Louis Bert Lindley, Jr.(Pickens, Slim)

1919 - Louis Bert Lindley, Jr., better known by the stage name Slim Pickens, was a cowboy and actor. Born on the 29th of June in Kingsburg, California.

1938 - Lent his voice to the children's radio show The Cinnamon bear, where he plays a singing cowboy.

1974 - His memorable roles was as Taggart, head of the gang of cowboy thugs in Mel Brooks' classics comedy Blazing Saddles.

1978 - Lent his voice to theme park Silver Dollar City as a character named Rube Dugan for a ride called "Rube Dugan's Diving Bell".

1978 - 1984 - The Diving Bell was a simulation ride that took passengers on a journey to the bottom of Lake Silver and back.

1980 - Was offered the part of Dick Hallorann in Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining. He refused, saying that filming with Kubrick on Dr. Strangelove was too strenuous.

1982 - He also appeared many times on television, both in guest shots, and in regular roles in The Legend of Custer, Bonanza, B.J. and the Bear, and Filthy Rich.

       - He was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

1983 - He died on the 8th of December in Modesto, California from a brain tumor at the age of 64.