Ben Johnson's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) The Monroes (1966) Sleeve

Main Movie Roles 1996 - The Evening Star 1994 - Angels in the Outfield 1992 - Radio Flyer 1987 - Cherry 2000 1986 - Let's Get Harry 1984 - Red Dawn 1982 - Tex 1981 - Ruckus 1980 - Terror Train 1980 - The Hunter 1978 - The Swarm 1976 - The Town That Dreaded Sundown 1975 - Hustle 1975 - Breakheart Pass 1975 - Bite the Bullet 1974 - The Sugarland Express 1973 - Dillinger 1972 - The Getaway 1972 - Junior Bonner 1971 - The Last Picture Show 1969 - The Undefeated 1969 - The Wild Bunch 1968 - Hang 'em High 1966 - The Rare Breed 1965 - Major Dundee 1964 - Cheyenne Autumn 1955 - Oklahoma! 1953 - Shane 1950 - Rio Grande 1950 - Wagon Master 1949 - She Wore a Yellow Ribbon 1949 - Mighty Joe Young 1946 - Badman's Territory 1945 - The Naughty Nineties 1944 - Tall in the Saddle 1943 - The Outlaw

BIOGRAPHY:

Born in Oklahoma, Ben Johnson was a ranch hand and rodeo preformer when, in 1940, Howard Hughes (I) hired him to take a load of horses to California. He decided to stick around (the pay was good), and for some years was a stunt man, horse wrangler, and double for such stars as John Wayne (I), Gary Cooper (I) and James Stewart (I). His break came when John Ford (I) noticed him and gave him a part in an upcoming film, and eventually a star part in Wagon Master (1950). He left Hollywood in 1953 to return to rodeo, where he won a world roping championship, but at the end of the year he had barely cleared expenses. The movies paid better, and were less risky, so he returned to the west coast and a career that saw him in over 300 movies.


TRIVIA:

• Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1982.
• Had Cherokee and Irish blood.
• Johnson got his first big break as a member of 'John Ford (I)' (qv)'s stock company in the late 1940s. However, during the making of _Rio Grande (1949)_ (qv), Johnson and Ford had a brief verbal argument. All seemed well afterward, and nothing further was said of it, so Ben assumed it was completely blown over. However, Ford didn't use Johnson again in another picture for 14 years, when Ben played a small part in _Cheyenne Autumn (1964)_ (qv). Johnson's lifelong friend 'Harry Carey Jr.' (qv) said he believed the reason was that when Ford was casting _The Sun Shines Bright (1953)_ (qv), Johnson's agent heard that Ford wanted him for the part, called Ford--without Johnson's knowledge--and demanded a hefty salary. Outraged at having been squeezed like that, Ford held it against Johnson, and used that and the argument they had during "Rio Grande" as an excuse not to use him again. They did manage to maintain a friendly relationship nonetheless.
• A prize belt buckle that he won for calf roping was stolen from his car when he visited Houston in 1976; on a repeat visit a decade later, he was an on-air guest on radio station KIKK when a caller returned the buckle to him.
• Was in three movies in a row where his first name was Travis: _She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)_ (qv), Sergant Travis Tyree; _Wagon Master (1950)_ (qv), Travis Blue; _Rio Grande (1950)_ (qv), Trooper Travis Tyree.
• Johnson, his father, and nephew have Belt-Buckle awards for team roping.
• Also doubled for Randolph Scott.
• He initially turned down the role of Sam the Lion in _The Last Picture Show (1971)_ (qv) when it was first offered to him by 'Peter Bogdanovich' (qv) because he thought the script was "dirty," and he did not approve of swearing and nudity in motion pictures. Bogdanovich appealed to 'John Ford (I)' (qv), who got Johnson to change his mind as a favor to him. With the permission of Bogdanovich, Johnson rewrote his part with the offensive words removed. Johnson went on to win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing the role.