Eddie Dean

by Frank M. Roberts

April 2016

Hello, once again, cowpokes and - er -girls. I have, for y'all, another look at one of yesteryear's cowboy stars, a dude largely forgotten these days and that's a shame. He kept busy ridin' and writin' - songs, that is and, of course, he was a fine singer. Don't take my word for it - just read on.

His name was Eddie Dean and he was born July 9, 1907 in the town of Posey in Texas. The most supreme of compliments was paid him by Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, both of whom proclaimed him, 'the best cowboy singer of all time'.

As far as his career was concerned he was more into the musical end of it. When he came to California, ostensibly to get into films, it took him quite awhile to get started but, when he did, this man of music was, more often than not, the bad guy- the heavy.

In the flicks he used his real first and middle name, dropping the last name of - Glosup. (Every now and then there would be a Glosup close-up).

On screen, of course, he came complete with horse. Make that - horses - Flash, Copper, War Paint, and White Cloud. That's a lot of 'hi-yos.'

Mr. Dean appeared in most of the better series with Rogers and Autry, Hoppy and Barry - pretty decent company.

He made nine Hopalong movies and sang in most. Since villains usually didn't burst out in song, it's safe to assume he was often on the side of the law. Yep, podner, he got to play white hat roles.

Eddie Dean was a busy cowboy, appearing in more than 100 films for Republic. (Dean worked for the Dean of the 'B' studios). He stayed busy in the serial, "The Lone Ranger Rides Again." In that series the title role went to Bob Livingston. ED became the title role-ist for PRC in 1944, appearing in a series of movies for the studio for whom my dad used to work. Scoff, if you will, but those movies were the first 'B's to be filmed in color. So, there.

The first film in that series was, "Song Of Old Wyoming." His sidekick in the first three of that group was Emmett Lynn. (Who?). The sidekick in the next 15 was much better known - Roscoe Ates, who was known as 'Soapy'. Ole Soap helped Dean 'whup' the bad guys.

The average cost of a Dean film in color was $36,000. Worth it? You betcha. His films took in over a million each in 1945 dollars and, they were the highest grossing releases for Producers Releasing Corp. However, only four color flicks were made.

Getting back to the music: As a songwriter he was very successful. He helped write, "Hillbilly Heaven" with Hal Blair, and his wife, Lorene "Dearest" Dean. The couple were married in 1930 and stayed together until his death in '99 at 91. The heavenly song was a fat hit for Tex Ritter.

Eddie D also penned one of cowboy-doms best known hits, "One Has My Name, The Other Has My Heart." That beaut was treated quite well by Jimmy Wakely and, a little less well, by Jerry Lee Lewis. And, get this - it was also recorded by Nat 'King' Cole, Willie Nelson and, believe it or not, about 30 others.

He often worked with his brother, Jimmy (no, not that one.) When the 'B' cowboy movie became history, Dean found a fair amount of work in teevee and radio. On the tube, he had a couple guest spots with "The Beverly Hillbillies."

A few of his cowboy features: "Wild Country." The title song was one of his compositions. Eddie ruled a feud-swept range in, "Tornado Range." "Cry, Cry, Cry," "In the Shadow Of the Mission," and "West To Glory" were part of "West To Glory." He galloped down the musical trail to action and adventure in, "Tumbleweed Trail." An ad noted that he 'crashed' to new adventure heights in, "Stars Over Texas." This was interesting - he serenaded the gals while he fought the outlaws (hopefully not at the same time) in "Colorado Serenade." Ates, of course, was with him and so was Mary Kenyon (a grand 'Kenyon'). A picture shows a leggy dance hall gal. Forrest Taylor, Dennis Moore, and Abigail Adams (who? who? and who?) also appeared.

Eddie Dean. As I mentioned early on he is not too well remembered these days - but he darned well should be. Why? Jimbo has a slew of his movies. Check him out - you'll be a happy camper.

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If you don't know the name, you would recognize the 'oft smiling' face of "Black" Jack O'Shea. That's the way he was billed. He was a San Francisco native who was born just two weeks before that city suffered from the well-known great earthquake of 1906.

In the early 1930s he became a 'busy' heavy. His billing told the tale: "The man you love to hate." Believe it or not, he was also a stuntman for quite a trio - Lou Costello, Leo Carrillo and - honestly! - Orson Welles.

The Irisher acted in quite a lot of movies, kept busy during the early teevee days and, he made personal appearances - on tours - with Bob Steele, Sunset Carson, Lash LaRue, and Tim Holt. When he gave up acting, he operated an antique shop in Paradise - Paradise, California, that is (more accessible than the other one). And, in case you didn't realize it - Paradise, CA. had a sheriff. Yep - O'Shea. Welll -he was an honorary sheriff. (You're under honorary arrest).

Some of his films: "Law Of the Lash," (not LaRue) - "Wyoming," "Rio Grande Raiders," "The San Antonio Kid," and "Sons Of the Pioneers."