Hall of Fame of Western Film & TV Stars
Ken Maynard

Born: Kenneth Olin Maynard, July 21 1895, Vevay, Indiana.  Died: March 23, 1973, Woodland Hills, CA.

If any authority on movies were asked to compile a list of the ten greatest cowboy stars of all time, be would most certainly have to include Ken Maynard.   One of the most popular of all sagebrush heroes, Ken starred in over 125 pictures during a career that spanned almost twenty years.

Ken Maynard was the son of Mr. and Mrs. William H. Maynard.  At the tender age of fourteen, he ran away from home to join a traveling medicine show, only to find the going real rough on his own.  When he returned home, his angry father enrolled him at the Virginia Military Institute in order that he learn discipline.  Ken buckled down in his studies while learning engineering and entered the U.S. Army during World War I as the youngest engineer in the service.

After leaving the Army, Ken toured the country as a rodeo rider and, in 1920, won the National Trick Riding Championship.  Three years later, he was a featured performer for the Ringling Bros.  Circus when a movie talent scout spotted him during a performance.  Arranging an exhibition, Ken did his tricks before such distinguished personalities as Tom Mix, Dustin Famum and several film producers who sent him to Hollywood.

In 1924, Ken played his first screen role when he portrayed Paul Revere in Janice Meredith, a part that earned him the lead in his next film, $50,000 Reward.  During the next two years, he made a series of cheaply-produced Westerns for the Davis Film Corporation, which landed him a contract with First National Studios in 1926.  Having graduated to pictures with higher production value, he soon became one of the leading stars in Westerns.  Imitating the grand style of Tom Mix, Ken played his heroes with much bravado, making certain to show off his excellent ability as a horseman.  When it came to excitement and hair-raising thrills, his pictures offered large quantities of both.  By 1930, he was producing his own features and releasing them under the Universal title.

Ken was one of the few stars who had little difficulty making the change from silent movies to talkies.  In the early 1930's, he was making Westerns for major companies like Universal and Columbia, besides appearing in independent productions for Spectrum, Victory and Tiffany.  As far as his own productions, he was kept active serving as producer, director, star and sometimes writer.  He and two other cowboy stars, Hoot Gibson and Tim McCoy, were the only sagebrush heroes that managed to make pictures for both the major and independent studios at the same time.

It was Ken who first laid the groundwork for the musical Western.  Many times, he included scenes in his pictures where he would personally vocalize a tune or feature a singing group of cowboys in order to break up the constant diet of action.  Although these short musical interruptions were of minor importance, they did serve as a link to the singing cowboy craze.  When Gene Autry and his pal, Smiley Burnette, first made their debuts in Ken's Mystery Mountain and In Old Santa Fe, the craze was definitely on its way to success.

Among the best performers in Ken Maynard's pictures was his famous horse, "Tarzan." To the audience, the handsome Palomino was as much a part of the plot as any of the human actors and Ken always made certain to include some scenes in which Tarzan could show off his bag of tricks.  Unfortunately, Ken was indifferent when it came to his pictures.  Admittedly, he made Westerns for the sole purpose of reaping a profit at the box-office and lacked the desire to even try to produce films that were true to the real West.  In many cases, he substituted quantity for quality in spite of the fact that he had the means of turning out some first-grade films that would have compared with those of Tom Mix, Buck Jones and Harry Carey.  Instead, he chose to make a parade of quickie, streamlined horse-operas patterned in the style of Hoot Gibson's Westerns.  Nevertheless, some of Ken's films ranked high among the best Westerns ever made as far as real production value was concerned.

To take advantage of his immense popularity, Ken organized his Diamond K Ranch Wild West Show in 1936 with plans of touring the nation.  Unfortunately, he failed to obtain proper financial backing and the show never left its home quarters.  In less than a month, Ken was forced to abandon the idea.  Returning to pictures, he starred in another chain of action Westerns until he temporarily retired from the screen in 1938.

By the early 1940's, two types of Westerns were enjoying great popularity, the musical horse-operas and the cowboy "trios." In the first group, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter and many other singers were at the top of the heap.  In the second group, Westerns featuring three main characters were very popular-The Three Mesquiteers, The Rough Riders, The Range Busters and the Hopalong Cassidy series.  In 1941, Monogram Pictures decided to add another trio to the competition when Hoot Gibson, Ken Maynard and Bob Steele made their bow as the "Trail Blazers." Having arrived somewhat late, the series lasted until 1943 when Monogram decided to cease production.  

After that, Ken made only one more picture, The White Stallion in 1946, before he left the screen permanently.  Four years later he was in England, appearing in television while campaigning for the British Labor Party and taking part in the first televised general election in the British Isles.  Returning to California, he made a tour with the Cole Bros.  Circus and has since been active in personal appearances at rodeos and Wild West shows and also an occasional spot on TV.  

Ken was married to Bertha Rowland Denham October 22, 1940 and lasted until her her death in 1968.  He has a younger brother, Kermit, who was also a popular cowboy star.