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person_profile-Lash LaRue

Lash LaRue Died at age: 78

Actor | Producer

Fullname:

Lash LaRue

Date of Birth:

Jun 15, 1917

Country of birth:

USA

Died:

May 21, 1996

Biography of

Lash LaRue

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Alfred "Lash" LaRue (June 15, 1917 – May 21, 1996) was a popular western motion picture star of the 1940s and 1950s. He had exceptional skill with the bullwhip and taught Harrison Ford how to use a bullwhip for the Indiana Jones movies. LaRue was one of the first recipients of the Golden Boot Awards in 1983.

    LaRue was originally screen tested by Warner Bros. but was rejected because he looked too much like Humphrey Bogart, then one of the studio's contract stars . He began acting in films in 1944 (at age 27) as Al LaRue, appearing in two musicals and a serial before being given a role in a Western film that would result in his being cast in a cowboy persona for virtually the rest of his career. He was given the name Lash because of the 18-foot (5.5 m)-long bullwhip he used to help bring down the bad guys. The popularity of his first role as the Cheyenne Kid, a sidekick of singing cowboy hero Eddie Dean, not just brandishing a whip but using it expertly to disarm villains, paved the way for LaRue to be featured in his own series of Western films. After appearing in all three of the Eddie Dean Cinecolor singing Westerns in 1945-46, he starred in quirky B-westerns from 1947 to 1951, at first for Poverty Row studio PRC, then for Eagle-Lion when they took over the studio, and later for producer Ron Ormond.

    He developed his image as the cowboy hero Lash LaRue, dressed all in black, and inherited from Buster Crabbe a comic sidekick in the form of "Fuzzy Q. Jones" played by Al St. John. LaRue played the Cheyenne Kid sidekick in about 8 films, before he starred in his own film series, playing a character actually named "Marshall Lash LaRue". Those 11 films (from 1948-1951) are the ones that western movie fans refer to as the "Lash LaRue" film series.

    He was different from the usual cowboy hero of the era: dressed in black, he spoke with a "city tough-guy" accent somewhat like that of Humphrey Bogart, whom he physically resembled. His use of a bullwhip, however, was what set him apart from bigger cowboy stars such as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. His influence was felt throughout the dying medium of B-westerns; for example, he had an imitator, Whip Wilson, who starred in his own brief series, and even Roy Rogers started picking up and using a bullwhip in some of his Republic Studios Westerns made in the same period.

    He also made frequent personal appearances at small-town movie theaters that were showing his films during his heyday of 1948-51, a common practice for cowboy stars in those days. However, his skillful displays of stunts with his whip, done live on movie theater stages, also convinced young Western fans that there was at least one cowboy hero who could do in real life the same things he did on screen. He continued working in films and television until he retired in 1990.

    LaRue died of emphysema in 1996 (age 78) at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, and was cremated at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. He was survived by his wife, Frances Bramlett LaRue, three sons and three daughters.

Photos of

Lash LaRue

Photos ( 1 Photos

Filmography of

Lash LaRue

Found 37 Movies in total

... 1992

Pair of Aces

Henry ( Actor )

... 1990

Escape

Gas Station Owner ( Actor )

... 1989

A Tribute to Houdini

Self ( Actor )

... 1987

Stagecoach

Lash ( Actor )

... 1986

The Dark Power

Ranger Girard ( Actor )

Executive Producer

... 1985

Alien Outlaw

Alex Thompson ( Actor )

... 1985

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

(archive footage) ( Actor )

... 1976

Please Don't Touch Me!

Dr. Warren ( Actor )

... 1959

Guns Don't Argue

'Doc' Barker ( Actor )

... 1957

The Frontier Phantom

Lash La Rue / The Frontier Phantom ( Actor )

... 1952

The Black Lash

U.S. Marshal Lash LaRue ( Actor )

... 1952

The Vanishing Outpost

Lash LaRue ( Actor )

... 1951

The Thundering Trail

Marshal Lash LaRue ( Actor )

... 1951

King of the Bullwhip

Lash LaRue ( Actor )

... 1950

The Daltons' Women

Lash LaRue ( Actor )

... 1950

Son of a Badman

Lash La Rue ( Actor )

... 1949

Son of Billy the Kid

Jack Garrett ( Actor )

... 1949

Outlaw Country

Lash La Rue / Frontier Phantom ( Actor )

... 1949

Frontier Revenge

Lash La Rue ( Actor )

... 1948

Mark of the Lash

Lash LaRue ( Actor )

... 1948

Dead Man's Gold

Lash LaRue ( Actor )

... 1948

The Enchanted Valley

Pretty Boy ( Actor )

... 1948

Cheyenne Takes Over

Marshal Cheyenne Davis ( Actor )

... 1947

The Fighting Vigilantes

Marshal Cheyenne Davis ( Actor )

... 1947

Return of the Lash

Marshal Cheyenne Davis ( Actor )

... 1947

Stage to Mesa City

Marshal Cheyenne Davis ( Actor )

... 1947

Ghost Town Renegades

Marshal Cheyenne Davis ( Actor )

... 1947

Pioneer Justice

Marshal Cheyenne Davis ( Actor )

... 1947

Heartaches

DeLong aka Trigger Malone (as Al LaRue) ( Actor )

... 1947

Border Feud

Marshal Cheyenne Davis ( Actor )

... 1947

Law of the Lash

Marshal Cheyenne Davis ( Actor )

... 1947

Wild West

Stormy Day (as Al LaRue) ( Actor )

... 1946

The Caravan Trail

Cherokee (as Al La Rue) ( Actor )

... 1946

Song of Old Wyoming

The Cheyenne Kid ( Actor )

... 1945

Lady on a Train

Circus Club Waiter / Henchman ( Actor )

... 1945

The Master Key

Migsy ( Actor )

... 1945