EVENTS
Rodeo Clown and Bullfighter
Bareback Bronc Rider
Saddle Bronc Rider
Born Louis Bert Lindley, Jr. in California in 1919, cowboy and actor Slim Pickens came by his nickname naturally, he said, “considerin’ that in those days you didn’t make a dime doin’ rodeos.” An outstanding horseman, rough stock rider, and steer wrestler, Pickens was also a colorful bullfighter who wore a trademark toreador outfit, complete with cape. Slim Pickens was a rodeo regular from the 1940s until retiring from the arena in 1962.
More famous for his acting career, Pickens signed with Republic Studios in 1950. With gravelly voice and folksy ways, he appeared in such films as “Stagecoach”, “One-Eyed Jacks”, and “Honeysuckle Rose” (with Willie Nelson). In his most memorable role, Pickens played a B-52 pilot who rode a hydrogen bomb, waving his cowboy hat and yelling “Yahoo!,” as he plunged to oblivion in “Dr. Strangelove”.
Always confident of his own ability, Pickens once hocked his boots in order to pay his entry fees at the 1942 Prescott, Arizona, rodeo. Slim Pickens died in California in 1983. Said an admirer, “He was first, last, and always a cowboy, in the finest sense of the word.”
