[on Al St. John--aka "Fuzzy"--his sidekick in many of his western films] Fuzzy was an angel unaware, as far as I'm concerned. He was a wonderful guy, and I wish he were still here to see how long the films had lasted . . . he was the greatest ad lib artist in the world. He could stumble over a matchstick and spend 15 exciting minutes looking for what he stumbled over.
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Fact
1
Much of his bullwhip work was done by stunt man Carl Petty, who lived on Fairbanks Way across the street from Rand Brooks in Culver City. Carl used to practice in his front yard all of the time. He was on the TV show You Asked for It (1950) to show how he shot arrows for the movies. Fairbanks Way is a few blocks from MGM Lot 3.
2
Reared in various Louisiana towns as his father was a traveling hotel representative and real estate salesman, the family moved to Los Angeles when Lash was in his teens and was enrolled at St. John's Military Academy. He then enrolled at College of the Pacific with the intention of studying law. He took drama to overcome a speech impediment, and worked at various jobs (including real estate salesman and hairdresser) before deciding to try acting.
3
He unwittingly played a fully clothed villain in what turned out to be an adult film entitled Hard on the Trail (1972). The sex scenes were later shot and inserted around the scenes he previously filmed. Shocked by this, he later became a born-again Christian and turned into a high-voltage evangelist in some sort of act of repentance. He also performed whip and gun stunts for the Florida-based Hollywood Western Revue for the Lord.
Professional wrestler Johnny LeRoux borrowed his ring name from LaRue, dubbing himself "Lash LeRoux" in 1999.
6
One of the first recipients of the Golden Boot Awards in 1983.
7
Bluffed his way into the "bullwhip" movies telling director Robert Emmett Tansey he knew how to use one when he didn't. The studio liked his acting work anyway and later hired a true expert, Rex 'Snowy' Baker, to teach him how to use it. La Rue in turn taught Harrison Ford for his "Indiana Jones" movies.
8
Beset with alcohol problems, he was arrested in 1966 for vagrancy in Miami, Florida.
9
After his film career took a dive, he resorted to performing in second-rate circuses and carnivals.
10
Played guitar very well and became a regular at the jam sessions at the Dew Drop Inn in New Orleans.
Lash LaRue comic books sold over one million copies each around the world and many of them featured Lash and wife Barbra Fuller's godson, J.P. Sloane; in fact, Sloane was the only child ever to appear on the "Six-Gun Heroes" comic books when he appeared with Lash on the cover of issue 19.
13
His wife Barbra Fuller was an accomplished actress of both radio (Claudia on "One Man's Family") and motion pictures and television, having played opposite Charles Boyer. They never had any children but had a godson who was child star J.P. Sloane, the son of early television personality Jimmie Jackson and actress Anita Coleman.
14
Although the horse he used was at times called "Rush" and "Black Diamond" in his films, it was actually the same horse--Black Diamond.