Born in Oklahoma of Cherokee-Irish stock, Ben Johnson virtually grew up in the saddle. He headed to Hollywood in 1940 to work as a horse wrangler on Howard Hughes’ “The Outlaw”. He went on to double for Wild Bill Elliot and other western stars, than in 1947 was hired as Henry Fonda’s riding double in director John Ford’s Fort Apache (1948). In addition to stunt work and acting Ben Johnson was a world champion team roper. He appeared in dozens of movies over the years and won a Oscar for his performance in The Last Picture Show.