Something fun from laradio.com :
Dale and Roy Rogers
by
Michael Sheehy
(Michael Sheehy, longtime KTWV production guru, is a die-hard Dale and Roy Rogers fan. He shares his obsession)
“Yes, I am a huge fan of Roy and Dale Rogers but our relationship went a little deeper. For the past three years, along with my production partner Art Emr and our production team, we’ve been creating a television and radio tribute/biography on Roy and Dale. It should air later this year. Aside from editing hundreds of hours of interview material with the Rogers’, we’ve also completed scores of interviews with their friends like Clint Eastwood, Richard Farnsworth, Burt Reynolds, Kenny Rogers, Monty Roberts [the Horse Whisperer], John Ritter, Tom Selleck, Robert Blake, plus personal visits with Roy, Dale and the entire family. Did you know Carl Switzer [‘Alfalfa’ from the Little Rascals] was a real good friend of Roy’s?
The anecdotal information we’ve gathered is sometimes absolutely overwhelming, so you see I know a little more than most people and I’ll share a few stories with you in a moment.
Let me give you a few facts - despite being worth over a hundred million dollars, the Rogers family is about as ‘down to earth’ middle class a clan as you’d ever want to meet. They are just like the rest of us, warts and all. Are they a goody two shoes straight-laced Christian dynasty immune from the trials of everyday life? Absolutely not. Yes, they have a very profound faith and will tell anyone who wants to know all about it, but straight-laced and goody two shoes doesn’t apply. They had a great sense of humor and love of God and people everywhere, especially children.
I grew up with Roy and Dale just like all of us ‘baby boomers.’ I didn’t want to be LIKE Roy Rogers … I wanted to BE Roy Rogers … and I think you’ll find plenty of us little buckaroos still running around. Today, I’d just be happy to have my Roy Rogers toy pistol, bedspread and ranch set. Hell, I could retire. Actually, my personal connection with Roy and Dale didn’t take place till a few years ago. Although my wife Denise and I are doing great now and have no complaints, the past ten years have been a real test.
During the past ten or so years Denise and I have been thru hell … but we’re still standing and we’re still smiling … and we owe at great deal of it to a little sentence we got from Dale. I’ll explain:
In 1991, we lost 7 people in the first 6 months of the year, including Denise’s best friend Terry and the closest thing we’ll ever have to a son, our nephew David. Two years later, we lost the house and our $200,000 down payment. The following year I had the first of 8 major eye surgeries, which eventually resulted in the loss of my left eye. Needless to say, those are quite a few body blows to absorb in a short period of time and we were not happy campers. [** I have to credit our friends at ‘the WAVE’ for standing by us through all of this ordeal. Add a 2-hour commute to the equation and I’m sure you’ll understand I was not always the most fun person to be around. KTWV provided considerable patience and support during this period for which we are very thankful.)
Now, I’m not the type to sit around and ask, ‘Why me?’ It’s just not in my makeup. One of my closest friends, Dave Hall, lost his legs the year before I hired him at KNX/FM. Another of my best friends, singer Ellis Hall, has been blind since we was 18, so I didn’t expect or require a lot of sympathy. You take the cards you’re dealt and make the best hand you can. It’s that simple. We’re ALL disabled.
In searching for answers I came across a little book written in 1952 by Dale Evans called Angel Unaware. In it, she deals with the death of their 2-year-old ‘Down Syndrome’ daughter Elizabeth Rose. It’s unique in that it is written from the child’s point of view. One tiny little line hit me like a falling safe: ‘If you want to be happy … make other people happy.’
It’s so fundamental it’s almost stupid, but it’s the truth. We took this idea to heart and amazing things began to happen. Do it because someone will benefit, not just for yourself! Our life has turned around completely for the better and we owe a good deal of it to this little thought. This is not religion, just common sense. So my relationship with Dale and Roy goes a trifle deeper than wistful fan stuff.
Dale’s service was more like a graduation party than a funeral. It was uplifting, funny and heartfelt with a minimum of tears. We were absolutely awed by the sound of 3,000 people speaking as one voice. It was stunning. While Los Angeles was being pelted by rain the day of her funeral, Apple Valley was cold but clear with mountains of clouds lit by beaming sunlight. As we left the service, the sky was painted just like an old western movie - a picture perfect way to ride into the sunset.
OK … here are a couple of Roy and Dale tales:
Until the day he died Roy always put mayonnaise on his pancakes. Sounds disgusting I know, but when Roy was a farm boy in Ohio they didn’t have a cow, so no cream or butter, but lots of chickens, hence mayonnaise. For that matter, he never had any cowboy hero’s when he was growing up. They lived so far out in the country there was no theatre. He viewed his first movie as a teenager.
Roy was a man’s man. He hunted, fished and loved to play. He always had that little Peter Pan twinkle in his eye. He was simply a big kid and there are plenty of ‘ol Roy stories to back it up. Despite his image, if he banged his thumb with a hammer, he’d say just about the same thing you and I would, probably louder. One time the wrangler’s at Madison Square Garden booby trapped a gate which resulted in Dale cutting her leg badly during a performance. See the wrangler’s figured Roy was just a tenderfoot ‘Hollywood Cowboy.’ Wrong! Now, he wasn’t a huge guy but following the performance Roy called out each and everyone involved - right then and there. Dale said he used words she didn’t know he knew and he was ready to take em’all on. He was the real deal. What you saw was what you got. Roy used to say, ‘I am what I am … and that’s all I am!”
He was also a champion marksman and initially two rooms at the museum were dedicated to ‘Roy shot this … and Roy shot that!’ As they released 60 white doves at his memorial service, Dusty [Roy Jr.] leaned over to us and said, ‘If Dad were here he’d say … you take the one on the outside and I’ll’ … that was Roy!
Most of the time, Roy was the kite and Dale was the string. Sometimes they’d switch. But that’s not to say Dale didn’t have her moments too. One well known story tells how Roy, along with sons Dusty and Sandy, were wrestling in the living room when they finally knocked over a lamp. Mom hollered for them to stop, but it fell upon deaf ears. As they persisted in rough housing, Dale took matters into her own hands. She grabbed her stage pistol loaded with blanks, walked into the room and fired 6 quick rounds into the air. She got their attention and probably a sizeable steam cleaning bill to boot.
Another of my favorite Dale tales: She was having lunch at a local spot when her lunch partner noticed something moving in Dale’s soup. Upon closer inspection it turned out to be a rather large cockroach. As they were driving home Dale turns to her lunchmate and says, ‘Y’know I’m gonna write that restaurant manager. That bathroom wasn’t handicapped equipped”. That was Dale.
I’ve been fortunate to meet and work with lots of stars over the years, I was friends with Tim Leary for 20 some odd years alone, and for the most part, I’m not too star struck. However, being around Roy and Dale was like being in the presence of royalty except they’re the only ones who didn’t seem to notice. Without a doubt, Dale was the hippest 88-year-old I’ve ever known. While working on an upcoming radio project we even got her to say, ‘Cowboy Rule # 37 … Never ask a cowgirl about the size of her spread!’ She had that kind of sense of humor. They both did. It’s what made them work. Did you know she wrote not one but two standards? Happy Trails and The Bible Tells Me So, which she wrote in 20 minutes … 20 MINUTES! Good lord what a woman. Good lord what a human. She probably had more impact on more people than anyone we’ll ever know.
Thank you Roy & Dale … till we meet again!” - Michael Sheehy ( mdsheehy@earthlink.net ) |
