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Slim Pickens

Slim Pickens
Slim Pickens
Born: Jun 29, 1919 in Kingsburg, California
Died: Dec 08, 1983 in Modesto, California
Occupation: Actor,
Active: '50s-'70s
Major Genres: Western, Action
Career Highlights: Blazing Saddles, The Ballad of Cable Hogue, Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
First Major Screen Credit: Border Saddlemates (1952)
13 Videos for Slim Pickens
The Howling (1981) Bootleggers (1974) Will Penny (1967)
1941 (1979) Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) Major Dundee (1965)
Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979) The Cowboys (1972) Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
The Swarm (1978) The Getaway (1972) One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
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Biography:

Though he spoke most of his movie dialogue in a slow Western drawl, actor Slim Pickens was a pure-bred California boy. An expert rider from the age of four, Pickens was performing in rodeos at 12. Three years later, he quit school to become a full-time equestrian and bull wrangler, eventually becoming the highest-paid rodeo clown in show business.

In films since 1950's Rocky Mountain, Pickens specialized in Westerns (what a surprise), appearing as the comic sidekick of Republic cowboy star Rex Allen. By the end of the 1950s, Pickens had gained so much extra poundage that he practically grew out of his nickname. Generally cast in boisterous comedy roles, Pickens was also an effectively odious villain in 1966's An Eye for an Eye, starting the film off with a jolt by shooting a baby in its crib.

In 1963, director Stanley Kubrick handed Pickens his greatest role: honcho bomber pilot King Kong in Dr. Strangelove. One of the most unforgettable of all cinematic images is the sight of Pickens straddling a nuclear bomb and riding it to its target, whooping and hollering all the way down.

Almost as good was Pickens' performance as Harvey Korman's henchman in Mel Brooks' bawdy Western spoof Blazing Saddles (1974). Slim Pickens was also kept busy on television, with numerous guest shots and regular roles in the TV series The Legend of Custer, B.J.

and the Bear, and Filthy Rich. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide.