At various times in his life a rancher deputy sheriff and rodeo performer this huge towering 6 5 beast of a man was born George Glenn Strange in Weed New Mexico on August 16 1899 but grew up a reallife cowboy in Cross Cut Texas Of Irish and Cherokee Indian descent he taught himself by ear the fiddle and guitar at a young age and started performing at local functions as a teen In the late 1920s Glenn and his cousin Taylor McPeters better known later as the western character actor Cactus Mack joined a radio singing group known as the Arizona Wranglers that toured throughout the country