TEX RITTER - INSCRIBED PROGRAM SIGNED CO-SIGNED BY: PEGGY STEWART, MONTE HALE, KIRBY GRANT, LASH LA RUE, RUSSELL HAYDEN, DOROTHY FAY - HFSID 322940

WESTERN STARS: TEX RITTER, PEGGY STEWART, MONTE HALE, KIRBY GRANT, LASH LaRUE, RUSSELL HAYDEN, DOROTHY FAY
Program from the 1973 Western Film Festival signed by 7 of westerns' most memorable stars
Inscribed Program signed: "To my friend/Carl/Tex Ritter/Mephis 1973" and, "Peg Stewart", "Carl thanks for/asking/your pal/Monte Hale", "For Carl/Good luck!/Kirby Grant" "Lash LaRue", "Russell Hayden" and "Dorothy/Fay" 14 pages, 8½x11. Signed on pages 3-5 on the stars' pages. Program for the 1973 Western Film Festival, held in August of 1973. The 5-day festival featured 170 western films and 16 complete TV series, as well as panels to meet the Western actors. There to meet the fans was TEX RITTER (1905-1974, born Maurice Woodward Ritter in Marvaul, Texas) a country music star who also was successful in Westerns, appearing in 85 films. Rivaling Gene Autry in popularity at the beginning of his career, Ritter curtailed his filmmaking in the late 1940s, opting to tour in live shows with his horse, White Flash. As a singer, he became a weekly fixture at the Grand Ole Opry. The father of actor John Ritter, he is the only entertainer elected to both the Cowboy Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame. PEGGY STEWART (born Peggy O'Rourke in 1923), who appeared in many films, mostly Westerns, from the late 1930s into the 1960s, was one of Republic Picture's leading ladies in the 1940s. Tired of being cast in serials, she left Republic, but continued making occasional films. Stewart later appeared in several made-for-TV movies and was a guest star on a number of TV series, and she made stage appearances in the Los Angeles area. Stewart, who was married to actors Don "Red" Barry (1940-1944) and Buck Young (1953 until his death in 2000), is also a popular figure at Western film and nostalgia gatherings. The Black Lash cast LaRue and sidekick Fuzzy St John in familiar roles, but Peggy Stewart plays the bad guys girl in this one! The film, suffering from a small budget, employed much stock footage from LaRue's earlier films, giving him more incentive to shift to television. One of Republic Pictures' singing cowboys, MONTE HALE (1919-2009) had supporting roles in Westerns starring Roy Rogers and Sunset Carson before starring in his own series of films in the late 1940s. He later toured with the band of singing cowboy composer Ray Whitley. Hale is a member of the Western Music Association Hall of Fame. A former concert violinist, KIRBY GRANT (1911-1985) made his film debut playing the violin in 1935's I Dream Too Much. Although he became a star of B-Westerns, Grant is best known for playing the title role on the TV series, Sky King, which aired from 1951-1953. Grant, who was a popular attraction at B-Western gatherings, later became the Public Relations Director for Florida's Sea World. He was killed in an automobile accident in Titusville, Florida while reportedly en route to viewing a launch at the Kennedy Space Center. Cowboy star ALFRED "LASH" LaRUE (1917-1996), who was known as "King of the Bullwhip", introduced both the whip and the black outfit for which he became known in the 1945 film, Song of Old Wyoming. He had small roles in Eddie Dean westerns at PRC studios in the early 1940s. On the strength of his voluminous fan mail, he was elevated to his own starring series in 1946. Billed as "Lash" in honor of his skill with a 15-foot bullwhip, the actor played a black-clad do-gooder named Cheyenne, while his comic sidekick was Al "Fuzzy" St. John. From 1946-1952, LaRue starred in 26 westerns. In 1951, he headlined the 15-minute TV series Lash of the West, in which he would introduce and narrate clips from his earlier films. RUSSELL HAYDEN (1912-1981, born Pate Lucid in Chico, California) was an American actor with almost 80 films and TV shows, mostly Westerns, to his credit between 1937 and 1963. Hayden was a grip, sound man, film cutter and assistant cameraman before he took up acting. One of his first roles was as Lucky Jenkins, sidekick to William Boyd's Hopalong Cassidy, between 1937 and 1941. He later starred in, and sometimes produced, his own films from the 1940s onward. Hayden turned to TV in the 1950s, producing and directing Western series like Judge Roy Bean, in which he also starred. DOROTHY FAY (1915-2003, born Dorothy Fay Southworth in Prescott, Arizona) was an American movie actress with 19 movies to her credit between 1938 to 1941, many of them B westerns. Four of these were with Western star and husband Tex Ritter including Song of the Buckaroo (1938) and Sundown on the Prairie (1939). Other memorable films include The Stranger from Arizona (1938) and White Eagle (1941). Lightly creased. Small stains at right edge of cover page. Ink notes (unknown hand) in top margin. Otherwise, fine condition.