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Often called “rodeo’s Walter Cronkite,” James C. “Cy” Taillon was the first announcer to make his entire living behind a rodeo microphone. Born in 1907 in North Dakota, Taillon was a law student, a professional musician, a bareback rider, a trick rider and roper, and a radio personality in his early years. He also worked as a Hollywood stand-in for actor Robert Taylor in “Billy the Kid”. Taillon announced his first rodeo in Butte, Montana, in 1939.
For 40 years Cy Taillon’s rich voice called the action at every major rodeo on the national circuit. His personal goal was to present the rodeo cowboy as a professional athlete. Taillon’s superb delivery was distinguished by precise grammar and clear description. His career included 33 consecutive years at Denver, 30 years at the San Francisco Cow Palace, and 9 years at the National Finals Rodeo.
“The golden voice of rodeo,” Cy Taillon retired from the arena in the 1970s and died in 1980.
