411mania talks Taylor

Q: Leonard -

I saw you mentioned Dub Taylor in your recent article on 411mania.com. I thought it might interest you that there is a feature length production about his life and contributions as a character actor that will be released in April. The article was interesting to us, we're doing lots of research on the B-western, obviously, because of his contributions. Anyway, just wanted to drop you a line for the interesting read.

Best,
James Kicklighter
Assistant Director/Executive Producer
That Guy: The Legacy of Dub Taylor
http://www.thatdub.com/

A: That sounds like an awesome project and I wish you a lot of luck with it. I almost previewed Taylor last week, but didn't. That works out, because I can go over him this week. Be sure to let me know if I get anything wrong.

Dub Taylor was born Watler Clarence Taylor III on February 26th 1907. Friends called him by his first initial "W" and that eventually turned into "Dub." He started out in vaudeville and made his film debut in Frank Capra's 1938 film You Can't Take it With You. From there Taylor became the sidekick to actor Bill Elliot in a series of films as Cannonball. He left the series when Tex Ritter came in as Elliot's partner. He then played Cannonball in films starring Russell Hayden, Jimmy Wakely and, as mentioned last week, Charles Starrett. In the fifties, Taylor broke away from the Cannonball character and became a popular character actor in movies and television. In the sixties, Taylor became part of director Sam Peckinpah's stable of actors appearing in his films Major Dundee, The Wild Bunch, Junior Bonner and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Taylor continued to work steady in the seventies and eighties even with the Western fading out. He often lampooned his image, such as in a series of bubblegum commercials and joining the cast of the country music and comedy variety series "Hee-Haw." Taylor had become a Western icon by the nineties and a small revival in the genre saw him landing bit parts in major films late in his career including Back to the Future III, My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys and Maverick. He died in 1994 of congestive heart failure. Among his other films are Bonnie and Clyde, Them!, A Star is Born, No Time for Sergeants, Spencer's Mountain, The Cincinnati Kid, Bandolero!, The Undefeated, A Man Called Horse, Support Your Local Gunfighter, Gator, 1941 and Used Cars.

http://www.411mania.com/movies/columns/50686