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National Rodeo Hall of Fame
Inducted in 2011
Don Happy
EVENTS
Rough Stock Rider
Stock Handler and Pick-up Man
Movie Stuntman
Born in Lewiston, Idaho, in 1916, Don Happy began riding horses as a youth and started competing in rodeos around 1940 as a saddle-bronc rider, steer wrestler and occasional bull and bareback-bronc rider. He became a member of the Cowboys Turtle Association (CTA) in 1941.
From the 1940s into the 1960s, Happy also worked for various stock contractors around the nation. He managed the rough stock for Andy Jauregui’s J Spear Rodeo Company at Salinas and at the first and second National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in Dallas in 1959 and 1960. For more than fifteen years, he also served as an arena pick-up man and as a respected rodeo judge. He was chosen as the NFR pick-up man at Dallas in 1961 and again at Los Angeles in 1962.
Happy spent forty-five years in the film industry as a stunt double and extra, doubling for Ronald Reagan, Robert Mitchum, Ken Curtis and Elvis Presley. He worked on the Gunsmoke set for twenty years and appeared on Rawhide, Bonanza and The Big Valley. But he is remembered best in rodeo circles as an all-around horseman and a true gentleman. Don Happy died in 2006.
EVENTS
Rough Stock Rider
Stock Handler and Pick-up Man
Movie Stuntman
Born in Lewiston, Idaho, in 1916, Don Happy began riding horses as a youth and started competing in rodeos around 1940 as a saddle-bronc rider, steer wrestler and occasional bull and bareback-bronc rider. He became a member of the Cowboys Turtle Association (CTA) in 1941.
From the 1940s into the 1960s, Happy also worked for various stock contractors around the nation. He managed the rough stock for Andy Jauregui’s J Spear Rodeo Company at Salinas and at the first and second National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in Dallas in 1959 and 1960. For more than fifteen years, he also served as an arena pick-up man and as a respected rodeo judge. He was chosen as the NFR pick-up man at Dallas in 1961 and again at Los Angeles in 1962.
Happy spent forty-five years in the film industry as a stunt double and extra, doubling for Ronald Reagan, Robert Mitchum, Ken Curtis and Elvis Presley. He worked on the Gunsmoke set for twenty years and appeared on Rawhide, Bonanza and The Big Valley. But he is remembered best in rodeo circles as an all-around horseman and a true gentleman. Don Happy died in 2006.
