Aug 08

Peggy Stewart Passes Away at 95

Our beautiful, wonderful Peggy Stewart, “The Queen of the Bees,” passed away on May 29.  We will all miss her, especially my niece Julie Pomilia and her husband Gino. Over the past many years, they spent most Monday nights with Peggy watching movies.

Peggy was born Margaret “Peggy” O’Rourke on June 5, 1923 in West Palm Beach, FL.  While in her teens, she moved to Los Angeles to live with her grandmother. Peggy was already an accomplished horsewoman when she made her screen debut at 14, playing the daughter of Joel McCrea and, his real off-screen wife, Frances Dee (what a way to start her career), in 1937’s “Wells Fargo.”  Her debut was quickly followed by 12 more films between 1937 and 1943 when she signed a contract with Republic Pictures.

While at Republic, Peggy worked in a lot of Western and several serials (32), including the Western “Utah” which starred my folks, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans

 
Peggy with Roy and Dale

It was while at Republic that Peggy was given the title, Queen of the Bees” as she co-starred with most of the Western actors then under contract with Republic and later (she left Republic in 1947) with Columbia.  Between 1947 and 1952 Peggy co-starred in another 12 films. She also appeared with Allan “Rocky” Lane and Wild Bill Elliott in numerous parades, rodeos and state fairs around the USA.

In the early 1950’s, Peggy made the transition from movies to the small screen. She was such a fine actress that she was in great demand and she worked on over 80 different series and 8 made-for-TV films!!!

Peggy also continued to be active in films from the 60’s through 1981 (27 films).  She later appeared in “Hollywood, It’s a Dog’s Life” (2004), “The Runaways” (2010), “Dadgum, Texas” (2011) and she played Adam Sandler’s Grandmother in “That’s My Boy” (2012).

Peggy in “That’s My Boy”

This last picture is how I will always think of Peggy, laughing and smiling with joy.

She was a great favorite with the fans attending Western and Film Festivals around the country, especially at Williamsburg, VA and Lone Pine, CA.  She always had time to visit and to share stories about their favorite cowboy heroes.

She was a great lady, who led a productive and incredible life.  All of us who were privileged to know her are feeling our loss.

Click here to see a wonderful interview visit with Peggy

Jan 11

Don Kay “Little Brown Jug” Reynolds

This past Wednesday, I lost my oldest friend. I call him my oldest friend because we met when I was only 4 years old and Jug and his family moved in next door to Glenn Randall, Trigger’s trainer.

Dad met Jug before I did. He saw Jug doing stunts on horseback in 1943 at Madison Square Gardens. I think Jug was only about 5 or 6 at the time. Dad told Fess, Jug’s father, that he ought to bring Jug to Hollywood, where Dad thought he would be a big hit in films. A year or so later, Fess moved his family out to the San Fernando Valley, on Longridge Ave., right next door to Glenn Randall.

Since we grew up together, I have a hard time calling him Don (even though I know that he preferred that name). He was always Jug to us kids that grew up around the horses and barns. Jug’s father was an outstanding animal trainer and he worked with a lot of critters, not just horses. Jug inherited that ability.

He started out riding horses in rodeos and horse shows, then graduated to training horses himself. He did stunts as an 8-year old (like jumping out of a buckboard wagon going at full speed down a dirt road into Dad’s arms) that most adults wouldn’t consider doing! When he got to Hollywood, he worked in a couple of Dad’s films but he also appeared in a lot of other Western films as well. He finally became the last of the movie Little Beaver’s to actor Jim Bannon’s Red Ryder.

Jug was absolutely fearless. He would do the craziest things on horses, at least I thought they were crazy. He started Roman riding (standing on 2 horses, side-by-side at the same time) at about 9. He said it was how he could exercise two horses at the same time. He had no fear walking into the corral with his dad’s Brahma bulls.

Dad owned a miniature red stagecoach that was pulled by a team of dapple grey ponies (Nip and Tuck). Jug would drive us kids around Longridge on the coach and we even did a funny home movie where a whole bunch of us neighborhood kids went out one door of the coach and came around the coach to exit again (just like clowns did in the circus). We thought that was hilarious. It was a great neighborhood to be in. Not only were there the Reynolds and the Randall’s, but the Eppers lived on the cul de sac at the end to the road. Most the the Eppers kids, Jug and his brothers, and Junior Randall all became stunt people!!!

Jug later became a trainer. In fact, he was the trainer of that beautiful white horse in the Lord of the Rings movies, Shadowfax! He told me that he loved working with that horse.

A few years back, Jug retired from Hollywood and moved back to a little town in Texas named Bowie. I introduced him to some friends of mine, Bob and Johnie Terry. Bob is my partner in my websites and he has some wonderful websites of his own, including Westerns of the Web. Bob gave Jug and I the opportunity to work together on a couple of interviews for that website and we had a great time!

Jug was one of the kindest, gentlest men I have ever known. He was a wonderful friend and a great person. All of us who have known him, will never forget how privileged we have been.