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After his first failed marriage, he began courting long time friend, Grace Arline Wilkins, whom he had met around the same time as Lucile

Today we travel back in time to when Western Classics were prime television and every little boy wanted to grow up to be a cowboy in the wild, wild west. Today, we are talking about the great Roy Rogers and Trigger, his trusty steed. This team was so much more than just a western classic, they were an American ideal that should be remembered forever and most likely will. Let’s dive in!

About Roy RogersRoy Rogers wasn’t Roy at all. He was actually born with the name Leonard Franklin Slye on November 5, 1911, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Roy Rogers was strictly a stage name for doing what he did best, which was acting, singing, and being a television host. He was best known as, “The King of the Cowboys” in his heyday. He got his first gig on a radio show in Inglewood, California, and joined the short-lived singing group, the Rocky Mountaineers, who were superseded in 1933 by the O-Bar-O Cowboys. The O-Bar-O Cowboys disbanded in Lubbock. Rogers and his associates, Bob Nolan and Tim Spencer went on to organize the Sons of the Pioneers in 1934. Some of their best-known songs are “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” and “Cool Water”.

His film career was just as successful as his singing career. Having filmed in several western type movies before landing the role and stage name, “Roy Rogers”, this is what set him apart from the rest. He went on to act alongside John Wayne, Gene Autry, and many other country-western actors and singers. Roy had three wives over his lifetime. His first was Lucile Ascolese, who was a long time fan. They married in 1933 in Los Angeles, unfortunately, the marriage failed, and the couple divorced in 1936.

After his first failed marriage, he began courting long time friend, Grace Arline Wilkins, whom he had met around the same time as Lucile. They were married in Roswell on June 11, 1936, having corresponded since their first meeting. In 1941, they adopted their first daughter, Cheryl Darlene. The couple went on to have a daughter of their own, Linda Lou and a son, Roy, Jr. (“Dusty”), was born in 1946; Grace died of complications from the birth a few days later, on November 3.
Rogers met Dale Evans in 1944 when they were cast in a film together. They fell in love soon after Grace’s death, and Rogers proposed to her during a rodeo at Chicago Stadium. They married on New Year’s Eve in 1947 at the Flying L Ranch in Davis, Oklahoma, where they had filmed Home in Oklahoma a few months earlier. Together they had five children and were together until Roy’s death in 1998. Together the couple made 88 movies together and 100 episodes of the Roy Rogers television show with Trigger, Bullet, Nellybelle, and other great cast members. They were the true American ideal.
Trigger was born on July 4, 1934. His name wasn’t Trigger though, he was born with the name “Golden Cloud”. He starred in his first movie as just a four-year-old. Which for those of you that knew horses, know that that is quite a feat to have a young horse broke for the movies. Roy met Trigger when he was starring in his first major film, and he was given the choice of five “rented” movie horses and he chose Trigger. It didn’t take long for the two to hit it off. Roy bought Trigger in 1943 and gave him his coined name “Trigger”.
Trigger was known for being too smart for his own good. He knew 150 trick cues and eventually, they ran out of places to cue him for tricks. It didn’t take long for the famous horse to turn into the ham he is known for. When audiences would start clapping, he would automatically bow, which would ruin the trick. He could walk up to 50 feet on his hind legs, sign his autograph (X) with a pencil, and his best trick was that he was house trained. The house training came in handy when for as much time as he spent in hotels, theaters, and hospitals with the kids when he would make fan visits.
The famous yellow horse made not only a name for himself, but also Roy in his life. Roy retired Trigger in 1957 when “The Roy Rogers Show” ended. The stallion was retired to a ranch not far from the family home and was left to a field of green grass and California sunshine. Trigger died peacefully in 1965. Roy didn’t want to bury his long time partner, so he decided to preserve him for generations to come. He had Trigger stuffed and put on display at the Roy Roers-Dale Evans Museum when it originally opened in Apple Valley, California in 1967.
 
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Ian Ziering was involved in an apparent road scuffle with multiple bikers in Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve


In a video obtained by TMZ, the former Beverly Hills, 90210 star seemed to be surrounded by a group of people riding mini-bikes on Hollywood Blvd. Ziering, 59, then got out of his vehicle and appeared to get into a physical altercation with one of them.

Soon after the two started fighting, other bikers circled back and surrounded the actor as they all started attacking him. The Sharknado actor then appeared to run away from the group as he tried to cross to the other side of the roadway.

Per the TMZ clip, he was chased by the group and apparently grabbed by the shirt, pushed into another vehicle and struck more than once.The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to CW affiliate KTLA that officers responded to the area at Hollywood Blvd and Highland Ave. around 3 p.m. on Sunday following “reports of a fight that broke out after the group of bikers were driving recklessly.”

The incident remains under investigation, per the outlet.
The LAPD and reps for Ziering did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment on Monday. The actor has yet to post about the incident on his Instagram account at the time of publication.
TMZ reported that the actor was listed as a victim in an official report, and that as of 6 p.m. PT Sunday, police had not made any arrests.
In another video released by the outlet, Ziering appeared to be comforting his daughter, Mia, 12, who looked like she was upset by the incident involving her father and the group of riders.According to TMZ, “Ian and Mia seem physically fine.”
In March 2023, at 90s Con in Connecticut, Ziering opened up about his career during a 90210 panel moderated by PEOPLE’s Andrea Lavinthal. As he shared at the time, the actor almost had a future in reality TV.“Shortly after [Beverly Hills, 90210] went off the air, Missy Halperin, who we all know [in casting], said, ‘Ian, would you ever consider hosting a reality show?’ And I’m like, ‘No. I’m an actor.’ That reality show was American Idol,” Ziering said.
“Not that it was an offer,” he added. “But would I consider my name being thrown in a hat.”
Still, he joked that he “would have been horrible” and instead has his eyes on The Price Is Right.
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Bruce Willis was fired off course by an explosion that almost ended his life at just 33-years-old


Bruce Willis narrowly dodged death in Die Hard stunt gone wrong – ‘laughed about it’Bruce Willis was fired off course by an explosion that almost ended his life at just 33-years-old.

Bruce Willis made a name for himself in the 1980s with the incredible Die Hard film series.

And while his character, the rogue cop John McClane, got away some some jaw-dropping death-defying stunts throughout the five films thus far, his first picture as the hero was almost his last.

Willis – who recently retired after being diagnosed with dementia – joined the John McTiernan-directed picture at just 33-years-old and was eager to make his mark on the film industry.
This meant doing all of his own stunts and putting as much physical effort into the performance as possible.
Willis’ excitement almost killed him just a few days into filming, though, when a stunt involving him jumping off a five-storey building sent him flying through the air on the wrong trajectory.
Willis’ unbelievable stunt was recalled in the new Nick de Semlyen book The Last Action Heroes. In it, the American actor recalled jumping off a five-storey parking garage while covered in flame-repellant gel.
As Willis leapt off the building, explosions were set off to complete the incredible stunt – but something went awry during the caper’s preparation.
When the explosions were set off Willis was caught in the crossfire, sending him way off course on his fall. As a result, he just barely managed to land on the giant airbag placed beneath him for safety. (Via Fox News)
Willis landed on the edge of the safety mat and – against all odds – was completely unharmed. But the cast and crew watching believed they had just witnessed the star’s death.
Willis recalled: “When I landed, everyone came running over to me and I thought they were going to say, ‘Great job! Attaboy!’ And what they were doing is seeing if I’m alive because I almost missed the bag.”
According to the book, Die Hard’s director and crew decided to film this stunt early in production so they had time to recast John McClane if Willis were to die.
At the time of filming, Willis was married to Demi Moore, who was extremely unhappy about how the stunt was handled.
She wrote in her memoir Inside Out that her visit to the set was “terrible”. “He nearly died jumping off a five-storey garage,” she explained.
“Just making it onto the airbag below when he was blown off course by a scripted explosion. He laughed about it. I didn’t.”PROC. BY MOVIES

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Wayne suffered numerous physical difficulties through the years, and while filming Rio Lobo, he couldn’t use one side of his body


John Wayne is a Western film icon and starred in many notable films during the Hollywood Golden Age. For over 30 years, fans saw his name attached to Westerns and war movies and couldn’t wait to see what he was filming next. But that doesn’t mean filming came easy for the superstar, especially in regard to injuries. Wayne suffered numerous physical difficulties through the years, and while filming Rio Lobo, he couldn’t use one side of his body. Here’s why.

Rio Lobo, a remake of Rio Bravo and El Dorado, came out in 1970 and featured John Wayne as the lead. Wayne played Cord McNally, a Civil War veteran searching for two traitors who caused McNally’s unit to go down. McNally travels to the town of Rio Lobo to unearth a shocking discovery.

Rio Lobo was director Howard Hawks’ last film, and it was far from the first time he worked with Wayne. “The last picture we made, I called him up and said, ‘Duke, I’ve got a story,’” Hawks said in 1971, according to Express.co.uk. “He said, ‘I can’t make it for a year, I’m all tied up.’ And I said, ‘Well, that’s all right, it’ll take me a year to get it finished.’ He said, ‘Good, I’ll be all ready.’ And he came down on location and he said, ‘What’s this about?’ And I told him the story. He never even read it, he didn’t know anything about it.”

Ultimately, Rio Lobo bombed, and Hawks blamed it on Waynes being too old and out of shape for the movie to succeed. But Waynes had other difficulties on set. Before filming, he fractured three ribs while filming The Undefeated and gained weight for True Grit. He also tore a ligament in his shoulder. Filmmakers had to film only one side of Wayne’s body because he couldn’t move one arm.
Wayne’s torn shoulder was particularly difficult when it came to navigating the fight scenes in the film. Hawks had to utilize stand-in actors, and Wayne could only be seen from certain angles. Mounting and getting off of the horse smoothly also proved near impossible.
John Wayne had just previously gained weight for ‘True Grit’
As stated before, John Wayne was asked to gain weight for True Grit before filming Rio Lobo. Producer Hal Wallis hired Henry Hathaway to direct True Grit, and Hathaway requested that Wayne gain weight for the role of Marshal Reuben J. Cogburn. Wayne was reportedly overjoyed with the request.
The role came with another request that Wayne didn’t want to give into, though — and that was the eye patch. Wayne worried that an eye patch would have his fans turn against him, as it wasn’t the image they were used to seeing. But Wallis requested the eye patch remain.
However, Wallis and Wayne did compromise on one other aspect of Wayne’s appearance as Cogburn, though. They both agreed that Wayne didn’t have to have a mustache to play the character.
He didn’t understand why filmgoers wanted to watch ‘tough and bleak’ WesternsWhile John Wayne is known for filming classic, gritty Westerns, he reportedly didn’t understand their appeal.
“I was getting anxious because there was this young guy called Clint Eastwood making Westerns in Italy and having tremendous success with them,” Wayne said at the end of the 1960s. “All of a sudden, the studios all wanted Eastwood to come and make Westerns for them, but they were not the kind of Westerns I’d been making. They were tough and bleak. I don’t get it. What do people see in these films?”
With that said, True Grit won Wayne Best Actor at the Academy Awards in 1970. Unfortunately, Rio Lobo didn’t win him the same accolades.
Elements of this story were first reported by Mank’s Movie Musings.
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