Slim Pickens - wikipedia Slim Pickens This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( April 2017 ) Some of this article 's listed sources may not be reliable. Please help this article by looking for better, more reliable sources. Unreliable citations may be challenged or deleted. ( September 2015 ) Slim Pickens Slim Pickens in 1972 Louis Burton Lindley Jr. ( 1919 - 06 - 29 ) June 29, 1919 Kingsburg, California, U.S. December 8, 1983 ( 1983 - 12 - 08 ) ( aged 64 ) Modesto, California, U.S. Years active 1946 -- 83 Spouse ( s ) Margaret ( née Harmon ) Lindley Louis Burton Lindley Jr. ( June 29, 1919 -- December 8, 1983 ), better known by his stage name Slim Pickens, was an American rodeo performer and film and television actor. During much of his career, Pickens played mainly cowboy roles, and is perhaps best remembered today for his comic roles in Dr. Strangelove and Blazing Saddles. Contents 1 Early life 2 Film career 2.1 Dr. Strangelove 3 Voice work 4 Television 5 Awards 6 Personal life 7 Filmography 8 Television 9 See also 10 References 11 External links Early life Louis Burton Lindley Jr. was born in Kingsburg, California, the son of Sally Mosher ( née Turk ) and Louis Bert Lindley Sr., a Texas - born dairy farmer. Young Lindley was an excellent horse rider from an early age. Known as `` Bert '' to his family and friends, he grew bored with dairy farming and began to make a few dollars by riding broncos and roping steers in his early teens. His father found out and forbade this activity. Lindley took no notice, went to compete in a rodeo, and was told by the doubtful rodeo manager that there would be `` slim pickin 's '' for him. To prevent his father from discovering that he had competed, he entered his name as Slim Pickens and won $400 that afternoon. Lindley graduated from Hanford High School, Hanford, California, and was a member of the Future Farmers of America. He joined the rodeo, billed as Slim Pickens, and eventually became a well - known rodeo clown. During the second World War, he enlisted in the United States Army. Reportedly when the recruiter asked him his profession, he responded `` Rodeo ''. This was misread as radio and he spent his entire enlistment at a radio station in the American Midwest. Film career After nearly 20 years of rodeo work, his distinctive Oklahoma -- Texas drawl ( though he was a lifelong Californian ), his wide eyes, moon face, and strong physical presence gained him a role in the Western film film Rocky Mountain ( 1950 ) starring Errol Flynn. He appeared in many more Westerns, playing both villains and comic sidekicks to the likes of Rex Allen. Hollywood made good use of Pickens ' rodeo background. He did not need a stand - in for horseback scenes, and he was able to gallop his own Appaloosa horses across the desert, or drive a stagecoach pulled by a six - horse team. In a large number of films and TV shows, he wore his own hats and boots, and rode his own horses and mules. Pickens appeared in dozens of films, including Rocky Mountain ( 1950 ), Old Oklahoma Plains ( 1952 ), Down Laredo Way ( 1953 ), Tonka ( 1959 ), One - Eyed Jacks ( 1961 ) with Marlon Brando, Dr. Strangelove ( 1964 ), Major Dundee ( 1965 ) with Charlton Heston, the remake of Stagecoach ( 1966 ; Pickens played the driver, portrayed in the 1939 film by Andy Devine ), Never a Dull Moment ( 1968 ), The Cowboys ( 1972 ) with John Wayne, Ginger in the Morning ( 1974 ) with Fred Ward, Blazing Saddles ( 1974 ), Poor Pretty Eddie ( 1975 ), Rancho Deluxe ( 1975 ), The Getaway with Steve McQueen, Tom Horn ( 1980 ), also with McQueen, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure ( 1979 ) with Michael Caine and Karl Malden, An Eye for an Eye ( 1966 ) and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid ( 1973 ). He had a small but memorable role in Steven Spielberg 's 1941 ( 1979 ) in scenes with Toshiro Mifune and Christopher Lee ; during one scene, he enumerates the objects on his person, similar to the way he does in the `` Survival Kit Contents Check '' scene in Dr. Strangelove. In 1978, Pickens lent his voice to theme park Silver Dollar City as a character named Rube Dugan, for a ride called `` Rube Dugan 's Diving Bell ''. The diving bell was a simulation ride that took passengers on a journey to the bottom of Lake Silver and back. The ride was in operation from 1978 to 1984. He also played werewolf sheriff Sam Newfield in The Howling ( 1981 ). In 1960, he appeared in the NBC Western series, Overland Trail in the episode `` Sour Annie '' with fellow guest stars Mercedes McCambridge and Andrew Prine. Pickens appeared five times on NBC 's Outlaws ( 1960 -- 62 ) Western series as the character `` Slim ''. The program, starring Barton MacLane, was the story of a U.S. marshal in Oklahoma Territory -- deputies played by Don Collier, Jock Gaynor, and Bruce Yarnell -- and the outlaws that they pursued. In 1967, Pickens had a recurring role as the scout California Joe Milner on the ABC military Western Custer, starring Wayne Maunder in the title role. In 1975, Pickens was in another Western, playing the evil, limping bank robber in Walt Disney 's The Apple Dumpling Gang ; that same year, the exploitation classic Poor Pretty Eddie was released, with Pickens portraying twisted Sheriff Orville. He provided the voice of B.O.B. in the 1979 Disney science - fiction thriller The Black Hole. His last film was his least notable, Pink Motel ( 1982 ) with Phyllis Diller. Dr. Strangelove Pickens played B - 52 pilot Major T.J. `` King '' Kong. in Dr. Strangelove. Stanley Kubrick cast Pickens after Peter Sellers, who played three other roles in the film, sprained his ankle and was unable to perform in the role due to having to work in the cramped cockpit set. Pickens was chosen because his accent and comic sense were perfect for the role of Kong, a cartoonishly patriotic and gung - ho B - 52 commander. He was not given the script to the entire film, but only those portions in which he played a part. Three memorable scenes featuring Pickens were : Slim Pickens as Major `` King '' Kong riding a nuclear bomb to oblivion in Dr. Strangelove A monologue meant to steel the crew for their duty after he receives the definitive inflight order to bomb a strategic target in the USSR Reading aloud to his crew the contents of their survival kits ( possibly the first mention of condoms in a Hollywood film ) : After listing the contents usable for barter with Russian women ( prophylactics, nylons, lipstick, etc. ), as well as a. 45 automatic pistol, Major Kong said, `` Shoot, a fella could have a pretty good time in Big D ( Dallas ) with all this stuff. '' This line had to be looped ( the reference to Dallas changed to `` weekend in Vegas '' ) after the November 22, 1963, screening for critics was cancelled due to President John F. Kennedy 's assassination. Best known of all, Pickens riding a dropped H - bomb to a certain death, whooping and waving his cowboy hat ( in the manner of a rodeo performer bronc riding or bull riding ), not knowing its detonation will trigger a Russian doomsday device Pickens credited Dr. Strangelove as a turning point in his career. Previously, he was `` Hey you '' on sets and afterward he was addressed as `` Mr. Pickens ''. He once said, `` After Dr. Strangelove, the roles, the dressing rooms, and the checks all started gettin ' bigger. '' Pickens said he was amazed at the difference a single movie could make. However, Pickens also said that working with Stanley Kubrick proved too difficult due to Kubrick 's perfectionist style of directing with multiple takes for nearly every shot, especially with the climactic H - bomb riding scene, which was done in just over 100 takes. In the late 1970s, Pickens was offered the part of Dick Hallorann in Kubrick 's adaptation of Stephen King 's The Shining, but Pickens stipulated that he would appear in the film only if Kubrick was required to shoot Pickens ' scenes in fewer than 100 takes. Instead, Pickens ' agent showed the script to Don Schwartz, the agent of Scatman Crothers, and Crothers accepted the role. Voice work Pickens lent his voice to the 1975 studio recording of Bobby Bridger 's collection of Western ballads A Ballad of the West, in which he narrated part 1, `` Seekers of the Fleece '', the story of Jim Bridger and the mountain man fur - trade era. Pickens also voiced B.O.B., one of the main robot characters in the 1979 science fiction film The Black Hole ( uncredited ). Television Pickens appeared in numerous television guest shots, including a 1954 Stories of the Century episode in which he played the Sundance Kid to Joe Sawyer 's Butch Cassidy, as well as four episodes of the syndicated Western series Annie Oakley ( 1956 ), with Gail Davis and Brad Johnson, and three episodes of NBC 's The Wide Country ( 1962 ), a rodeo series starring Earl Holliman and Andrew Prine. In 1961, he had a recurring role as Johnson in the 17 - episode NBC series The Americans, the story of how the American Civil War divided families. He was a credited semiregular in the role of `` Slim '' in the second season of the NBC Western series Outlaws. Thereafter, he was cast in a first - season episode of NBC 's espionage series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. Pickens appeared in episodes of Cheyenne, Sugarfoot, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Lone Ranger, Frontier Doctor, Route 66, The Tall Man, Maverick, Riverboat, The Fugitive, The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, The Legend of Jesse James, Alias Smith and Jones, Daniel Boone, The Virginian, That Girl, Baretta, Vega $, How the West Was Won, and Kung Fu. Pickens was cast in recurring roles in The Legend of Custer, Bonanza, Hee Haw ( where he was a semiregular from 1981 to 1983 ), B.J. and the Bear with Greg Evigan, and Filthy Rich. He played Wild Jack Monroe, the owner of station WJM, on CBS 's The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and also guest starred as Zeke in the 1963 episode `` Higgins and the Hillbilly '' on the ABC sitcom Our Man Higgins, starring Stanley Holloway as a British butler for a suburban American family. He portrayed Grandpa Shoenfield in a two - part 1980 episode of ABC 's The Love Boat. In an episode of CBS 's Hawaii Five - O, he portrayed the patriarch of a family of serial killers. Pickens emceed NBC 's short - lived country music variety series The Nashville Palace in 1981. Awards In 1982, Pickens was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 1986, Pickens was honored by the Rodeo Historical Society during his posthumous induction into the Rodeo Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. In 2005, Pickens was posthumously inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs for his work as a rodeo clown. Personal life In his last years, Pickens lived with his wife in Columbia, California. He died on December 8, 1983, after surgery for a brain tumor. He was survived by his wife and children Thomas Michael Lindley, Margaret Louise Wittman ( née Lindley ), and his step daughter, Daryle Ann Giardino née Wofford. His wife died in 2011. His brother Samuel was also an actor, using the stage name Easy Pickens. Filmography Smoky ( 1946 ) as Rodeo Cowboy ( uncredited ) Rocky Mountain ( 1950 ) as Plank ( CSA ) Colorado Sundown ( 1952 ) as Joshua Slim Pickens / Ma Pickens The Last Musketeer ( 1952 ) as Slim Pickens Border Saddlemates ( 1952 ) as Slim Pickens The Story of Will Rogers ( 1952 ) as Dusty Donovan Old Oklahoma Plains ( 1952 ) as Slim South Pacific Trail ( 1952 ) as Slim Pickens Thunderbirds ( 1952 ) as Pvt. Wes Shelby Old Overland Trail ( 1953 ) as Slim Pickens The Sun Shines Bright ( 1953 ) as Sterling, Lanky Backwoodsman Iron Mountain Trail ( 1953 ) as Slim Pickens Down Laredo Way ( 1953 ) as Slim Shadows of Tombstone ( 1953 ) as Slim Red River Shore ( 1953 ) as Deputy Slim Pickens Phantom Stallion ( 1954 ) as Slim The Boy from Oklahoma ( 1954 ) as Shorty The Outcast ( 1954 ) as Boone Polsen Santa Fe Passage ( 1955 ) as Sam Beekman The Last Command ( 1955 ) as Abe When Gangland Strikes ( 1956 ) as Slim Pickett Stranger at My Door ( 1956 ) as Ben Silas The Great Locomotive Chase ( 1956 ) as Pete Bracken Gun Brothers ( 1956 ) as Moose MacLain Gunsight Ridge ( 1957 ) as Hank Moss The Sheepman ( 1958 ) as Marshal Escort West ( 1958 ) as Corporal Wheeler Tonka ( 1958 ) as Ace Stump Run ( 1959 ) as Babe Gaskin Chartroose Caboose ( 1960 ) as Pete Harmon One - Eyed Jacks ( 1961 ) as Deputy Lon Dedrick A Thunder of Drums ( 1961 ) as Trooper Erschick Savage Sam ( 1963 ) as Willy Crup Dr. Strangelove ( 1964 ) as Maj. ' King ' Kong Major Dundee ( 1965 ) as Wiley In Harm 's Way ( 1965 ) as C.P.O Culpepper Up from the Beach ( 1965 ) as Artillery Colonel The Glory Guys ( 1965 ) as Sgt. James Gregory Stagecoach ( 1966 ) as Buck An Eye for an Eye ( 1966 ) as Ike Slant The Young Riders ( 1966 ) Un tipo dificil de matar ( 1967 ) Rough Night in Jericho ( 1967 ) as Yarbrough The Flim - Flam Man ( 1967 ) as Jarvis Bates Will Penny ( 1967 ) as Ike Walterstein Never a Dull Moment ( 1968 ) as Cowboy Schaeffer The Legend of Custer ( 1968 ) as California Joe Milner Skidoo ( 1968 ) as Switchboard Operator 80 Steps to Jonah ( 1969 ) as Scott Rosolino Paternò, soldato... ( 1970 ) as General Maxwell The Ballad of Cable Hogue ( 1970 ) as Ben Fairchild The Deserter ( 1971 ) as Tattinger - American Scout Temporada salvaje ( 1971 ) as Lucky The Cowboys ( 1972 ) as Anse J.C. ( 1972 ) as Grady Caldwell The Honkers ( 1972 ) as Clete The Getaway ( 1972 ) as Cowboy Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid ( 1973 ) as Sheriff Baker Blazing Saddles ( 1974 ) as Taggart Runaway on the Rogue River ( 1974 ) as Bucky Steele The Gun and the Pulpit ( 1974 ) as Billy One - Eye Bootleggers ( 1974 ) as Grandpa Pruitt Ginger in the Morning ( 1974 ) as Sheriff The Legend of Earl Durand ( 1974 ) as Phil Chumley Rancho Deluxe ( 1975 ) as Henry Beige Poor Pretty Eddie ( 1975 ) as Sheriff Orville The Apple Dumpling Gang ( 1975 ) as Frank Stillwell White Line Fever ( 1975 ) as Duane Haller Hawmps ! ( 1976 ) as Naman Tucker Poor Pretty Eddie ( 1976 ) as Bob Jay Mr. Billion ( 1977 ) as Duane Hawkins The White Buffalo ( 1977 ) as Abel Pickney The Shadow of Chikara ( 1977 ) as Virgil Cane The Swarm ( 1978 ) as Jud Hawkins Smokey and the Good Time Outlaws ( 1978 ) as Sheriff Ledy The Sweet Creek County War ( 1979 ) as Jitters Pippen Beyond the Poseidon Adventure ( 1979 ) as Dewey ' Tex ' Hopkins The Sacketts ( 1979 ) as Jack Bigelow 1941 ( 1979 ) as Hollis P. Wood Spirit of the Wind ( 1979 ) as Obie The Black Hole ( 1979 ) as B.O.B. ( voice, uncredited ) Tom Horn ( 1980 ) as Sheriff Sam Creedmore Honeysuckle Rose ( 1980 ) as Garland Ramsey Christmas Mountain ( 1981 ) The Howling ( 1981 ) as Sam Newfield This House Possessed ( 1981 ) ( TV movie ) as Arthur Keene Pink Motel ( 1982 ) as Roy Television The Lone Ranger ( 1956 ) -- episode -- The Letter Bride - Ed Jones The Lone Ranger ( 1956 ) -- episode -- The Sheriff of Smoke Tree - Joe Boley Sugarfoot ( 1957 ) - episode - Brannigan 's Boots - Shorty Sugarfoot ( 1958 ) - episode - Short Range - Harry Cheyenne ( 1957 ) -- episode -- Big Ghost Basin - Gary Owen Lassie ( 1957 ) -- episode -- The Chimp - Eddie Walt Disney 's Wonderful World of Color ( 1957 -- 74 ) -- 19 episodes - Various Death Valley Days ( 1958 ) - episode - The Telescope Eye - Season 6 Episode 26 Wagon Train ( 1958 ) -- episode -- The Tent City Story - Rafe Jeffers Maverick ( 1958 ) -- episode -- The Spanish Dancer - Jed Frontier Doctor ( 1959 ) -- episode -- Bittercreek Gang - Slim Bronco ( 1961 ) -- episode -- One Came Back - 1st Stage Driver ( uncredited ) The Americans ( 1961 ) -- episodes -- The Escape, and The War Between the States -- Johnson Maverick ( 1961 ) -- episode -- A State of Siege - Stage Coach Driver Wagon Train ( 1962 ) -- episode -- The Eve Newhope Story - Grubstake Malloy Route 66 ( 1962 ) -- episode -- A long Piece of Mischief - Jud Alfred Hitchcock Presents ( 1961 ) -- episode -- Final Arrangements - Bradshaw Alfred Hitchcock Presents ( 1964 ) -- episode -- The Jar - Clem Carter Bonanza ( 1963 -- 64 ) -- episodes -- Half a Rogue, and King of the Mountain - Big Jim Leyton Rawhide ( 1964 ) -- episode -- The Backshooter - Sheriff McKay The Fugitive ( 1964 ) -- episode -- Nemesis - Corbin Gunsmoke ( 1964 ) -- episode -- Once a Haggen - Bucker Taos The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ( 1964 ) -- episode -- The Iowa - Scuba Affair - Clint Spinner Daniel Boone ( 1966 ) -- episode -- Dan'l Boone Shot a B'ar - Cletus Mott Daniel Boone ( 1966 ) -- episode -- The Deserter - Simon Harman Gunsmoke ( 1966 ) -- episode -- Sweet Billy, Singer of Songs - Pony Beal The Legend of Jesse James ( 1966 ) -- episode -- Wanted : Dead and Only - Sheriff Homer Brinks Cimarron Strip ( 1968 ) -- episode -- Fool 's Gold - Malachi Grimes Gentle Ben ( 1968 ) -- episode -- Ol ' Joe 's Gotta Go - Lloyd Larkin Bonanza ( 1968 ) -- episode -- Catch as Catch Can - Sheriff Gant Mannix ( 1969 ) -- episode -- Only Giants Can Play - Mike Ray Ironside ( 1969 ) -- episode -- Goodbye to Yesterday - Sheriff Metcalf Bonanza ( 1970 ) -- episode -- What Are Pardners For ? - Sheriff Gunsmoke ( 1970 ) -- episode -- The Scavengers - Colley The Mary Tyler Moore Show ( 1971 ) -- episode -- The 45 - Year - Old Man - Wild Jack Monroe Alias Smith and Jones ( 1971 ) -- episode -- Exit from Wickenburg - Mike Alias Smith and Jones ( 1971 ) -- episode -- The Man Who Murdered Himself - Sheriff Benton Alias Smith and Jones ( 1971 ) -- episode -- The Day They Hanged Kid Curry - Sheriff Whittaker The Partridge Family ( 1972 ) -- episode -- Nag, Nag, Nag - Will Fowler Gunsmoke ( 1972 ) -- episodes -- The River : Parts 1 & 2 - Charlie Utter Alias Smith and Jones ( 1972 ) -- episode -- The Strange Fate of Conrad Meyer Zulick - Sheriff Sam Hawaii Five - O ( 1973 ) -- episode -- One Big Happy Family - Sam Night Gallery ( 1973 ) -- episode -- Die Now, Pay Later - Sheriff Ned Harlow Kung Fu ( 1974 ) -- episode -- Empty Pages of a Dead Book - Bart Fisher McMillan & Wife ( 1976 ) -- episode -- Greed - William Halstead The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams - episode - The Unholy Beast - Fine Hope How the West Was Won ( 1978 ) -- Episodes : # 1.9, # 1.10, and # 1.11 - Tap Henry Vega $ ( 1978 ) -- episode -- Yes, My Darling Daughter - Ben Handler B.J. and the Bear ( 1979 -- 81 ) -- episodes -- Snow White and the Seven Lady Truckers : Part 2, Mary Ellen, and B.J. and the Seven Lady Truckers - Sgt. Beauregard Wiley The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo ( 1979 ) -- Run for the Money : Parts 2 & 3 - Sgt. Wiley See also List of notable brain tumor patients California portal Film portal Television portal Comedy portal References ^ Jump up to : Krebs, Albin ( December 10, 1983 ). `` SLIM PICKENS, KNOWN FOR COWBOY ROLES, DIES ''. The New York Times. Jump up ^ Hayes, Richard ( March 4, 2009 ). `` Cowboys in Combat ''. True West Magazine. ^ Jump up to : Inside : ' Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb ' on IMDb Jump up ^ Biography for Slim Pickens on IMDb Jump up ^ Haskins, James ; Crothers, Helen ( 1991 ). Scatman : An Authorized Biography of Scatman Crothers. W. Morrow. p. 178. ISBN 0688085210. Jump up ^ Baxter, John ( 1997 ). Stanley Kubrick : A Biography. Basic Books. p. 315. ISBN 0786704853. Jump up ^ TV.com Jump up ^ `` Great Western Performers - National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum ''. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 11. Jump up ^ `` Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductees - National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum ''. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 11. Jump up ^ `` Slim Pickens - Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame ''. Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 11. Jump up ^ `` Margaret Elizabeth Lindley ''. GENI. Retrieved June 20, 2015. External links Slim Pickens on IMDb Slim Pickens at the TCM Movie Database Slim Pickens at Find a Grave The Colt Revolver in the American West -- Slim Pickens ' Single Action Army VIAF : 39562926 LCCN : n83123332 ISNI : 0000 0000 7729 9603 GND : 1061949346 SUDOC : 079014798 BNF : cb138984674 ( data ) IATH : w6zw59ht Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Slim_Pickens&oldid=813996020 '' Categories : 1919 births 1983 deaths Male actors from California American clowns American male film actors Male Western ( genre ) film actors American male television actors American male voice actors Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from brain tumor People from Kingsburg, California Rodeo clowns 20th - century American male actors ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductees American male comedy actors Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from April 2017 All articles needing additional references Articles lacking reliable references from September 2015 All articles lacking reliable references Articles with hCards All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from August 2015 Turner Classic Movies person ID not in Wikidata Find a Grave template with ID same as Wikidata Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC - ID identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Asturianu Deutsch Español فارسی Français Italiano 日本 語 Polski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 6 December 2017, at 09 : 45. 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Question: where did the phrase slim pickens come from
Answer: Louis Burton Lindley Jr.