Stetsons and sequins combined with film stars and luminaries in art, literature and music to brighten the 35th annual Western Heritage Awards at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.
Academy Award-winning actor Ernest Borgnine and the late Audie Murphy, one of the nation's legendary heroes both in wartime and on the silver screen, became the newest inductees to the museum's Hall of Great Western Performers.Murphy's two sisters and Borgnine accepted the honors during a ceremony at the Cowboy Hall.
"Only in America could a young, uneducated man go to war, come back a hero and end up in the movies," said the late actor's sister Nadine Murphy. "Is this a great coun-try or what?"
Borgnine, for his part, reminisced about going to the movies when he was a child. "We saw these great cowboys on the screen, and we believed every word they said. Never in my wildest dreams did I guess I would grow up to be an actor and play a cowboy in the movies," he said. "To me this honor is another Academy Award."
Murphy, who died in a 1971 plane crash at age 46, became a top actor at Universal-International Studios in the 1950s. Before that, Murphy had been the most highly decorated American serviceman in World War II, receiving 24 citations in all, including the Congressional Medal of Honor.
The handsome, boyish-faced actor appeared in more than two dozen films between 1950 and 1969, including "The Unforgiven," "Night Passage," "Destry," "The Kid from Texas" and "Walk the Proud Land."
Borgnine, born in 1917 in Hamden, Conn., has long been one of America's most beloved actors.
For most of his 50-year career, he's played some memorable heavies, but Borgnine won the hearts of baby boomers for his starring stint as the long-suffering skipper on the 1962-66 television sitcom, "McHale's Navy." He won an Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of a shy, mild-mannered butcher in the 1956 movie, "Marty."
Borgnine's many Western films include "The Wild Bunch," "Vera Cruz," "Johnny Guitar" and "Hannie Caulder." On screen, Borgnine has performed with such Western luminaries as Gary Cooper, Burt Lancaster, Walter Brennan, Lee Marvin and Randolph Scott.
For close to three decades, the museum's Hall of Great Western Performers has paid tribute to larger-than-life heroes of the big and small screens. The display includes Western art and historical artifacts along with portraits and screen memorabilia. Among the more than 40 stars honored fortheir contributions to the Western film genre are John Wayne, James Stewart, Barbara Stanwyck, Tom Mix and Tex Ritter.
The Chester A. Reynolds Memorial Award, named in honor of the hall's founder, was presented to rancher Waldo Haythorn, 78, of Arthur, Neb. The lifetime achievement award recognizes people whose lives epitomize the traditional Western values of leadership, integrity and self-sufficiency.
"There's twice as many people here as the county where I live," Haythorn said. "There are several who have had the award before me, but none that are as proud to receive it as I am."
Also honored were potato farmer/entrepreneur J.R. Simplot of Boise, Idaho, one of the nation's 10 wealthiest men; the late George and Phoebe Hearst, two of California's most distinguished corporate and cultural leaders; and the late Don Juan Forster, an early-day California rancher. All four were inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners.
Actor Robert Urich, star of the syndicated Western series "The Lazarus Man," served as master of ceremonies. Co-hosts included film stars Jane Russell, Wilford Brim-ley, Richard Farnsworth and Jack Elam. Among the celebrities in attendance were James Garn-er.
"When it comes right down to it, the actors are nothing without the writing," said Garner, who received an award for his performance in "Streets of Laredo."
The ceremony also paid tribute to the winning entries in a dozen categories of Western literature, television, music and film. This year's winners were:
- Television feature film: "Streets of Laredo." CBS-TV. James Garner, Sissy Spacek and Sam Shepard, principal actors. Suzanne de Passe, Robert Halmi Jr., Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana and Larry Levinson, producers; and Joe Sargent, director.
- Documentary: "How the West Was Lost." KUSA-TV and the Discovery Channel. Chris Wheeler, producer; Sonny Hutchison, director; Michael Winship, writer.
- News feature: "Montana Cowgirls." "Good Morning America," ABC-TV; Jeff Jayson, producer, and Amy Atkins, reporter.
- Original western music: "Faith & Values." Red Steagall, writer and recording artist; Steve Gibson, producer.
- Traditional western music: "Always Drink Upstream from the Herd." Riders in the Sky, recording artists; Joey Miskulin, producer.
- Art book: "Independent Spirits: Women Painters of the American West." Patricia Trenton, editor; Autry Museum of Western Heritage, publisher.
- Juvenile book: "The Night the Grandfathers Danced." Linda Theresa Raczek, author; Northland Publishing Co., publisher.
- Magazine article: "Showdown at the Hollywood Corral." Paul Andrew Hutton, writer; Montana Historical Society, publisher.
- Nonfiction book: "The Way to the West." Elliott West, writer; University of New Mexico Press, publisher.
- Western novel: "A Sweetness to the Soul." Jane Kirkpatrick, author; Questar Publishers.
- Poetry: "Between Earth and Sky: Poets of the Cowboy West." Anne Heath Widmark, editor; W.W. Norton & Co., publisher.
- Short story: "Living with the Hyenas." Robert Flynn, writer; Texas Christian University Press, publisher.