About
Actor, stuntman and cowboy who won an Academy Award for his role as Sam the Lion in the 1971 Western The Last Picture Show.
Before Fame
He was born on the Osage Indian Reservation in Oklahoma to a family of mixed Cherokee and Irish heritage. He became a World Champion of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association before beginning his career in the movies.
Trivia
He died of a heart attack in his late seventies and was survived by his mother, Ollie Susan Workmon Johnson-Rider, who died at the age of 101.
Family Life
He was married to Carol Elaine Jones for over fifty years.
Associated With
He became interested in film acting after working as a horse wrangler for director Howard Hughes' 1943 Western film, The Outlaw.
