Hollywood
Horse Stories
by Stephen
Schochet
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Many actors have testy relationships with horses.
One example was Michael Caine, whose first movie Zulu (1964) required
him to ride a steed after a hunting expedition. After several
embarrassing takes his career almost came to a premature end.
"I thought you said you had riding lessons!" said the angry
director. "I did!" said the beleaguered newcomer. "And
the first thing I learned was I never wanted to ride one of these bloody
things again!"
Other actors were more philosophical. Jack
Nicholson took a hard fall off his horse in The Missouri Breaks (1976)
which he shrugged off saying "It would have hurt if I was a real
person instead of a movie star."
Some performers get along
famously with their horses for years. Gene
Autry had his beloved Champion trained to jump through a ring of fire at
rodeos, the stunt always worked perfectly until the horse aged and was
put out to stud. A replacement was called in. On opening night Gene was
advised by his wranglers that the rookie was not ready for prime time.
"It'll be all right boys!" reassured America's favorite cowboy
in between swigs of tequila. The arena patrons cheered excitedly as the new
horse and familiar rider came out of the tunnel. Right before they
reached the ring the animal came to a dead stop, sending the wide-eyed
Autry flying to complete the stunt on his own. The crowd gasped but
luckily Gene was more drunk than hurt, he simply got up and took a bow,
like it was all part of the act.
One star came to regret her
closeness to her horse. After twelve year old Elizabeth Taylor fell in
love with the beautiful black creature she rode in National Velvet
(1944), she begged producer Pan Berman to let her keep it. It was a
valuable animal, and some of the MGM brass was unwilling to part with
it. Sweet Elizabeth eventually won them over. Sixteen years later Pan
met a much more cynical Taylor now working on her fourth marriage, on
the set of another MGM movie Butterfield 8. "Say weren't you the
one who gave me that horse after National Velvet? I'm still feeding that
son of a *$%#!"
Most actors try to minimize their risks before
riding. David Niven bribed a trainer fifty dollars so he would get to
ride a gentle nag while filming The Prisoner Of Zenda (1937). He brought
his animal next to Raymond Massey's stallion, and both reluctant riders
prepared for the director to call action. Suddenly Niven noticed a
shadow above him; Massey's horse had risen on its hind legs. Niven
realized his nag was in heat and dived out the way as Massey's stallion
came down on Niven's mare. He watched stunned as the helpless Massey
bounced on top of what now looked like a giant rocking horse!
| | Stephen Schochet is the author of the upcoming book
Hollywood Stories: Short Entertaining Anecdotes About the Stars and
Legends of the Movies. He is also the author of two acclaimed
audiobooks
Tales of Hollywood: Hear the Origins of Hollywood!
and
Fascinating Walt Disney: Hear How Walt Disney's Dreams Came
True!
These entertaining gift items are available at Amazon,
Barnes and Noble, 1-800-431-1579 or wherever books are sold.
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