Ben Johnson

Francis Benjamin Johnson Jr. (June 13, 1918 – April 8, 1996) was an American actor, stuntman, and professional rodeo cowboy.

The son of an Oklahoma rancher, Johnson arrived in Hollywood to deliver a consignment of horses for a film. He worked as a stuntman and horse wrangler, before breaking into acting with the help of John Ford. His droll manner and expert horsemanship brought authenticity to his many roles in Westerns.

An elegiac portrayal of a former cowboy theater owner in the coming-of-age drama The Last Picture Show won Johnson the 1971 Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. In addition to his film career, he won the 1953 Rodeo Cowboys Association's (RCA) Team Roping World Championship, and was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979.

Early life Johnson was born in Foraker, Oklahoma, on the Osage Indian Reservation, he believed he was of Irish and Cherokee ancestry, though this turned out not to be accurate (genealogists have found his ancestors came to America almost exclusively from England and Scotland.) However, his claims to partial Native American ancestry were legitimate and accurate, his mother's mother being a registered citizen of the Osage nation. He was the son of Ollie Susan Johnson (née Workmon) and Ben Johnson Sr. His father was a rancher and rodeo champion in Osage County. Johnson followed in his father's footsteps, working as a ranch hand from an early age and later becoming a world-champion rodeo cowboy.

Film career Johnson parlayed his equestrian skills into a film career in the late 1930s, first arriving in Hollywood to deliver a consignment of horses for a film. He credited Howard Hughes with launching his career, when the director hired him as a horse wrangler and stuntman on the 1943 film The Outlaw. He liked to say later that he got to Hollywood in a carload of horses.

His work as a stuntman caught the eye of director John Ford, who hired Johnson for stunt work in the 1948 film Fort Apache, and as the riding double for Henry Fonda. Instead, he received a seven-year acting contract from Ford. Ford called Johnson into his office, and handed him an envelope with a contract in it. Johnson started reading it, and when he got to the fifth line and it said "$5,000 a week," he stopped reading, grabbed a pen, signed it, and gave it back to Ford.

Johnson played in supporting roles in Shane (1953), where he appeared as Chris Calloway, a "bad guy who makes good" after being beaten senseless by Alan Ladd, and One-Eyed Jacks (1961) starring Marlon Brando. In 1964, he worked with Ford again in Cheyenne Autumn. The Peckinpah-directed films included Major Dundee (1965, with Charlton Heston), The Wild Bunch (1969, with William Holden and Robert Ryan), and two back-to-back starring Steve McQueen, The Getaway and Junior Bonner, a rodeo film, (both 1972). In 1973, he co-starred as Melvin Purvis in John Milius' Dillinger with Warren Oates; he also appeared in Milius' 1984 film Red Dawn. In 1975, he played the character Mister in Bite the Bullet, starring Gene Hackman and James Coburn. He also appeared with Charles Bronson in 1975's Breakheart Pass. In 1980, he was cast as Sheriff Isum Gorch in Soggy Bottom U.S.A.

Johnson played Bartlett in the 1962–63 season of Have Gun Will Travel, which featured a short scene of his riding skills. In 1963, Johnson appeared as Spinner on the TV Western The Virginian in the episode titled "Duel at Shiloh". In the 1966–67 television season, Johnson appeared as the character Sleeve in all 26 episodes of the ABC family Western The Monroes with co-stars Michael Anderson Jr. and Barbara Hershey.

He teamed up with John Wayne again, and director Andrew V. McLaglen, in two films, appearing with Rock Hudson in The Undefeated (1969) and in a fairly prominent role in Chisum (1970). The apex of Johnson's career was reached in 1971 with his performance as Sam the Lion in Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show earning him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Johnson was reluctant to do the movie because of the lengthy dialogue but reportedly he was convinced to do the movie because of Ford persuading him. At the awards ceremony, Johnson made sure to thank a wide variety of people from Bogdanovich to Ford, closing, "This couldn't have happened to a nicer feller. Thank you."

On the set of The Train Robbers, in June 1972, he told Nancy Anderson of Copley News Service that winning the Oscar for The Last Picture Show was not going to change him and he would not raise his salary request to studios because of it. He continued, "I grew up on a ranch and I know livestock, so I like working in Westerns. All my life I've been afraid of failure. To avoid it, I've stuck with doing things I know how to do, and it's made me a good living".

He played Cap Roundtree in the 1979 miniseries The Sacketts. He played Sam Bellows in the 1980 film Ruckus and Jack Mason in the 1984 action adventure Red Dawn. He co-starred in the 1994 version of Angels in the Outfield.

He continued ranching during the entire time, operating a horse-breeding ranch in Sylmar, California.

Rodeo championship In 1953, he took a break from well-paid film work to compete in the Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA), becoming the Team Roping World Champion; although he only broke even financially that year. Johnson was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979. According to his ProRodeo Hall of Fame entry, he said, "I've won a rodeo world championship, and I'm prouder of that than anything else I've ever done." Johnson's body was later transported from Arizona to Pawhuska, Oklahoma, for burial at the Pawhuska City Cemetery.

Ollie died on October 16, 2000, aged 101.

Legacy

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Johnson has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7083 Hollywood Boulevard. In 1982, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. In 2003 Johnson was inducted into the Texas Trail of Fame.

In 1996, Tom Thurman made a documentary film about Johnson's life, titled Ben Johnson: Third Cowboy on the Right, written by Thurman and Tom Marksbury.

The Ben Johnson Memorial Steer Roping and the International Roundup Cavalcade, the world's largest amateur rodeo, are held annually in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.

A one-and-a-quarter-sized bronze sculpture by John D. Free of Ben Johnson riding a horse and roping a steer was commissioned and produced in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.

Filmography Film YearTitleRoleNotes 1939 The Fighting Gringo Mexican Barfly Uncredited 1943 The Outlaw Deputy Bordertown Gun Fighters Messenger 1944 The Pinto Bandit Race Contestant Tall in the Saddle Townsman Nevada Saloon Patron 1945 Corpus Christi Bandits Stage Driver The Naughty Nineties Coach Driver 1946 Badman's Territory Deputy Marshal 1947 Wyoming Cowhand Angel and the Badman Stuntman 1948 The Gallant Legion Texas Ranger 3 Godfathers Posse Man 1949 She Wore a Yellow Ribbon Sergeant Tyree Mighty Joe Young Gregg 1950 Wagon Master Travis Blue Rio Grande Trooper Travis Tyree 1951 Fort Defiance Ben Shelby 1952 Wild Stallion Dan Light 1953 Shane Chris Calloway 1955 Oklahoma! Wrangler Uncredited 1956 Rebel in Town Frank Mason 1957 War Drums Luke Fargo Slim Carter Montana Burriss 1958 Fort Bowie Captain Thomas Thompson 1960 Ten Who Dared George Bradley 1961 One-Eyed Jacks Bob Amory Tomboy and the Champ Jim Wilkins 1964 Cheyenne Autumn Trooper Plumtree Uncredited 1965 Major Dundee Sergeant Chillum 1966 The Rare Breed Jeff Harter 1968 Will Penny Alex Hang 'Em High Marshal Dave Bliss 1969 The Wild Bunch Tector Gorch The Undefeated Short Grub 1970 Chisum James Pepper 1971 The Last Picture Show Sam the Lion Something Big Jesse Bookbinder 1972 Corky Boland Junior Bonner Buck Roan The Getaway Jack Beynon 1973 The Train Robbers Jesse The Wayne Train Himself / Jesse Documentary short Kid Blue Sheriff 'Mean John' Simpson Dillinger Melvin Purvis 1974 The Sugarland Express Captain Tanner 1975 Bite the Bullet Mister Breakheart Pass Marshal Pearce Hustle Marty Hollinger 1976 The Town That Dreaded Sundown Captain J.D. Morales 1977 The Greatest Hollis Grayeagle John Colter 1978 The Swarm Felix Austin 1980 The Hunter Sheriff Strong Ruckus Sam Bellows Terror Train Carne 1981 Soggy Bottom U.S.A. Sheriff Isum Gorch 1982 Tex Cole Collins 1983 Champions Burly Cocks 1984 Red Dawn Jack Mason 1986 Let's Get Harry Harry Burck Sr. Trespasses August Klein 1988 Cherry 2000 Six-Fingered Jake Dark Before Dawn The Sheriff 1989 The Last Ride Cowboy Short film Back to Back Eli Hix 1989 Hollywood on Horses HimselfDocumentary 1991 My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys Jesse Dalton 1992 Radio Flyer Geronimo Bill 1994 Angels in the Outfield Hank Murphy Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart Jack Parrish 1996 Ben Johnson: Third Cowboy on the Right Himself Documentary 1996 The Evening Star Dr. Arthur Cotton Posthumous release Stunt credits Television

Awards and nominations