"Having Ben Johnson was having the real thing," Peter Bogdanovich once said of the actor who won a Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Sam 'the Lion' in the director's memorable "The Last Picture Show" (1971). Indeed, for half a century Johnson was the "real thing" as far as Hollywood was concerned, a rancher and rodeo cowboy who accidentally drifted into acting and proved himself a highly capable actor of warmth and grit, believably embodying a vision of the American West.In 1941, Johnson was hired to take a herd of horses on location to where Howard Hawks was shooting "The Outlaw" for
Was hired to deliver a herd of horses to the location shooting of the Western feature, "The Outlaw" (released 1943), at the time being directed by Howard Hawks but later taken over by producer Howard Hughes; ended up working as a stuntman and a wrangler
Occasionally did other work as a stuntman, wrangler and riding double for actors including James Stewart and Joel McCrea during the 1940s
1945
Made film debut in a bit part in the Abbott and Costello comedy, "The Naughty Nineties"
