Ben Johnson

[JackFavell]

Thanks Paula.

[pvitari]

I redid the Stoney Burke screencaps from the new DVD set. You all may remember that Ben appeared in an episode called "Point of Honor" as a rodeo official who has to decide if Stoney (Jack Lord) can compete after breaking a big rule -- fighting with another man in public view. (The other guy deserved getting beat up -- out of sheer spite he had just deliberately injured one of Stoney's friends while the friend was busy doing his job at the rodeo. The friend was lucky he wasn't killed or seriously hurt.) Anyway, these new screencaps look a lot better than the ones I did earlier from an "unofficial" DVD. :)

Here are some of the new screencaps.

The man on the right in the striped rodeo judge's shirt is rodeo champ Casey Tibbs, who occasionally appeared on the show. He and Ben were good friends.






















Warren Oates played one of Stoney's buddies (they've known each other since they were kids) -- a kind of ne'er do well character who always means well, though, and speaks up for Stoney in this episode. I think this is the first time Warren and Ben worked together.




Yes, that's Bruce Dern behind Ben. He's another one of Stoney's pals.

[JackFavell]

Ben looks so kindly in this one. Love photos 4 and 5 I think it is, the two closeups of Ben in his very stylish white hat, one looking down.

[pvitari]

Love photos 4 and 5 I think it is, the two closeups of Ben in his very stylish white hat, one looking down.

Why'd you think I picked the looking down one? I knew you'd like it. (And so do I!) :) It's amazing how well we get to know each other on these boards! ;)

[JackFavell]

Ha! I should have known! Thanks for including it. I love it when he shies away a bit.

[pvitari]

I was a little lazy this weekend and didn't really work much on Ben stuff, and when that happens I rummage through my digital file of newspaper articles for a quick post. :) Here is the one I dug up for today.



I posted a photo from the ceremony back on May 20. Here it is again. :)

[pvitari]

One Mighty Joe Young photo... two versions of it! That is, the photos are the same (slight differences in density of detail and shading) but one has an autograph by Ben, and the other doesn't. :)

[pvitari]

Ben looking rather serious on the set of Hustle (1975).

[pvitari]

This week's theme is John Ford, more or less. :)

Today's post is an article from the September-October 2005 issue of American Cowboy magazine. The author is Dan Gagliasso (dangagliasso.com) and the subject is the great cowboy movie stuntmen. One of those would be Ben, of course. :) Most of the info about Ben is on his Ford films and the picture on the first page is Ben doubling for Henry Fonda in Fort Apache and the second picture is from Rio Grande.

[pvitari]

Here is another painting by Belgian fan Christine depicting Ben as Sergeant Tyree in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. Christine has deliberately left Ben's face indistinct. She writes that she wanted the silhoutte to be more important than the details -- that one can recognize a cavalryman by the way he sits the horse, how he holds his shoulders, arms and hands, etc. -- and that Ben Johnson in particular is recognizable through the many depictions of him as a cavalryman. These are the characteristics she hopes to represent in her paintings.

[pvitari]

Isn't this pretty? A tinted version of a She Wore a Yellow Ribbon publicity photo, autographed by Ben.

[pvitari]

Today's post at the Ben Johnson Fanpage is an interview with our very own Miss Goddess, She Who Knows All About John Ford, about Ford and Ben Johnson! Lavishly illustrated with a buncha screencaps. ;) Miss Goddess has all kinds of interesting things to say, so toddle on over there and enjoy her words of wisdom. :)

http://benjohnsonfanpage.shutterfly.com

[pvitari]

A Sunday Silver Screen Oasis Exclusive today.

I recently acquired (thank you, eBay!) the program from the 1956 Third Annual Ben Johnson Memorial Steer Roping. It has a great picture of Ben Sr. on the cover and I plan to post it on Father's Day 2014 (just like I posted the program from the 1962 roping this past Father's Day). Ben Jr. participated in the roping that year (1956) and the person who owned the program also carefully noted all the ropers' times. I love seeing stuff that like! :)

Anyway, there's a photo in the program that is really unique and heaven forfend I should trip on my own shoelaces (it has happened!) or get run over by a truck between now and next Father's Day... I wanted to make sure SSO Ben Johnson fans saw it. People only reading my webpage will have to wait for Father's Day 2014 to see it, provided I dodge that truck. :)





Helen Christenson and Mary Ann Miller are Ben's younger sisters (Helen is his half-sister), and Ann Carol Miller, the little girl in Ben's arms, is his niece. Ben Sr. died from stomach cancer in 1952 so I'm sure cancer charity and research was important to all his children. Sadly, Mary Ann died young in 1969 :( but Helen, who was born in 1938, is still with us. She is a very well-known person in Osage County -- she was the county court clerk for 18 years. ;)

Ann Carol Miller is now Ann Miller Whitehorn and I met her for a few minutes when I was in Oklahoma in 2011. She happened to be at the restored former Chapman-Barnard bunkhouse at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve when my friend Cherié and I showed up and she gave us Cherié a tour. ;) I think she's on the board on the preserve. Here she is in 2011.

[pvitari]

Colin at Riding the High Country wrote a great post about Will Penny...

http://livius1.wordpress.com/2013/06/26/will-penny/

...so I pulled out the one Will Penny publicity still I've managed to find that has Ben in it and have now scanned it and added it to my webpage. :)

[tinker]

Thanks for the pictures Paula. As usual they are wonderful .

And April thanks for anther great interview. I really enjoyed reading it


dee