10 Facts About Slim Pickens

Get the skinny on Slim Pickens, the iconic Western character actor who started out as a rodeo bronc rider, clown, and bullfighter, and rose to movie fame. In his 30-plus-year career, he appeared with Hollywood’s biggest stars, including John Wayne, Charlton Heston, Steve McQueen, Tom Selleck, Sam Elliott, Gene Wilder, and James Arness.

1. Born in California with Southern Roots
Slim Pickens was born Louis Burton Lindley, June 29, 1919, in Kingsburg, California. Growing up, his nickname was Burt. His father was from Texas, and his mother was from Missouri. He had a brother who was also an actor, named Easy Pickens.

2. Louis Burt Lindley Becomes Slim Pickens
To keep his disapproving father from finding out he was competing in rodeo, young Burt needed a new name. When he was signing up for calf roping, clearly anxious, an old cowboy said he should call himself Slim Pickings because that’s what his prize money would be—and Slim Pickens was “born.” He won $400 that day.

3. Rough Rodeo Life
Pickens rode bareback and saddle broncs, and as a rodeo clown, distracted bucking bulls from their fallen riders. It’s a dangerous career. Over the years, he was bitten, gored, trampled, and kicked by horses and bulls. He had two broken wrists, broken collarbones, hands, elbows, ribs, a crushed chest, a broken back twice and broken foot bones five times.

4. You’re in the Army Now
Pickens enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II. When he signed up, he wrote “rodeo” as his occupation. The recruiter misread it as “radio,” and Pickens was assigned to an Army radio station in the Midwest, where he served for his entire enlistment.

5. Love at First Near Collision
Slim met his future wife, Margaret Harmon at the Madera County Fair. She was galloping a horse on the racetrack, and nearly trampled Slim when he walked onto the track. They married on March 22, 1950. They had three children, Daryle Ann, a daughter from Margaret’s previous marriage, and two kids together, Thomas Michael and Margaret Lou.

6. From Rodeo Star to Hollywood Star
In 1950, Hollywood director William Keighley saw him perform at a rodeo. Impressed by his skill, charisma, and 6-foot, 3-inch imposing stature, he offered Pickens a screen test. Keighley cast him in Rocky Mountain, starring Errol Flynn. Pickens worked steadily as a cowboy character actor for over 30 years.

7. Pickens is Da Bomb!
In Stanley Kubrick’s satirical dark comedy, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Pickens is seen astride an atomic bomb as it’s dropped from a B-52 plane. This bit of movie magic upped Pickens’ star status and gained him new fans outside the Western genre.

8. There’s an App for That—as in Appaloosa
Dear John was Pickens’ beloved blue roan appaloosa gelding. He spotted the horse in Montana in 1954 and bought him for $150. He trained John to do tricks, such as sit like a dog, buck on cue, and pull a blanket off his back. He and Pickens had an uncanny bond, some called it psychic, and the horse became his loyal film and performance horse.

9. He picks Pickens, not Peck
Pickens would allow other actors to ride Dear John in Westerns. In The Big Country. Dear John played a horse named Old Thunder. When Gregory Peck tried to ride the gelding, he bucked him off. Pickens had to double for Peck in all the long shots, uncredited. From then on, Slim would let John work in movies only if he could ride him.

10. The Final Ride
Pickens died following brain surgery to remove a cancerous tumor on Dec. 8, 1983, in Modesto, California. He was 64.