Lash LaRue

Sarah Padden, Eddie Dean, and Lash LaRue in Song of Old Wyoming.

Alfred "Lash" LaRue (June 15, 1917 and reared in various towns throughout Louisiana. In his teens the family moved to Los Angeles, California, where he attended St. John's Military Academy and the College of the Pacific.

Career Film LaRue was originally screen-tested by Warner Bros. but was rejected because he looked too much like Humphrey Bogart, then one of the studio's contract stars.

He signed a contract with Universal Pictures in 1944 as "Alfred LaRue", appearing in two Deanna Durbin musicals (Durbin and LaRue were romantically involved during his tenure there). He was also featured in a Universal serial, The Master Key (1945).

In 1945 independent producer Robert Emmett Tansey, releasing through the small PRC studio, launched a new Western series with a difference: the features would be filmed in then-unusual Cinecolor. Singing cowboy Eddie Dean starred, with "Al LaRue" featured as "The Cheyenne Kid" and using a bullwhip expertly to disarm villains.

LaRue graduated to his own starring series (as "Cheyenne") in 1947, first for PRC, then for its successor Eagle-Lion (which continued to use the PRC brand name for its Westerns), and finally for producer Ron Ormond. It was at this time that he developed his image as cowboy hero Lash LaRue, dressed all in black. Al St. John had been Buster Crabbe's comic sidekick in PRC Westerns; after Crabbe left the studio, St. John's character "Fuzzy Q. Jones" was written into the Lash LaRue scripts.

Lash LaRue was different from the usual cowboy hero of the era. Dressed in black, he spoke with a "city tough-guy" accent somewhat like that of Humphrey Bogart, whom he physically resembled. His use of a bullwhip, however, was what set him apart from contemporary cowboy stars such as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. His influence was felt throughout the dying medium of B-Westerns; for example, he had an imitator, Whip Wilson, who starred in his own brief series for Monogram, and even Roy Rogers started using a bullwhip in some of his Republic Westerns made during the same period.

LaRue made frequent personal appearances at small-town movie theaters that were showing his films during his heyday of 1948 to 1951, a common practice for cowboy stars in those days. However, his skillful displays of stunts with his whip, done live on movie theater stages, also convinced young Western fans that there was at least one cowboy hero who could perform in real life the things he did on screen. He continued working in films and television until he retired in 1990.

Television In the later 1950s, LaRue was featured on the children's program The Gabby Hayes Show (in footage from his old PRC Westerns). He appeared several times on the syndicated television series 26 Men, true stories of the Arizona Rangers. LaRue also appeared on Jimmie Jackson's television show Memory Lane. He appeared seven times in different roles in the 1956 TV Western Judge Roy Bean. One of his roles on Judge Roy Bean was as the outlaw John Wesley Hardin. He portrayed another real-life criminal, Doc Barker, in the TV series Gangbusters; his performance was later edited into a feature film, Guns Don't Argue. LaRue and Steve Brodie shared the role (from 1959–1961) of Sheriff Johnny Behan in Cochise County, Arizona, on ABC's The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, starring Hugh O'Brian. LaRue appeared five times; Brodie, nine times.

A role as the villain in a pornographic Western, Hard on the Trail, in 1972, led him to repentance as a missionary for ten years, as he had not been informed of the adult nature of the film and would not have consented to appear in the film. He did not actually appear in any of the pornographic scenes. The film was later released without the pornographic scenes and retitled Hard Trail in an attempt to eliminate the double entendre.

Personal life For a time he was married to Reno Browne, a B-Western film actress, who together with Dale Evans was one of only two Western actresses ever to have their own comic book fashioned after their characters. He later married Barbra Fuller, a radio, film and television actress. Their marriage lasted 14 months; they wed February 23, 1951 in Yuma, Arizona, and divorced June 2, 1952. They had no children but did have a godchild, child actor J.P. Sloane, the son of "Television's Singing Troubadour" Jimmie Jackson and "Television's Hollywood Hostess" Anita Coleman.

Death LaRue died of emphysema in 1996 at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California. He had recently undergone triple-bypass surgery. He was cremated at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California. He was survived by his wife, Frances Bramlett LaRue, three sons and three daughters. LaRue is seen on the 1986 Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings duet album Heroes. On the back cover, LaRue is standing with the duo. Winston Wolfe in Pulp Fiction (1994) mocked Vincent Vega for being "trigger happy" by calling him "Lash LaRue". Professional wrestler Mark LeRoux borrowed his ring name from LaRue, dubbing himself "Lash LeRoux" in 1999.

Filmography Year Title Role Studio Notes 1944 Christmas Holiday Man Universal Pictures Uncredited 1945 The Master Key Migsy Serial; credited as "Alfred La Rue" Lady on a Train Circus club waiter 1945 Song of Old Wyoming The Cheyenne Kid Producers Releasing Corporation Credited as "Al La Rue" 1946 The Caravan Trail Cherokee Wild West Stormy Day Aka Prairie Outlaws 1947 Law of the Lash Cheyenne Davis First lead role Border Feud Pioneer Justice Heartaches DeLong / Trigger Malone Ghost Town Renegades Cheyenne Davis Stage to Mesa City Return of the Lash The Fighting Vigilantes Cheyenne Takes Over 1948 The Enchanted Valley Pretty Boy Eagle-Lion Films Dead Man's Gold Marshal Lash LaRue Western Adventure Productions, Inc. Mark of the Lash Frontier Revenge 1949 Outlaw Country Son of Billy the Kid Jack Garrett Son of a Bad Man Marshal Lash LaRue 1950 The Daltons' Women King of the Bullwhip 1951 The Thundering Trail The Vanishing Outpost 1952 The Black Lash The Frontier Phantom 1957 Guns Don't Argue Doc Barker Visual Drama Inc. feature film compiled from the TV series Gangbusters

Comics Lash LaRue Western comic books were published first by Fawcett Comics (issues #1 through 46) and later by Charlton Comics (issues #47 through 84), between 1949 and 1961. The first issue alone today is worth upwards of $1,000 in near mint condition. They were among the most popular Western-themed comics of the era. Initially, LaRue and other Western stars weren't paid royalties by Fawcett; they were satisfied with just the publicity. (AC later published two reprint editions in 1990.) LaRue comics sold well with a total of 12 million copies in 1952 alone. Many stories featured his godson, J.P. Sloane.

Later films Year Title Role Notes 1963 Please Don't Touch Me Bill 1969 Lanton Mills Phantom Short 1972 Hard on the Trail Slade Pornographic film 1984 Chain Gang 1985 Alien Outlaw Alex Thompson 1987 The Dark Power Ranger Girard 1986 Stagecoach Lash Television film 1989 Escape Gas station owner 1990 Pair of Aces Henry Television film