Most decorated in WWII, however there are there are several with more honors. That is not to diminish his accomplishments, he was an incredibly brave soldier.
@@petersearls4443 He received EVERY medal for bravery the US Army offered as well as the French Croix de Guerre and the Belgian Legion de Merit. I don't think any other American soldier has done that. Especially not in a single war.
@@txgunguy2766 you said ever. I understand all of the awards he won. There are several soldiers from different wars/conflicts who have been awarded 2 Medals of Honor. David Hackworth was awarded medals of valor for over 18 different events. Awards Distinguished Service Cross (2) Silver Star (10) Legion of Merit (4) Distinguished Flying Cross Bronze Star Medal (8) with "V" Purple Heart (8) Air Medal (34) with "V" Army Commendation Medal (4) with "V"
@@petersearls4443 I know that there have been a number of men who have earned multiple Medals of Honor, such as Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and Thomas Custer who died with his brother and nephew at Little Bighorn. George was always jealous of "Tom's baubles".
You are right Glenn Ford was the fastest in Hollywood ever. Second fastest was Jerry Louis and under him was Sammy Davies JR. What gave me a laugh anybody saying they can draw in a 6th of a second is lying or his name is Bob Mundon. Anybody who can draw that fast would be the fastest man alive. The very fastest now since Bob past away are around a 4th of a second and that speed would beat anybody in Hollywood at any time.
@@famouspeople63 Unless you was Bob Mundon a 6th of a second like Hollywood is make believe. Around a 4th of a second is what top fast draws are doing today and that is pushing it to the max. Look up fast draw speeds in contest and you will see what I'm taking about.
@@neganrex5693ford was in the group of best fast draw actors. Audie Murphy, Ben Cooper, Sammy Davis and probably Robert Fuller and Peter Brown were faster.
@@terryv O’Brien had been pestering Audie a lot to draw against each other. Audie finally got fed up with Hugh continuing to prod him after he had already declined, so that is when he made the comment about live ammo. Not because he really wanted to use it, but because he knew it would shut it down.
The version I've heard: Hugh O'Brien bragged as fastest and offered $500 bet for anyone in Hollywood. Audie Murphy responded upping the ante to $2500 using live ammo. I think he truly meant an actual face off. Murphy no doubt had PTSD and slept with a 1911 under his pillow. This guy was always armed and ready!
Major Audie Murphy held a commission in the Texas National Guard after he saw all that combat during WW2. He is America's most decorated hero ever. His 3rd Division shoulder patch still indicates a hard - charging , gung ho outfit during both the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. The legend of Major Audie Murphy , Texas National Guard will live forever .
I heard that Audie Murphy's wife was a hero too she worked the rest of her life for the VA constantly battling the system to get better treatment for the veterans. I heard that all the veterans loved and respected her, but not the paper pushing beuracrats who she was constantly battling.
@@johnchandler1687- Don’t you mean “3rd Division?” Third Army was in an entirely different location in the European Theater of Operations than was the 3rd Division during WWII.
The man who was reputed to be the fastest draw and who also trained other actors was Jack Elam, I remember seeing him give a demonstration on television and boy was he fast. Cheers
@@steiny3353 Jack Elam was a fine dramatic actor and a great comedic one as well. His work in the James Garner films "Support your local..." is legendary. Never knew he was fast on the draw but he only had one working eye so his depth perception in aiming would have been non-existent. Lost his eyesight in his left eye at age 11 at a Boy Scout function when he got into a fight with another boy.
@@kronos5385 ..Yeah mate, he could do it all. Drama, comedy. The depth of field with one eye though ? I have a mate who has been slowly losing sight in one eye over many years. He was in our social motorcycle club and he could ride like you wouldn't believe. When I asked him about that he said that when you lose it slowly, the other eye naturally compensates. I find that hard to believe, but I wasn't going to argue with him
Watch Paladin and realize that Richard Boone did his own draws. No cutaways, no effects, he stood there and "pulled that hogleg". He was very, very quick.
Hehehe. Read up on him. He was slow and wasn’t proficient trying to draw fast. The article I read said that when they had to shoot a fast draw it was a 50/50 chance the gun would fly across the stage. 😂
Watch him draw, always from behind as he turned away from the draw, damn stupid and slow. He also telegraphed every punch when he wasn’t wrestling on the ground
@@petersearls4443 Yeah, I liked the series and still watch it on Saturdays (METV), but he was a lousy quickdraw. His crouched posture looked badass, but it's ergonomically all wrong for a quick draw. But if you look at quick draw contests today, it's become ridiculous. I think there should be rules about how far one can lean backward. Maybe the ear within so many inches of the heels, etc.
While leading his men he commandeered a machine gun on the top of a burning tank destroyer. Shooting enemies from behind the smoke he called in an artillery strike basically on his own position. He was asked how close the the Germans were to his position, he joked ( yeah joked ) , "Hold on , I'll let you talk to one of them " . That is balls.
A friend of my family that I called uncle was a founding member of the quick draw association and held the world record for a couple decades, he was a well known exhibition shooter that traveled the country putting on shows, his name was Gay Lewis, he was probably the person that spent the most time working with Sammy Davis Jr. on quick draw and gun handling. Before Davis got involved with drugs he spent a lot of time at my uncles house including most Sundays. He had many stories about Davis and other stars he worked with, he always said Davis had more raw talent than anyone he ever worked with or shot against! Davis did complete in the quick draw events for several years and was not only fast for Hollywood he was fast in the competitions as well! My aunt Mildred said he seldom showed up for Sunday dinner without a bouquet of flowers for her and something for the pantry! They thought a lot of him!
I never heard anything about Sammy and drugs, but back when Thell Reed was winning bunches of competitions, I also heard that Sammy Davis Jr. was the fastest at the time.
I've also heard Dean Martin was quick as well, and he worked hard at it, wanting to beat Jerry's speed. More recently, Mel Gibson is rumored to be fast on the draw as well. He trained hard for his role in Maverick.
The fastest in my opinion was Robert Fuller. He was lightening in his prime. Sammy Davis Jr was no slouch either. He participated in quick draw contests
Robert Fuller guested in an episode of Hugh O'Brian 's Wyatt Earp series and in that episode the shootout scene had to be refilmed several times BECAUSE Robert Fuller kept beating Wyatt Earp to the draw!!! I believe the episode was titled The Scapegoat. Only two people could startle me into jumping at the speed of their draw: One was Robert Fuller in Laramie and the other one was Peter Breck in The Big Valley. One other perhaps: There was an episode of Alias Smith and Jones in which Pete Duel suddenly drew his gun in a scene to protect his partner and it was like lightning.
CORRECTION: Audie Murphy was THE MOST decorated soldier of WW2. [ not just “one of the most”]. He was IT❗️ [ He earned (and suffered for) each and every one]. 📻🙂
In addition to his other talents, Arvo Ojala was a master leather craftsman who made very fine fast draw rigs. I met him and his beautiful actress daughter in the 1980s and found him to be a true gentleman. I ended up ordering one of his cowboy Hollywood rigs which I still have. When it comes to true action heroes, Audi Murphy was the real deal and noted for his exceptional handling of firearms and horses. No doubt the former had a lot to do with his surviving so many harrowing firefights during WWII. I don't know how fast they were on the draw, but Lee Marvin, Robert Culp, and Steve McQueen handled their firearms very professionally and comfortably.
I just read Audie Murphy's biography "To Hell And Back". He describes the terror of the front line soldier and how he reacted. Most notably, after his Medal of Honor battle he felt totally drained.
Re: "Most notably, after his Medal of Honor battle he felt totally drained." That sort of experience is not unusual in men who have been involved in life-or-death situations such as combat. Our biochemical/endocrine response to stress - what is termed the "fight or flight" response - is complex and mobilizes the entire body's resources for survival. When these biochemical defenses or enhancements, for lack of a better term wear off, four to six hours after the stress has passed, profound exhaustion and fatigue is the norm. It takes 24-36 hours for the body to fully return to status normal after such a stressful event. It's a big deal, it really is - even for a young and strong man in the prime of life.
I remember back in the 50s I watched an exhibition by Rodd Redwing. I never saw him even reach for the gun, let alone notice the draw and shoot. He was literally faster than the eye could see. BTW, Jerry Lewis was a hell of an athlete. He even practiced with the Houston Astros. I guess he'd have to be athletic to perform all those pratfalls and antics during his film career.
other actors in passing conversation i believe on tonight show...., mentioned that Jerry Lewis was considered by fellow actors to be the fastest quick draw artist in hollywood....too bad there was never a contest to showcase these talents....
Louis L'Amour, who grew up in a time when many of those old western pistol packers were still around to talk to, made that same point in many of his books. The fastest draw didn't always win, but the one who shot straightest did, and it was better to take a half second longer to actually hit the other guy, than it was to shoot holes in the dirt, the sky, or some innocent bystander.
Ben Cooper was slightly faster. But if they ever had a real gunfight they would probably end up shooting each other. Ben used to go over to parties at Sammy’s house and they would put on a show for the guests.
It would seem odd considering the current year politics in Hollywood but a lot of the older generation of stars were quite interested in combative sports like boxing and quick draw as a form of recreation. With the number of westerns being shot back then it was also a useful skill that added to the credibility of the performance, just like fencing for a Shakespearean actor.
@@famouspeople63 Today if you refuse to give your pronouns (Gina Corano) you get fired. If you advocate for gun rights (Charlton Heston) you get labelled a lunatic. A few ex-professional wrestlers are tolerated so long as they bring in enough box office but they're expected to disavow anything too "violent". I believe Dwayne Johnson has even said he won't appear in films with guns anymore.
@@silverjohn6037and he made a fortune off his earlier movies that had guns and violence, typical hollyweird hypocrisy. I’ll bet there’s quite a few of actors who believe in the 2nd Amendment and like firearms but are too afraid to admit it due to the threat of being black listed
My uncle Ben Cooper agreed with that. Ben was very fast. Actually I think he might have been faster than Audie but he wasn’t the kind of guy to toot his own horn. They were definitely comparable. Ben made two westerns with Audie including Arizona Raiders.
So glad to see Sammy Davis Jr at the end of this video, it corroborates a recollection my uncle imparted to me about seeing SDJ in California at a quick-draw exhibition back in the late 60’s. Says SDJ had one of, if not the fastest draw times at the event.
@@edprince9079 There are clips on RU-vid of his twirling. Watch those, then watch Michael Biehn (Johnny Ringo) twirling in Tombstone and tell me that Sammy Davis Jr wasn't the model on which that was modeled.
Greatest line up, and most accurate ratings of actor's I have watched from the 1950's forward. Thanks for sharing with us all. Also Countless thanks for mentioning Bob Munden, who I have met at a Cowboy Shooting match decades ago. He truly is faster than the blink of an eye, and could accurately fan out 6 shots, faster than a Semi-Auto. 👍👍 10⭐
I've seen Bob a couple times in person and he is very fast. His first shot is so amazingly fast how he gets it off without shooting himself is a testament to his ability. I remember seeing Sammy on the rifleman and was impressed with his abilities.
An interesting and eclectic list! It's fun to realize that some performers we would never associate with fast-draw are actually gifted in this area (and likely better through hard work too).
Well, you did you’d homework. I lived ‘next door’ to Arvo Ojala in the then rural San Fernando Valley. Ojala was at the time the fastest draw ever recorded. Arvo said that Jerry Lewis was the fastest actor and John Wayne the slowest. On Wayne he commented ‘You can have a burger and a malt in the time it takes him to pull his pistol...’ Funny how so many got their panties in a twist about Audie Murphy. My favorite quote of his was told to me years ago by a older friend who knew Murphy. The two were out one evening and some fellow really pissed Murphy off. Murphy walked away from the conflict saying to my friend Caylor ‘I have to remind myself every day that my license to kill has been revoked...’
Arvo’s daughter (who’s name I’m intentionally withholding) and I were the same age. She was breathtakingly beautiful and more attractive than any model or actress you could think of. More than a bit of a Tomboy she raced in girls motocross known then as ‘Powderpuff’. Arvo had a company called ‘The Flying Finn’ one of if not the first to offer plastic and fiberglass aftermarket motor cycle components and parts. For his daughter to race he built a cut-down Huskavarna 400 with a titanium frame. A real monster of a dirt bike stock lightened and modified it was unGodly. I didn’t have the stones to ride a Husky 400 while she fearless and very competitive on it always placed high often winning in her class. Though Arvo always friendly and kind towards me she wouldn’t give me the time of day LOL!
Peter Brown (Lawman, Laredo) was noted as a fast draw. He also could twirl his six-shooter around and place it smoothly back in his holster. You can see him do that on the opening credits of the second season of Laredo.
Wasn't Neville Brand on that show. With the gravelly whiskey voice. Anyway Neville Brand was the 4th most highly decorated U.S. soldier in the European theater of WW2.
Peter Brown was a guest star at a Wild West theme park in NC called Ghost Town in The Sky where live performances occurred 10 times a day, 7 days a week for 6 months out of the year. He and many other Hollywood guest stars got to perform in the mock gunfights using real single-action revolvers but loaded with blanks. A local man there name of Bill Leatherwood played the Marshal there for 39 years. They all found out how slow they were against him. I performed there off and on between 2001-2015 as a gunfighter. I had practiced and practiced with my own gun and holster and thought I was quick enough but it only took me 1 show to realize what I did not know about fast draw would fill a Farmer's Almanac.
In Rio Bravo, starring John Wayne and Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson is in a supporting role as a very young gun hand. He rides guard for a cattleman and is introduced early in the movie. Ricky does a scene where he confronts a card shark and ends up drawing on the shark. He is so fast and his motion is clean as it gets. Hammer cocked and all. I've watched many a western in my life and that one draw is the fastest I have ever seen.
You don’t actually see him make the fast draw. There is a poker player who blocks the view of Ricky’s holster. It appears to allow him to grip the gun before doing the draw so that all he has to do is pull it out and cock it.
I have to add up ten more actors who were quick in draw in western films. They were: Gary Cooper in High Noon, Rory Calhoun in Utah Blaine, Clint Walker in Yuma, Don Murray in From Hell to Texas, Alex Cord in Stagecoach, Charles Bronson in Once Upon a Time in the West, Cohen Holloway in Good for Nothing, Gregory Peck in The Gunfighter, and Sterling Hayden in Top Gun.
Many gun fights in the Old West ended not in a face to face fast draw showdown, but in someone being shot in the back. They were skilled bad men but not stupid.
My uncle Ben Cooper made a lot of westerns in the 50s and 60s. In the beginning he practiced 2 to 3 hours a day over a 2 to 3 year period. He ended up one of the fastest. You can tell because in most of his scenes there are no edits.
I saw James Drury "The Virginian", in a shooting exhibition, fired three shots from a single action revolver that sounded like 1 shot! He used wax bullets and was accurate too.
Audie Murphey was my favorite actor ever to grace the screen. He is a real mans man. Audie is a role model and a great human and saved a lot of American lives in WW2.
If you look closely, you can see that Glenn Ford had a piece of wood sewn into his gunbelt, just above the holster. This was for his second shot. After the first shot, he would just use that piece of wood to cock the hammer. I've seen the set up in several Glenn Ford movies, but you can reallly see him use it in "The Fastest Gun Alive."
James Drury had a metal plate on the side of his gun belt. For his 3 shot trick, he cocked the revolver in the holster, fired his first shot from the hip, held the trigger back and raked the hammer against the metal plate for his second shot, then fanned the hammer with his left hand for the third shot. He was kind enough to do it slowly to show us how he did it. It was impressive!
I grew up in the era of the western and have always liked and admired lee van cleef, being the baddie to me is just as important to a film as being a hero, and he did an outstanding job against some hugely popular stars..kirk douglas was also a huge favourite of mine,the vikings is one of my all time faves.
What a shame you slept through most of your English classes. People's names are 'proper nouns' and as such, the first letter is always capitalized, like Lee Can Cleef and Kirk Douglas. You're welcome!
I was glad to see you mention Jerry Lewis, I understand he won national championships in pistol spinning. Watch the end of “Partners” and see what I mean. BTW Martin said he learned the routine from Jerry.
B-western actor Tim McCoy was known for his draw speed. A film editor once timed it on 35mm film with 24 frames per second. The interval between his start of drawing to when smoke appeared at the muzzle was said to be six frames. McCoy was also known to be an expert in sign language.
Another six-frame guy (according to a TV Guide article during the time his show was on) was Clu Gulager. He played Billy the Kid to Barry Sullivan's Pat Garrett on The Tall Man.
This is what I was going to suggest ... assuming they ran the cameras at 24 frames per. It would give you a pretty good indication of how fast someone actually was.
The actors mentioned in this video is an accurate list of fast draw coboys and excellent gun handlers. I know this because my Dad was a stuntman and extra for a handful of westerns in the 60s and 70s
Remember, Bob was referring to the people he taught. I’ve tried a number of searches to find a clip of Jerry making a fast draw, but I haven’t been able to find one. If you know of one would you please post it. I have seen the clip of Jerry’s stage show but it doesn’t have a really fast draw. Thanks.
Every one of those actors used Hollywood holster rigs, not actual old west holsters and belts. An actor not on the list shown was Hugh O'Brien, who practiced for months to get the role in the Wyatt Earp television series. He became quite fast.
Audie Murphy & Glen Ford I heard were two of the fastest.. & can't say enough bout Mr. Murphy how he was the "REAL DEAL" In real life & in western movies
There was a group of actors who would meet and practice their gun handling techniques somewhat regularly among them Was Glenn Ford. Henry Fonda was said to be so well practiced that he had to slow down his draw for filming in the movie "Warlock".
I keep hearing that about various actors. If they asked to slow down it might have been because another actor was supposed to win. However it wasn’t because of the cameras. Film runs at 24 frames per second. That means approximately .04 seconds per frame. For example GlennFord was timed at .4 seconds. That would mean 10 frames of film would have caught the action.
Many thanks for listing the actors with fastest draw. Yet film is a film and shooting someone dead is a different case, which shown as a justified act of settling disputes or taking a revenge. Not for everyone. Paul,68, retired teacher.
I had heard he was right handed but he was so fast his draw looked faked, especial with the cheaper film they used on the B westerns so he used his left hand.
I expected to hear you mention Steve McQueen. A story I heard was that his skill at quick draw had Yul Brynner upset that it made him look bad during the filming of The Magnificent Seven.
I've got to say that Jerry Lewis was quite a surprise. But not Sammy Davis jr. Anyone who ever saw Sammy in Little Moon and Jud McGraw got to see Sammy's fast draw and gun handling skills! I've seen a few better, but he was impressive nonetheless.
The TV station METV runs a lot of westerns. Years ago they timed the filmed draws of several actors. They didn’t say what unit of time they used, but these were the results. Richard Boone :16 Steve McQueen :12 Clint Walker :12 Gene Barry :10 James Arness :10 Clint Eastwood :08 Hugh O'Brian :08 James Garner :05
Those times don’t look very accurate. Boone was really slow. Here are some calculations I made, with an explanation of how I did it. 1. Ben Cooper - .23 seconds. (Outlaw’s Son) 2. Audie Murphy - .27 seconds. (Ride a Crooked Trail) 3. Ben Cooper - .27 seconds. The Westerner (Hand on the Gun 4. Sammy Davis Jr. - .30 seconds (Rifleman. 2 ounces of tin) 5. Glenn Ford - .33 seconds. (Fastest Gun Alive. 2 coins) 6. Glenn Ford - .33 seconds. (Heaven with a Gun) 7. Scott Glenn - .40 seconds. (Silverado practice) 8. Steve McQueen - .43 seconds (Magnificent Seven) 9. James Arness - .50 seconds (Gunsmoke opening) 10. Jeff Osterhage - .50 seconds. (Sacketts) Here is an idea to settle the discussions about which actor is faster than another. I calculated the speed of the draw using Adobe Rush software which provides frame counts. I started the calculation when the actor’s hand reaches the butt of the gun, since an actor’s hand can be anywhere when they start going for the gun. I ended the calculation when a flash of smoke is coming out of the barrel or if the gun isn’t fired, once the barrel levels out. Most videos that we deal with online run at 30 frames per second or 60 frames per second. The speed of the draw will be calculated by dividing 1 by the frame rate and multiply that times the ending frame number minus the starting frame number. Example: if the video is 30 frames per second and the actor’s hand reaches the gun butt in frame 5 and flames are coming out of the barrel at frame 15 the calculation would be. (1/30)*(15-5)=(.033)*(10)=.33 seconds. I have listed the actors at the top of the post with the fastest first.
Remember he was judging the people he trained. He worked with many actors but not all of them. I can’t count Lewis because no one can find a clip of him making a fast draw. Ben Cooper was slightly faster than Sammy. They were friends and had contests between themselves over the years.
I'm so happy you mentioned Sammy Davis, Jr. in this lineup. I saw "The Rifleman" Episode with Sammy's fast draw -- and, even as a kid, I recall to this day that that was fastest draw I'd ever seen. Of course, it does not compete with the guy who draws & fires two shots, where you only see & hear one shot -- that is Superhuman -- he has to open the gun to show you he fired two shots! But for a single shot, I pick Sammy!
You need to research for Thell Reed. His is an amazing career with a gun. As a kid I often saw the giant bear mounted in his family restaurant, I believe the bear charged camp on Kodiak Island. Everybody froze except for the 13 year old Thell who grabbed a bold action to drop the beast.
In the early days of Combat Pistol Shooting, Reed would compete using single action Colts. He competed against guys using the latest tricked out semi-autos, and win!
Just a point. Sammy Davis Jr was the only Western star to ever be FILMED doing "The Trick" of holding a shot glass in his shooting hand (balanced on the back of his hand), dropping the glass, drawing, and shooting the glass before it hit the ground. Film exists of this stunt, as I understand it.
@@famouspeople63 I remember reading a article back in the early seventies where they timed draws in the movies, and they claimed Clint Eastwood wood have been the fastest!
Character actor John Doucette was reported to have won a fast draw contest in Las Vegas where a number of western actors participated. Another actor who was considered the fastest of all the TV western actors was Peter Brown. I believe he also participated in v that contest.
Glenn Ford seemed fast. Also, Matt Dillon in his intro, and he used the longer 7 1/2" barrel, impressive. Saw Sammy Davis Jr. was quite the pistoleer but also heard that Jerry Lewis was the actual fastest. Bob Munden was the real fastest draw I've ever seen though.
It’s hard to tell who is fast in westerns because the film or video can be speeded up, but I thought Robert Fuller from the Laramie tv show looked very fast.
Excellent video. Great to see clips from so many fine films. Audie Murphy was the Greatest, maybe no the fastest gun but a straight shooter. And proved it in combat. Will look forward to a video on him. Thanks for an informative and interesting video.
I've heard Bob Munden say that the speed of Sammy Davis Jr. and Michael Landon were comparable. Thus I think Landon should be on the list. The list contained everyone else that I was watching for.
Any thoughts to Michael Landon ? I watched him in Bonaza and it appears he is very fast and left handed . I saw an episode of Sammy Davis jr. on the Rifleman and he is incredibly fast and has a lot of trucks tossing around his six shooters in this episode. I enjoyed the film
Landon is frequently ignored on these lists but he was pretty fast. Although I have noticed that some of his fast draws were probably other people because they were filmed from the waist down.
According to Robert Culp who was unbelievably fast with the draw out of the holster Steve McQueen was the fastest draw with the gun in westerns. Culp taught him how to draw fast, and after ward the driven Steve McQueen practiced so much everyday that he was faster than anybody else in TV or movies.
This video only reinforced what I already knew...that Lewis and Davis jr where the fastest guns in Hollywood. It's a shame that they weren't able to put those skills to more use on the big screen. I'm subscribed for future videos, Well done.
Opening scene in "Gunsmoke", the opposing shootist to James Arness was Arvo Ajala. Reportedly filmed about 17 times before Arvo could slow his draw down enough so that James Arness could beat him. Hard to overcome trained reflexes. Additionally, Sammy Davis, Jr. wrote in his autobiography, "I Am Third", that Jerry Lewis was the fastest Hollywood draw athe time, then he, Sammy, was second fastest and Clint Eastwood was third fastest. Both Jerry and Sammy did gun twirling and fast draw exhibitions in the respective night club acts in the 50's and early 60's. At one point, Sammy, who had been getting racist hate mail for marrying a white woman, actually loaded one of his two night club demonstration hand guns with live ammunition in order to protect his wife who always attended his shows in Las Vegas.
I wish someone could find a clip of Jerry Lewis actually making a fast draw. Even with what Arvo Ojala said, I have trouble believing that Jerry was that fast.
When I was a teen, a local n.e. indiana gun shop owner said. That in the early 50's he attended a quick draw competition in Vegas. He said, Clint Eastwood won it.
