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Western Heritage Awards Shines a Light on Amazing Talent

Western Heritage Awards Shines a Light on Amazing Talent

WESTERN HERITAGE AWARDS

BY M. J. VAN DEVENTER

 

          A cast of veteran Hollywood movie stars and a variety of western celebrities graced the stage at the National Cowboy Museum April 21 to accept their honors as outstanding western legends during the 51st annual Western Heritage Awards program.

The venerable Ernest Borgnine, a frequent presenter at the awards program, shared the emcee spotlight with Wyatt McCrea, a member of the Museum’s Board of Directors and grandson of the late Joel McCrea, who was a WHA honoree and a long-time member of the Museum’s early-day Board of Directors.

What was evident throughout the evening, and the press conference that preceded the night’s festivities, was the bond the celebrities share with each other as they told stories of their life and times in so many western movies, television specials and documentaries.

Throughout the evening, many of the honorees paid tribute to those stars who paved the way for their success. Bruce Boxleitner, an inductee into the Hall of Great Western Performers, thanked the late James Arness for choosing him for a role in How The West Was Won ~ a pivotal opportunity that opened the door for Boxleitner’s career, which numbers more than 100 roles in movies and television since 1972.

         Wyatt praised Borgnine for being “a legend in his own time” and said, “It is an honor to share the evening with Ernest Borgnine.” Buck Taylor echoed that sentiment. Borgnine was previously inducted into the Museum’s Hall of Great Western Performers and has been a frequent WHA participant since then.

Also receiving that honor was the late Fess Parker, the American icon so well known for his portrayals of frontiersmen Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone. Boxleitner noted Fess Parker as Davy Crockett was his first western hero.

Several performers quipped that a rabbit hair faux coonskin hat, imitating what Crockett and Boone wore, was their first brush with western celebrity fashion. After leaving movies, Parker became a California real estate developer, and his resort, winery vineyard and country inn and spa is a popular tourist attraction. His daughter, Ashley Parker-Snider, accepted the honor for her late father.

To be inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers, , actors must have made significant contributions to the perpetuation of the Western film, radio or theatre through a solid body of work, which must project the traditional western values of honesty, integrity and self-sufficiency.

Similar standards are required for those inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners. Honorees must promote America’s rich western heritage through leadership in business, industry, education and philanthropy. The 2012 honorees were Temple Grandin, who was born autistic and has achieved significant fame for her research and teaching on livestock handling and facility design. Burns Hargis, President of Oklahoma State University, presented her award.

 Also honored was the late Texan, Walter Prescott Webb, a historian and author noted for his groundbreaking historical work on the American west

The late Texan, Jerry Cates, received the Chester A. Reynolds Memorial Award, honoring the Museum’s founder. Cates was a true entrepreneur carving a niche in western business circles with his custom bits and spurs.

What was as evident during the gala evening as the movie stars’ recollections of their heroes was the humorous repartee among the presenting actors. Borgnine and Buck Taylor shared friendly barbs during the press conference. Rex Linn and Robert Knott amused the awards dinner crowd with their competitive banter about movie and television roles won and lost.

All of the presenters shared their connection with Hollywood westerns ~ movies and/or television, music, literary pursuits, ranching or related endeavors that concern the American West.

Among other stars taking their turn on the stage were Lynn Anderson, Red Steagall, Ty England and Juni Fisher, musicians; Brad Johnson and Darby Hinton, actors; Dean Smith, a movie stuntman; Anita La Cava Swift and Brendan Wayne, western personalities and grandchildren of the late John Wayne.

Wayne, a well-known western hero, was named a “Great Western Performer” and served on the Museum’s Board of Directors during its formative years. This year, he was named among the nation’s most popular actors, a poll position he has held since 1994, giving him an unparalleled place in movie history for a long-deceased actor.

All of the honorees related stories of their love for the west, the western lifestyle and the homespun, honest values that are the signature of the western movies, music and literature honored during the evening.

The cast of Yellow Rock received honors as best theatrical motion picture. They called the movie “a classic western with a message.” They studied old John Ford movies and told the story from a Native American viewpoint.

 Their commentary, at the press conference, prompted Borgnine to say, “We need to get the moneyed people away from the shooting, sex and violence on today’s screen. If they would do that, even I would go back to work.” Temple Grandin asked “what happened to Roy Rogers’ rules for living” ~ often considered the ‘code of the west’ by Hollywood writers and film stars.

 In the literary awards category, the University of Oklahoma Press took top honors with three books. Among them: After Custer: Loss and Transformation in Sioux Country by Paul L. Hedren, outstanding nonfiction book; Shooting From The Hip: Photographs and Essays by Joe Don Cook, outstanding photography book; and The Eugene B. Adkins Collection by B. Byron Price and others, outstanding art book.

 

Other literary winners included:

 

 Milagro of the Spanish Bean Pot, Emerita Romero-Anderson, Texas Tech University Press, outstanding juvenile book.

Married Into It, Patricia Frolander, High Plains Press, outstanding poetry book.

Rode, Thomas Fox Averill, University of New Mexico Press, outstanding western novel.

When Wynkoop Was Sheriff, Louis Kraft, Wild West magazine, outstanding magazine article.

 

Music winners included:

 

Keep the Campfire A Burnin’, written and performed by R. J. Vandygriff, from the album “ The Cowboy Ain’t Dead Yet! Volume Three, producer Ronny Light, Centerstage Productions, outstanding original composition.

The Best Of ~ Volume 1, Dan Roberts, recording artist; Tommy Allsup, producer. Outstanding traditional western album.

 

Other television and film winners were:

 

Main Street Wyoming: Charles Belden ~ Cowboy Photographer, Tom Manning and Kyle Nicholoff, Wyoming PBS, outstanding documentary.

Love’s Christmas Journey, by the Hallmark Channel Ernest Borgnine actor, Lincoln Lageson Producer.

 

        The fashions worn for the event were as colorful and varied as the stories told during the evening. From short cocktail and prom dress attire to flowing gowns reminiscent of 1940s Hollywood glamour, the fashions at this black tie event always invite guests to be creative.  Western themes reign of course. From cowboy hats to jeweled boots and fabrics that range from lace and satin to velvet and rhinestone-studded silk, the evening honors the best in music, literature and film and also inspires applause for the best in traditional and contemporary western wear.