Bob Thomas Writes

About 1948 I was 5 years old. My Mom worked in the motion picture business inCharlotteand knew all the theater owners in the South and she arranged for me and my friend, Frankie Grice to see a live performance by Lash LaRue inCharleston,SC.Our Dads drove us there and we had seats in the front row. Though I didn’t know it at the time, Frankie had Leukemia and was not going to live much longer. My Dad sent a note to Lash before his performance and told him about Frankie.

During the show Lash asked for a volunteer to come up on stage. Of course every kid in the theater had his hand up, but Lash picked Frankie. He whipped a few things from Frankie’s hand and then asked if he would hold something in his mouth if Lash promised not to cut his nose off!

After the show someone came out and asked if Frankie could come backstage. Frankie and his Dad went back and were gone for about 30 minutes. When they came out his Dad had tears in his eyes and Frankie was smiling so big he almost had his ears in his mouth!

Lash had given him a toy whip and a black hat. As we started to leave Lash came out and said, “Hey Frank. How about you and I trade hats?” He took off his ‘real’ hat and gave it to Frankie..it sat down on his shoulders it was so big. Lash said, “You hang on to that because I know we’re going to end up in the same place someday and I’ll want it back.”

Frankie died not to long after that and was buried with Lash’s hat.

In 1965 I was home in Charlotte on leave from the Air Force. I went into a Krispy Kreme at 2am and sat down next to Lash LaRue! I reminded him of the day Frankie and I came to see him and he remembered it! He asked “How’s that kid doing now?” I told him of Frankie’s death and that he was buried with Lash’s hat.

Lash began to tear up a bit, so I paid for his coffee and left him sitting in the Krispy Kreme.He looked tired and I didn’t want to bother him anymore.

He was a nice guy. I will always remember that he took the time to make a little kid happy.

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Alfred “Lash” LaRue (June 15, 1921[1]–May 21, 1996) was a popular western motion picture star of the 1940s and 1950s. He had exceptional skill with the bull whip, and taught Harrison Ford how to use a bullwhip in the Indiana Jones movies. LaRue was one of the first recipients of the Golden Boot Awards in 1983.
He also made frequent personal appearances at small-town movie theaters that were showing his films during his heyday of 1948-1951, becoming the only cowboy star most children of the time ever got to see and meet in person. His skillful displays of stunts with his whip, done live on movie theater stages, also convinced young Western fans that there was at least one cowboy hero who could do in real life the same things he did on screen.