System Mechanic - Clean, repair, protect, and speed up your PC!Sunset Carson
November 12, 1920 - May 01, 1990
Born Winifred Maurice Harrison on November 12, 1920, in Gracemont, Oklahoma, Sunset Carson was a cowboy actor who, at the height of his career (1945-1946), ranked an impressive eighth in a national B-Western popularity poll. He was handsome and boasted quite a following among female audience members -- a rarity in the field of action adventures.
Carson’s family moved to Plainview, Texas, when he was eight or nine years old and that is where he grew up. His father was a rodeo performer in the Tom Mix Circus, and Carson himself began rodeo-ing as a teenager. He was named All Around Champion Cowboy of South America in 1941 and 1942, and that it was cowboy actor Tom Mix who suggested that the young man consider film acting.
As Michael Harrison, Sunset appeared in “Stage door canteen”(1943) as a character named Texas, amid a star-studded cast of performers for servicemen. In JANIE, a comedy about a girl (Joyce Reynolds) with a fondness for men in uniform, he played Sgt. Carl. In 1944, he tried out at Republic Studios. Supposedly, it was studio President Herbert Yates who changed Michael Harrison to Sunset Carson after being inspired by a sign on a car dealership: Sunset Boulevard Cars.
Despite his lack of acting prowess, Carson looked great on a horse and was awarded his own series, beginning with “Sheriff of Cimarron” (1945), directed by stunt expert Yakima Canutt. The Sunset Carson vehicles benefited from generally good production values, pretty leading ladies who could also act (Linda Stirling and Peggy Stewart), and such solid character villains as Roy Barcroft and Kenne Duncan. Carson's uneasiness with dialogue, however, did not bode well for longevity and he was summarily fired by company boss Herbert I. Yates after reportedly showing up at a studio function inebriated and with an underage girl on his arm.
Sunset was fired by Republic president Herbert G. Yates when he appeared at a gathering of the studio's western stars not only under the influence but with a girl who was apparently a minor. Yates supposedly told Carson at that time that his starring roles at Republic were over. He did go on to make five low-budget independent oaters (although at least one was in color) which disappointed those of his fans who saw them. Much later in his career, he co-starred with other stars of 'golden age' westerns in a few offbeat films, the last of which was a sci-fi flick.
Sunset had a traveling act where he would reminisce about his movie career and do some trick shooting. Around 1980, he hosted 'Six-Gun Heroes', a PBS TV show produced by South Carolina Educational TV (SCETV) which showed some of the old westerns. Later still, he was a frequent guest at western film conventions around the country until his death May 1, 1990, in Reno, Nevada, at age 69.
