January 26 Birthday Wishes

Walter Barnes [1918 - 1998]

Paul Newman [1925 - 2008]

Scott Glenn [1942 - ]

This is well I pay attention: I did not know that Walter Barnes played bot the sheriff in High Plains Drifter and Tank Murdoch in Every Which Way But Loose!

Paul Newman, of course, is one of the all-time greats. Scott Glenn, too, is a very good actor. He was terrific as Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard in The Right Stuff. Also in Silverado, The Hunt For Red October, Silence of the Lambs, Apocalypse Now.

I knew Walter "Piggy" Barnes the last few years of his life. He lived alone in an apartment in Van Nuys, CA. My friend Neil Summers set me up with an interview with Walter and the first thing he said to me was, "Why do you want to interview me?" Walter was an All-American and All Pro football player for LSU and the Philadelphia Eagles. During his time with the Eagles he appeared on a live western TV series called "Action in the Afternoon" filmed on the back lot of a local Philadelphia TV station. He then moved to Hollywood and appeared in a number of western TV series and films before moving to Germany where he became a regular with Lex Barker in the Karl May "Winnetou" films. Then on to Italy where he made a few Spaghetti westerns and finally back to Hollywood where he became part of Clint Eastwood's stock company. Walter was a painter and dinner speaker. I guess that's why I wanted to interview him.
Typical western actor a very nice man and a great story teller. Happy birthday amigo.

Just watched Walter Barnes and Dan Blocker the other day play a pair of slimy prairie rats in an episode of "Gunsmoke." He, as always, was great in his role.

Howdy Tinhorn!!

I also was unaware that Walter Barnes was the Sheriff in High Plains Drifter and Tank Murdock in Every Which Way But Loose. I always get him confused with Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, who often played a heavy in westerns. Now that I think about it, it must have been Walter Barnes that played the Sheriff in Bronco Billy!! A little trivia about Walter Barnes. In 1950, while playing for the Philidelphia Eagles, he went to Biloxi, Miss. for the Sugar Bowl between L.S.U. and Oklahoma. Barnes had played football for L.S.U. during his college days. Tipped off by an L.S.U. fan, several photographers and a Bilioxi police officer caught Barnes sitting on a 4x6 which ran between 2 ladders in a make shift scaffolding, with binoculars, a notepad and a tarp over him, so he could spy on the Oklahoma football practices. Barnes ran from the scene to another former L.S.U. players house and hid!! The University of L.S.U disclaimed any involvement and Barnes denied it for the rest of his life!! Oklahoma won 35-0!! A photo of this still hangs at Owens field!!

What more can be said about Paul Newman?? He turned down the lead role in Ben Hur, because as he said" I didn't have the legs for it", but he excelled in almost every role he did. From Hud to The Color Of Money, Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid through Road To Perdition, he made you believe in his character, and when all is said and done, what more can you ask of an actor??

As for Scott Glenn, along with the above named movies, he also appeared as a corrupt Secret Service man in Eastwood's, Absolute Power. A fine actor, but his role is Silverado is my favorite!!

Ed