Western Walk in Newhall Adds Three Cowboy Stars

Dale Robertson, better known as the star of numerous Western movies and television shows, displayed his talent as a mimic Saturday during ceremonies honoring his inclusion in the Newhall Western Walk of Fame.

“Frankly, Scarlett, I don’t give a damn!” he bellowed to friends at CalArts in Valencia. But his imitation of Clark Gable’s most famous line in the movie “Gone With the Wind” wasn’t a comment on the annual ceremony. “I’m just glad to be honored for anything,” he said later.

The event, which also honored Doug McClure and the late Hoot Gibson, drew more than 600 Western buffs, who ate barbecued food and square-danced, and a close-knit group of Western stars, including several past inductees, who reminisced.

The Western Walk, which is on San Fernando Road between 5th and 9th streets in Newhall, was started in 1981 by merchant Milt Diamond as a celebration of Newhall’s Western heritage. The walk is modeled on the better-known Hollywood Walk of Fame.

While many of the Western fans sported big cowboy hats, Robertson left his hat in his car.

‘Blocks People’s View’

“It’s so big, it blocks people’s view,” he said. “Then I have to put it on the floor and it gets dirty. There isn’t any sun in here anyway. What in the hell do I need a big hat for?”

Elsewhere, former actor Robert Strong showed actors Denver Pyle and 1987 Western Walk inductee Ben Johnson a photograph of four men in Western garb--two at a table and two standing. The photo was a scene from the 1937 movie “Rolling Westward.”

“This is Tex Ritter,” Strong said. “This is me, and I don’t know who these two guys are.”

“Well, I’ll be darned,” Pyle replied.

Robertson, 65, of Oklahoma City was the tall, rugged star of such television series as “Tales of Wells Fargo,” “The Iron Horse” and the recent “J.J. Starbuck.” He also starred in such Western films as “Hell Canyon Outlaws,” “The Outcasts of Poker Flats,” “Sitting Bull” and “Fighting Man of the Plains,” in which he portrayed outlaw Jesse James.

Glendale Resident

McClure, 53, a Glendale native who lives in Sherman Oaks, is perhaps best known for his starring role in the 1960s Western television series, “The Virginian.” McClure’s film credits include such science-fiction movies as “The Land That Time Forgot” and “Humanoids From the Deep.”

Gibson began his movie career in 1912 as an extra and stunt man who often doubled for Harry Carey Sr., a 1987 Western Walk inductee. Gibson, whose nickname apparently stemmed from his boyhood owl-hunting, was most popular in the 1920s as a movie cowboy who rarely carried a gun and whose films emphasized comedy over action. He died in 1962.

Gibson, an accomplished rodeo performer, lived in Saugus in the 1930s. He built a rodeo arena, now the Saugus Speedway, on Soledad Canyon Road.

Past Western Walk inductees also include John Wayne, Gene Autry, Chuck Connors, Clayton Moore, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.