Slim Pickens
Slim Pickens was born in Kingsburg, California, the son of Sally Mosher (née Turk) and Louis Bert Lindley, Sr. He was an excellent rider from age 4 and quit school to join the rodeo at 12. He was told that working in the rodeo would be “slim pickings” (very little money), giving him his name, but he did well and eventually became a well-known rodeo clown — one of the most dangerous jobs in live entertainment.
After 20 years on the rodeo circuit, his distinctive Oklahoma-Texas drawl (even though he was a lifelong Californian), his wide eyes and moon face and strong physical presence gained him a role in the western Rocky Mountain (1950) starring Errol Flynn. He appeared in many more westerns, playing both villains and comic sidekicks to the likes of Rex Allen.
Pickens appeared in numerous television guest shots, including three episodes of NBC s The Wide Country (1962) with Earl Holliman and Andrew Prine and one appearance on ABC’s The Legend of Jesse James, The Fugitive and a first-season episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.. He appeared in a few episodes of Alias Smith and Jones, The Lone Ranger, and Kung Fu He starred in regular roles in The Legend of Custer, Bonanza, Hee Haw, B.J. and the Bear with Greg Evigan, and Filthy Rich (1982). He played the owner of station WJM, Wild Jack Monroe, on the Mary Tyler Moore Show.
One of Pickens’ more memorable television roles was an episode of where he played the patriarch of a family of serial killers.
In his last years Pickens lived with his wife in Columbia, Tuolumne County, California. Slim was a civilian pilot with a multi-engine rating and enjoyed flying in a green U.S. Air Force flight suit while wearing a cowboy hat, similar to the wardrobe worn in Dr. Strangelove. He died on December 8,1983 aged 64, after surgery for a brain tumor. Rex Allen attended his funeral.
Pickens’ brother, Samuel T. Lindley, acted under the name Easy Pickens. His most notable appearance was as “Easy” in Sam Peckinpah’s The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970).
