Hollow, Oklahoma .Until the age of five he spoke only Cherokee. Then he attended Chilocco Indian School where he learned English and graduated from high school. After high school he served in Vietnam and then went on to Tulsa Junior School where he was a founder of the first Cherokee newspaper. Studi’s acting career began in 1983 when he appeared with the American Indian Theater Company in Tulsa. His first movie role was in Pow Wow Highway in 1988, followed by the T.V. movie Longarm. His versatile career has included appearances in Dances with Wolves, The Last of the Mohicans, Heat and Avatar. Today Studi is also a sculptor, jazz guitarist and I understand a pretty good hand at tennis.  He speaks several languages and is recognized nationally as an expert on indigenous languages. Studi and his wife Maura Dhu, a singer and writer, have lived happily in Santa Fe for years. The couple frequently performs in the area with a local six piece band called Firecat of Discord.

Two other performers who were inducted posthumously may not be as familiar to most of you. Duncan Renaldo was born in 1904 most likely in Greece although he frequently said he wasn’t sure where he had been born. He was raised in Romania and worked his way to America shoveling coal on a ship. Renaldo was working as a set painter when he got his first big break in the movies with a role in The Bridge of San Luis Rey in 1927. He played both good guys and bad guys in dozens of films before becoming a major star in 1950 with his role in The Cisco Kid.

The other inductee is of course the Cisco Kid’s sidekick, Pancho. Leo Carillo had also worked his way up in the entertainment business before he too became a star in The Cisco Kid. His civic contributions are recognized today in California where several parks and highways are named after him. Both actors were honored with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The late great actor Robert Mitchum, a favorite of mine, was also inducted into theHall of Great Western Performers. Although Mitchum died in 1997 in Santa Barbara, CA, his many wonderful films, including El Dorado with John Wayne, live on.

The Western Heritage Awards are always outstanding and next year I’ll be sure to give you plenty of notice before the event. Don’t forget that if you join the Western Heritage Museum, Gilgrease or Woolaroc, you automatically become a member of the other two organizations- what a deal!

Till next time, I’ll see ya down the road….

 

#

 

 

 

 

 

 

Down The Road with the Original Buffalo Dale

 

 Welcome back.  Celebrating 52 years of keeping the Old West alive this week, I take my hat off to President Chuck Schroeder and his staff at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum for a top notch show this past weekend.

It was the 2013 Western Heritage Awards in Oklahoma City which are held every year at what I still call the Cowboy Hall of Fame. The Awards recognize the accomplishments of actors, writers, poets, film makers and musicians who have celebrated western life and culture in their work.

Actor Lou Diamond Phillips and Board Member Wyatt McCrea were the Masters of Ceremonies. Some of you readers may remember that Wyatt is the grandson of the famous movie star Joel McCrea and was also a Bartlesville area resident as a youth. ConocoPhillips was one of the two Major Event sponsors along with Wrangler. Other sponsors with a tie to Bartlesville included Express Employment Professionals and the Oklahoma Ford Dealers. The Ford dealers sponsored the “Outstanding Documentary” award which went to The Dust Bowl, directed by Ken Burns. In addition to prominent actors and directors, there were many famous western writers, singers and songwriters at the awards including Red Stegall and Martin Martin Murphy.

A highlight of the evening was the induction of native Oklahoman Wes Studi into the Hall of Great Western Performers. I got a chance to visit with Wes and I learned that this guy has led a fascinating and eventful life.  Studi was born in 1946 in Nofire Hollow, Oklahoma .Until the age of five he spoke only Cherokee. Then he attended Chilocco Indian School where he learned English and graduated from high school. After high school he served in Vietnam and then went on to Tulsa Junior School where he was a founder of the first Cherokee newspaper. Studi’s acting career began in 1983 when he appeared with the American Indian Theater Company in Tulsa. His first movie role was in Pow Wow Highway in 1988, followed by the T.V. movie Longarm. His versatile career has included appearances in Dances with Wolves, The Last of the Mohicans, Heat and Avatar. Today Studi is also a sculptor, jazz guitarist and I understand a pretty good hand at tennis.  He speaks several languages and is recognized nationally as an expert on indigenous languages. Studi and his wife Maura Dhu, a singer and writer, have lived happily in Santa Fe for years. The couple frequently performs in the area with a local six piece band called Firecat of Discord.

Two other performers who were inducted posthumously may not be as familiar to most of you. Duncan Renaldo was born in 1904 most likely in Greece although he frequently said he wasn’t sure where he had been born. He was raised in Romania and worked his way to America shoveling coal on a ship. Renaldo was working as a set painter when he got his first big break in the movies with a role in The Bridge of San Luis Rey in 1927.

He played both good guys and bad guys in dozens of films before becoming a major star in 1950 with his role in The Cisco Kid.

The other inductee is of course the Cisco Kid’s sidekick, Pancho. Leo Carillo had also worked his way up in the entertainment business before he too became a star in The Cisco Kid. His civic contributions are recognized today in California where several parks and highways are named after him. Both actors were honored with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The late great actor Robert Mitchum, a favorite of mine, was also inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers. Although Mitchum died in 1997 in Santa Barbara, CA, his many wonderful films, including El Dorado with John Wayne, live on.

The Western Heritage Awards are always outstanding and next year I’ll be sure to give you plenty of notice before the event. Don’t forget that if you join the Western Heritage Museum, Gilgrease or Woolaroc, you automatically become a member of the other two organizations- what a deal!

Till next time, I’ll see ya down the road….

#

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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