Lash LaRue

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Alfred Lash LaRue June 15 1917 May 21 1996 was a popular western motion picture star of the 1940s and 1950s He had exceptional skill with the bullwhip and taught Harrison Ford how to use a bullwhip for the Indiana Jones movies LaRue was one of the first recipients of the Golden Boot Awards in 1983 LaRue was originally screen tested by Warner Bros but was rejected because he looked too much like Humphrey Bogart then one of the studios contract stars He began acting in films in 1944 at age 27 as Al LaRue appearing in two musicals and a serial before being given a role in a Western film that would result in his being cast in a cowboy persona for virtually the rest of his career He was given the name Lash because of the 18foot 55 mlong 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 LaRue to be featured in his own series of Western films After appearing in all three of the Eddie Dean Cinecolor singing Westerns in 194546 he starred in quirky Bwesterns from 1947 to 1951 at first for Poverty Row studio PRC then for EagleLion when they took over the studio and later for producer Ron Ormond He developed his image as the cowboy hero Lash LaRue dressed all in black and inherited from Buster Crabbe a comic sidekick in the form of Fuzzy Q Jones played by Al St John LaRue played the Cheyenne Kid sidekick in about 8 films before he starred in his own film series playing a character actually named Marshall Lash LaRue Those 11 films from 19481951 are the ones that western movie fans refer to as the Lash LaRue film series He was different from the usual cowboy hero of the era dressed in black he spoke with a city toughguy accent somewhat like that of Humphrey Bogart whom he physically resembled His use of a bullwhip however was what set him apart from bigger cowboy stars such as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers His influence was felt throughout the dying medium of Bwesterns 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 some of his Republic Studios Westerns made in the same period He also made frequent personal appearances at smalltown movie theaters that were showing his films during his heyday of 194851 a common practice for cowboy stars in those days However his skillful displays of stunts with his whip done 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 He continued working in films and television until he retired in 1990 LaRue died of emphysema in 1996 age 78 at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank California and was cremated at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale California He was survived by his wife Frances Bramlett LaRue three sons and three daughters