Sunday, December 13, 2009

Slim Pickens' Sheee-iitt!



About a month ago I wrote a proposed post about the country accented Slim Pickens (1919 - 1983), and was holding off flushing it down the cyber cables until his birthday, December the 8th.

December the 8th came and went. I forgot.

I was reminded again yesterday when my friend Monty sent me a link about the old western stars. Slim Pickens’ name slid before me on the monitor and I was reminded. The link is very nostalgic.

To see it, click here: Those Old Westerns

Slim Pickens was born Louis Burton Lindley, Jr. in Kingsburg, California. He was a good horse rider. At age 12 he quit school and went looking for jobs at rodeos. He said jobs were “Slim Pickens”… thus was born his stage-name.

In time he became a very popular clown in rodeo riding circuit.

I have always enjoyed watching Slim Pickens act. I think he stood out the most playing Major T. J. "King" Kong in DOCTOR STRANGELOVE. I will always think of him waving his ten gallon hat back and forth while riding the atomic bomb down to the “0” target-mark and yelling a cowboy yell.


In Stephen Spielberg’s 1942 he played a similar character as Major Kong. A very patriotic flag-waving person, even old, was really to give his life to defend his country, in a comical way, of course.

Ironically, Slim was really a pilot, a civilian pilot, and love flying his plane while wearing a green US Air Force flight suit and his 10-gallon hat…just like he did in the movie.

Slim died after brain surgery for a tumor. He was 64.

What stands out to me about Slim Pickens is his way of saying the word “SHIT”. He could say SHIT in such a way your senses could almost smell it. I think it was the way he made the word a two-syllable word: “SHEEE-ITTT” If that doesn’t want to make you pinch your nose nothing verbal will.


Whew!

5 comments:

kenju said...

Peeeeeeeeuuuuuuuww!

Anonymous said...

HOOOOOO AHHHHHHH!
PR

Si's blog said...

Great post. And link. Loved all of those guys, especially Bob Steele and Hopalong. Thanks for that.

Have you been getting ads in your comments from Anonymous? Becoming really irritating.

Eddie said...

Si,

Thanks!
I solved the ads from Anonymous by changing the thing to sign-in to make a comment to having to match a series of letters. Anonymous (the ad man) hasn't got through since.

Anonymous said...

Shee IT.