Ben Johnson, 1953: āAt the end of the year, I didnāt have $3, All I had was a wore-out automobile and a mad wife.ā So, the 6-foot-2 Johnson returned to the movies, where he had worked as a stunt double for Gary Cooper, Joel McCrea, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. He was working as a 21-year-old Oklahoma ranch hand when his big break occurred. Johnson delivered 16 horses to a movie set ā earning the unheard of sum of $300 ā and was hired by producer Howard Hughes as a stuntman and wrangler. He also met his wife, Carol, on that trip to Flagstaff, Ariz. His next big break came in 1947, when he was working as a stunt double for Henry Fonda in āFort Apacheā and saved three stuntmenās lives when he courageously stopped a runaway wagon in a scene-gone-wrong. Director John Ford rewarded him with a seven-year contract at $5,000 a week. Johnson would go on to feature in films such as āThe Wild Bunch,ā āShane,ā āShe Wore a Yellow Ribbon,ā āRio Grande,ā āChisum,ā āThe Sugarland Expressā and āAnge...