Ben Johnson


 Ben Johnson, 1953: “At the end of the year, I didn’t have $3, All I had was a wore-out automobile and a mad wife.”

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 – earning the unheard of sum of $300 – 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 “Fort Apache” and saved three stuntmen’s 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 “The Wild Bunch,” “Shane,” “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,” “Rio Grande,” “Chisum,” “The Sugarland Express” and “Angels in the Outfield.”
Then in 1971 his performance in ‘The Last Picture Show’ would earn him the Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actor.
Johnson, who died in 1996, amassed a fortune – much of it through real estate investments – valued at $200 million in the 1980s. He was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame with the inaugural 1979 class and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994.

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