Ward Bond

Is Robert Horton going to shoot Ward in that pic since they disliked each other so much?

Elisabeth Risdon et Ward Bond

LOL, May 2, not very many folks are dumb enough to shoot their Pay checks. Ward was a bit jealous of Bob's fan mail, and didn't like his politics or his "holier than thou, I am a METHOD ACTOR and the rest of you are just self taught dummies" attitude. Bob was young, had almost instant fame because of Ward's Wagon Train and Ward's insistence on developing a rough, "fatherly" type image with Flint....and it worked. It is probably the best relationship of its type ever created and maintained....don't think it will ever be duplicated. Bob had talent, can't say he didn't.......he was my very first "heart throb", LOL. But he was a bit too cocky for his own good. He thought he could be a famous singer and wished to do Broadway. He turned down the lead role in The Virginian because he did not want to be typecast. As young as I was, I could not believe what a ridiculous move my "hero" had made. He went on tour in city musical productions. One was the Pajama Game........I went to see it every night it was in Atlanta.......cost me almost 2 months of advance allowance, LOL! But, even though I was right behind the orchestra, up front to see my hero.....even I could tell he most definitely was not star material in the musical arena. His acting wasn't even great in that production...best way I can describe it was "stilted". No, I am afraid Bob was built for westerns....he really excelled in them. He ended up buying his own horse, the Appaloosa type he rode in later seasons, and he was very good on him....did most of his own horse stunts. Bob didn't realize it then, but Ward MADE Flint McCullough; and Flint McCullough made Bob Horton. Oh, Bob did insist on creating a history for his character; and he was allowed to do so......did a good job also, very interesting. But, he knows to this day why he rose so rapidly....it was because of Ward's WT. Ward was brilliant in WT and his tireless work behind the scenes to try to bring accuracy and family entertainment, usually with a "lesson" for not only adults, but children also, is one of the things that brought on his early death. Pappy Ford had taught him well....think of all the river crossings, the dances and singing, the treatment of the Indians....mostly Fordian......yet Pappy had been very worried that the series was bringing Ward down physically. And it was.
Bob is in his 90s now and he and his wife are living out their lives comfortably. But, he lost his brief chance at stardom, and Ward Bond was not the cause of that. Ward was the one who gave him the chance to begin with, and Bob well knows it. He is now less known than Terry Wilson, (Bill Hawks), and Frank McGrath, (Charlie Wooster), who remained with WT throughout its run. If Bob had, or at least had remained in Westerns, perhaps he wouldn't have blown his chance at stardom.

Bob shoot Ward, LOL, he might have wanted to at times, but he was an educated fellah, too smart to kill his "ride", LOL! KEITH

Quote from may2

Is Robert Horton going to shoot Ward in that pic since they disliked each other so much?

Scott is a fifth of the way through the proofs.....says the pictures turned out great even though some of them are very old. He is struggling with the "hated" indexing, LOL. But, he is posting something new every day on is Facebook site. Here is one from today College Coach 1934 in which Ward is an assistant coach and Duke has a part.

In case you forgot here is the FB page:
http://www.facebook.com/ThreeB…neWardBond?ref=ts&fref=ts

If you haven't already, and you like it, PLEASE go to the top of the THREE BAD MEN PAGE and click on the "LIKE" at the TOP of the page....makes a BIG difference for Scott when it comes to funding, etc. THANKS, KEITH

SUPERB, LARRY. Merci, merci beaucoups! KEITH

Well, for those of you who don't check Scott's Three Bad Men page on FB, he usually adds an old or rare photo. Always adds something. For those who don't, here is the one for tomorrow. This is what he says:
"Just look at that handsome young devil! NO, not the one in the middle--that's "LOBO!" The one in the back, on the right: WARDELL E. BOND, with Robert Allen, Florence Rice and Barbara Kent, in GUARD THAT GIRL (1936)." Scott thinks the book will be out April 1st. The review books go out before that. He has about 2 to 3 weeks work left of proofing and indexing. He is up to Ft. Apache.........long way to The Shootist when you count every movie that each did whether together or not. Sure glad I am not indexing this book......shoot, it will probably take up a third of the thing! KEITH

This is from a magazine of unknown title. Unfortunately it came with the cover ripped off and there's nothing inside with a title or publisher information. However, the magazine itself, which seems to date (I guess) from the early '50s is a gold mine of information about cowboy actors. It has an extensive section of Roy Rogers, also Gene Autry, plus full-page and half-page profiles of other stars, and also an extensive listing with pic and capsule bio of hundreds of other western actors in various categories -- top cowboys, good guys, bad guys, sidekicks, gals of the golden west, young 'uns, "south of the border," "gol-durned funny," etc.

The weird thing is I can't find anything about John Wayne in it!

Ward Bond has a half page profile as a "Bad Guy."

You can see Ben Johnson's half page here:

http://benjohnsonscreencaps.shutterfly.com/memorabilia/377

Wow, what a find, Paula. Ask Colorado Bob, he may know what magazine it is. Have you ever seen his site.......man, you would have to pack a mule to actually see it all at one sitting, LOL. Thanks for putting Ward up! KEITH
Where did you find it?

It looks as if the magazine is from the 1950's or 60's, and there were a lot of film magazines and western magazines out during those years. If the magazine still has the table of contents page, they will usually have the copyright information in a small box in very small print somewhere near the bottom of the page (or sometimes in a small side bar box on another page). The title of the magazine and the issue number should be with the copyright notice, or at least the name of the parent or publishing company. Knowing this would help identify the magazine.