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1987 WALK OF FAME
HONOREE BEN JOHNSON

Ben Johnson exudes true western charm
and can keep a crowd literally spellbound
with his storytelling genius. He's also a
highly respected professional throughout
the motion picture industry and holds
world champion awards for steer roping.
Born Ben Johnson, Jr., the son of a
World Champion Steer Roper, he lived in
Pawhuska, Oklahoma until 1940 when
Howard Hughes had him bring Palomino
horses out to Arizona for the filming of the
movie "The Outlaw" starring Jane Russell. Ben was working on "The Outlaw"
location in Arizona when he met his wife Carol, the daughter of Fat Jones who sup-
plied the wagons and the horses for many of the early Westerns.
In his early days in Hollywood, Ben worked as a stuntman doubling for actors
such as John Wayne, Joel McCrae, Wild Bill Elliot, and Randolph Scott. Before
Ben became a well-known actor he worked in many facets of the movie industry -
from driver to stuntman to wrangler to stand-in to star.
He got his first part as an actor when his skill as a horseman and quick thinking
avoided a major accident with a team of horses and a wagon. John Ford was so im-
pressed with Ben's ability that he asked him if he could act. Ben said no, but he
could try. John Ford gave him his first part in a movie called ''Mighty Joe Young''
with Terry Moore.
Ben Johnson has played in well over 300 pictures and won the Academy A ward
for best-supporting actor for his role as the slow-talking, earthy, small-town Texas
character, Sam the Lion, in Peter Bogdanovich's "The Last Picture Show,"
Though his Hollywood career keeps him busy, Ben has always managed to
squeeze in time for horses. Ben often works the rodeo circuit roping steers. In 1953,
he followed in his father's footsteps by becoming the World Champion Steer Roper
for that year. And after receiving two Cowboy Hall of Fame A wards, the Buffalo
Bill A ward and the Cowboy Hall of Champions A ward, Ben was inducted into the
Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1982.
He has been involved in many charities including a yearly charity rodeo, named
after his father, in his hometown of Pawhuska, which benefits the Cancer Fund.
Ben also teaches young children how to carry on the old Western tradition of cattle
roping. He has taught many of his neighborhood children and former President
Gerald Ford's son, Steve Ford, how to rope cattle.
Ben Johnson maintains a ranch in Montana, one in Oklahoma and a building and
development business in Westlake Village, California where he lives with his wife
Carol.