Being a Cowboy Is More Than Just a Role for Him

Dan Teaford is a lot of different people.

For instance, he once was a train robber and a bounty-hunting sheriff. And since 1965, he has been a western outlaw who is the leader of a grungy band of cowboys called Teaford’s Rangers.

Although he is a teetotaler, Teaford sometimes plays a drunken, gun-packing preacher.

When he is himself, Teaford is a graphic arts supervisor at Chevron’s oil field research division in La Habra who sometimes wears cowboy boots with his pin-stripe suits.

“I don’t know what it is,” said the red-bearded Teaford, who spent four years as one of the tough-looking, gun-toting train robbers at Knott’s Berry Farm. He also was a gunfighter and stuntman at Disneyland.

“Cowboys have always been something special to me. I love their grit and grime,” he said.

The graduate from Fullerton College and Cal State Long Beach said he would like to have lived the tough life of a cowboy.

“I have read an awful lot about western life and try to be an authentic cowboy when I play one,” said Teaford, who likes to visit western ghost towns to relive the past.

“When I go there, I put on my cowboy boots, pants and hat,” he said. “That makes me a real cowboy.”

Teaford feels that he was born 150 years too late.

When he was a youngster and other kids watched cartoons, “I looked at cowboy and Indian movies.”

As a matter of fact, Teaford’s dream is to get a role in the movies as a cowboy and someday make acting his profession.

“I just want the opportunity. I know I can do it as well or better than the acting folks out there,” said the Anaheim resident, who once raced motorcycles in the desert and sprint cars at the now defunct Ascot Park in Gardena.

His four-year stint as a train robber at Knott’s Berry Farm “was the best job I ever had. I got hooked making a fool of myself while playing a cowboy in front of hundreds of people. It was like being on a stage.”

Teaford, 44, has made a number of commercials, some involving stunt work, which has left him less fit considering he has suffered cracked ribs as well as arm and leg injuries.

“I’m not in perfect shape, but I can still do that kind of work,” said the onetime high school football player, who also ran track. “I probably need some toughening up.”

Throughout the years, Teaford’s Rangers have been hired to perform at private parties, chili cook-offs, special engagements and even weddings.

Twice a year the group entertains children with cancer and their families in a camp in Big Bear under the auspices of the Orange County Foundation for Oncology and Families.

They also work benefit shows for Children’s Hospital of Orange County and perform at the Special Olympics.

“When I put on my holster and gun and my other stuff, I become a different person and I guess I scare a lot of people.” he said. “But sometimes I’ll wink at a kid to let him know everything is OK.”

After his role is over, the audience is encouraged to touch the gun, holster and cowboy hat along with his handlebar mustache and beard.

“I’m what cowboys used to look like, so they in effect are touching the real thing,” he said, noting that his underwear is the only thing not authentic.