#Slim Pickens

[bignaz8]

Peter Sellers was originally going to ride the atom bomb in "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" (1964). Slim Pickens (born Louis Burton Lindley Jr.) got a phone call late one evening from Stanley Kubrick: "Peter has fallen and broken his hip, I need you for a day's shoot--I need you bad and I need you now. How soon can you get on a plane and make it to London?". Slim obliged and in his haste forgot that he didn't have a passport because he had never traveled outside the US before. His entrance was delayed while he had to go through the process of getting one before he was allowed to leave the airport. When Pickens showed up on the set of "Dr. Strangelove" fully dressed as a cowboy and speaking in a thick Southern accent, the British crew thought he was "Method" acting, not knowing that this was how he always dressed and acted. He explained how he got into the rodeo business: "Well, there was this big, lanky, 15-year-old California ranch kid, and he went into the rodeo manager's office and said, 'Mister, I want to sign up for the calf-roping but my paw says I ain't allowed to. So I can't use my right name'. And the manager said, 'Son, no matter what name you use, it'll be slim pickin's out there today'. So the boy said, 'That's as good a name as any, I reckon-put me down as Slim Pickin's'. The manager spelled it 'Pickens' and the boy won $400 that afternoon."

[theladyinwhite13]

A BOY WHOSE NICE THAT BREATHES, I SWEAR HE'S NOWHERE TO BE SEEN

[chronophotographic-gun]

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

[swiftiesbuddie]

But I thought the lord forgot her gay awakening??

[elvisomar]

James Earl Jones' very first film was (in my estimation) the best film ever made: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Until his passing today, Jones was the last surviving member of the cast of that film.

[thethirdbear]

[filthydelinquent]

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb - Directed by Stanley Kubrick, 1964

[citizenscreen]

Clint Eastwood talks with Slim Pickens during a break from shooting the TV series 'Rawhide', circa 1960

[coolthingsguyslike]

[nihillist-blog]

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

[eraserdude6226]

You know whose birthday it is today??

Louis Burton Lindley, Jr. (June 29, 1919 – December 8, 1983), better known as Slim Pickens, and even better known than that as USAF Major T. J. "King” Kong commander and pilot of a Strategic Air Command B-52 bomber!

He will always be remembered for his eloquent and inspirational words...

"Now, boys, we got three engines out; we got more holes in us than a horse trader's mule; the radio's gone and we're leakin' fuel, and if we's flying any lower, why, we'd need sleigh bells on this thing. But we got one little bulge on them Rooskies, at this height, why, they might harpoon us but they dang sure ain't gonna spot us on no radar screen...."

Thank you Slim!! and Happy Birthday Major T. J. "King” Kong

[femmefataleart]

[senorita-antisocial]

don’t talk to me. i’m unhinged rn

[railwayhistorical]

James Earl Jones

We lost James Earl Jones yesterday, which jogged my memory...

In the early 1980s, I was living in Brooklyn, attending art school. Every so often, a couple of us would head into "the city" to hit the TKTS booth in Times Square. This is where one could get tickets to Broadway shows at a steep discount, depending upon availability—perfect for broke college students.

It was in this way I saw Jason Robards in a revival of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh at the American National Theater in 1985. (Robards originally did the play in 1956.)

Prior to that, during the spring semester of 1982, I was able to take in a revival of Shakespeare's Othello at the Winter Garden Theatre. James Earl Jones enjoys top billing as the title character, with Dianne Wiest and Kelsey Grammer being listed prior to one of my favorite actors, Christopher Plummer, as Iago.

Even now I can still recall Jones's power and Plummer's elegance, but that's about it after more than forty years. The cast did 123 performances of Othello between February 3rd and May 23rd of 1982. If you're interested in more detail of the run, you can go here.

When I heard of James Earl Jones's death, I did not immediately recall attending this play, but first thought of him as a relatively young lad in his first film role—in Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove.

The actor exuded nervousness as his character (Lt. Lothar Zogg) struggled to get the bomb doors open of the B52 being flown by Slim Pickens (as Major Kong). For a taste of that, one can go here. Truly, this is one of the most memorable film scenes of the Cold War 1960s.

Of course, everyone knows Jones lent his powerful voice to the Star Wars franchise as well as a budding cable news network based in Atlanta. In any event, I'm happy to have seen him in person, on stage, way back when. Rest in Power Mr. Jones.

[bee11037]

if i didn't already know, the taste mv would have been my gay awakening

[creepynostalgy]

Slim Pickens on set of Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1964)