A PERSONALITY PROFILE:
"The Master of the Bullwhip", Joe E. Brown came into the world
on a small rundown ranch near Waco,
Texas on the 13th. day of August 1936. His studio bio, says he had learned
the cowboy arts of riding, roping, and shooting almost before he could walk. An honest to goodness cowboy, Joe,
began appearing in rodeos by the time he was twelve, and had performed on horseback publicly more times than even he cares
to remember. By his teens, Brown, had mastered bronc busting, bulldogging, calf roping, and trick riding.
Hollywood, had created a highly fictional biography for Brown the same
way they had for so many other actors.
Many claims were made, some were true, some were debatable, and some were false. . .
Most of the false ones were fabricted by his studio to make him appear to be a macho, authentic western hero.
I will try an address only the facts, and not the clames made by the studio.
It is true that Joe E. Brown, was born on a ranch near Waco, on August 13th. 1936, and
he became a vsry good horseman and stuntrider at a very young age.
But he was never a rodeo performer.
It was said that he owned a fabulous ranch in Texas, this was Hollywood, publicity,
he was born on a ranch,
he did not own a ranch.
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
Joe had his first peek into the
world of show bussiness at the age of ten, when his family moved from Texas, to Florida, near Tampa, where he entered and
won a radio contest on radio station W.H.B.O. and became their "Junior Disc Jockey". Some years
later he would again work in the Tampa Bay Area as a Country and Western dee jay on radio station W.E.B.K.
It was also in Tampa, that he would
meet the Hollywood legend that would give him his first bullwhip and lessions on how to use it. His name was Lash
LaRue, aka "The King of the Bullwhip".
As Lash LaRue's protege, Brown, learned very
quickly the skilled art of whip-cracking. LaRue, found him to be an enthusiastic young man, with
a perfect eye, and hand coordination. In fact, Lash LaRue, was so empressed with Brown's speed
and accuacy that he later hired him to come out to Hollywood, to double the actor who played El Azote, in his signature film:
"King of the Bullwhip".
After "King of the Bullwhip" with LaRue, Joe,
worked for a short while as a stuntman and action rider in a few other westerns. He was then signed to star in his own series for StarDust Western Films.
MOVIES AND ROADSHOWS:
When the first film was
released, Brown went along doing personal appearances with his whip-act. After six
weeks on the road it was back to Hollywood, for the filming of the next, then
it was back on the road again. Anyone who has seen a copy of Joe's original movie contract knows he
did not make an enormous salary in the film business. His chief source of income was from his personal
appearances.
It was with unfailing accuracy, that Joe could cut a kitchen
match from his wifes lips with a precision cut that came naturally to him. He could put out a candle
flame, take a leaf off a tree branch and take a cigarette from Carol's lips in three pieces. Then
wrap his whip around her waist with a loud crack and never once did he hurt her
