Slim Pickens Biography

Though he spoke most of his movie dialogue in a slow Western drawl, actor Slim Pickens was a pure-bred California boy. An expert rider from the age of four, Pickens was performing in rodeos at 12. Three years later, he quit school to become a full-time equestrian and bull wrangler, eventually becoming the highest-paid rodeo clown in show business. In films since 1950's Rocky Mountain, Pickens specialized in Westerns (what a surprise), appearing as the comic sidekick of Republic cowboy star Rex Allen. By the end of the 1950s, Pickens had gained so much extra poundage that he practically grew out of his nickname. Generally cast in boisterous comedy roles, Pickens was also an effectively odious villain in 1966's An Eye for an Eye, starting the film off with a jolt by shooting a baby in its crib. In 1963, director Stanley Kubrick handed Pickens his greatest role: honcho bomber pilot "King" Kong in Dr. Strangelove. One of the most unforgettable of all cinematic images is the sight of Pickens straddling a nuclear bomb and "riding" it to its target, whooping and hollering all the way down. Almost as good was Pickens' performance as Harvey Korman's henchman in Mel Brooks' bawdy Western spoof Blazing Saddles (1974). Slim Pickens was also kept busy on television, with numerous guest shots and regular roles in the TV series The Legend of Custer, B.J. and the Bear, and Filthy Rich. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

• 1. Lon: Yer just as purty as a bird on the wing this mornin' miss Louisa.
  From One Eyed Jacks. Submitted by Doris H (13 months ago)

• 1. Lon: I hate to be the one to tell ya Dad, but Miss Luisa been down at the beach all night with Rio.
  From One Eyed Jacks. Submitted by Mike M (13 months ago)

• 1. Taggart: We'll head them off at the pass!
  2. Hedley Lamarr: Head them off at the pass? I hate that cliché! [shoots target in the foot]
  From Blazing Saddles. Submitted by Tyler H (14 months ago)

• 1. Maj. T.J. "King" Kong: Survival kit contents check. In them you'll find: one forty-five caliber automatic; two boxes of ammunition; four days' concentrated emergency rations; one drug issue containing antibiotics, morphine, vitamin pills, pep pills, sleeping pills, tranquilizer pills; one miniature combination Russian phrase book and Bible; one hundred dollars in rubles; one hundred dollars in gold; nine packs of chewing gum; one issue of prophylactics; three lipsticks; three pair of nylon stockings. Shoot, a fella' could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff.
  From Dr. Strangelove Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Submitted by Filipe M (15 months ago)

• 1. Lyle: Come on, boys. Where's your spirit? I don't hear no singing. When you was slaves, you sang like birds. Come on, how about a gold ole nigger work song?
  2. Bart: I get no kick from champagne. [back up singers vocalize] 'Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all So tell me why should it be true That I get a belt out of you. [back up singers throw some rhythm into it] Some get a kick from cocaine.
  3. Lyle: Hold it, hold it. What the hell is that shit? I meant a song. A real song. Something like, Swing low Sweet chariot. [the workers don't have a clue] Don't know that one, huh? How about "De Camptown Ladies?
  4. Bart: De Camptown Ladies? [other workers echo what Bart said].
  5. Lyle: Yeah. You know. De Camptown ladies sing this song Doo dah doo dah De Camptown race is five miles long Oh the doo dah day [joined by all his cohorts] Going to run all night, going to run all day I'd wage my money on a bobtail nag Somebody bet on the bay Going to run all night, going to run all day I wage my money on a bobtail nag [GUNSHOT in the distance]
  6. Taggart: [rides up] What in the wide world of sports is a-goin' on here? I hired you people to get a little track laid.
  From Blazing Saddles. Submitted by Jordan P (15 months ago)

• 1. Buddy Bizarre: What the hell are you doing here? This is a closed set!
  2. Taggart: Piss on you! I'm working for Mel Brooks! [draws back to punch him in the face]
  3. Buddy Bizarre: Not in the face! [Taggart obliges and punches him in the stomach] Thank you!
  From Blazing Saddles. Submitted by Jordan P (16 months ago)

• 1. Taggart: Ditto!
  2. Hedley Lamarr: 'Ditto?' 'Ditto', you provincial putz?!
  From Blazing Saddles. Submitted by Jordan P (16 months ago)

• 1. Gum-chewer: Cattle rustling, arson,
  2. Hedley Lamarr: What have you got in your mouth?!
  3. Gum-chewer: Nuthin!
  4. Taggart: [pulls gum out of the man's mouth] Huh! Gum!
  5. Hedley Lamarr: Chewing gum on line eh?! I hope you brought enough for EVERYBODY??!!!
  6. Gum-chewer: I I I didn't know there'd be so many, I-
  7. Hedley Lamarr: [promptly shoots the man]
  8. Jim the Waco Kid: Boy, is he strict!!
  From Blazing Saddles. Submitted by T R (17 months ago)