Lucille ANDREWS

Lloyd "Arkansas Slim"
December 8, 1906 - April 3, 1992

Lloyd "Slim" Andrews: The Arkansas Star of Westerns & Children's TV.

Lloyd Andrews, better known as Arkansas Slim or Slim Andrews, was a versatile actor, singer, and composer who appeared in dozens of western films and television shows, often as a comic sidekick to famous cowboys like Tex Ritter and Gene Autry. He also hosted several children's programs in the 1950s and 1960s, entertaining young audiences with his musical skills and humorous antics.

Andrews was born on December 8, 1906, in Gravette, Arkansas, and grew up in a musical family that performed at local events. Andrews was the seventh son of George and Norma Andrews, who had a farm on Spavinaw Creek in rural Benton County.

He learned to play the fiddle, guitar, piano, and organ from his parents and siblings, and never had any formal musical training. He made his debut at age three, playing the triangle at a schoolhouse literary. He attended Meadow Brook School, where he completed the eighth grade.

In 1924, when he was seventeen years old, he used the money he earned from picking strawberries to buy a 1923 Model T Ford. He customized the car by adding ten horns and eleven lights, and rigged the horns to play "Pretty, Little Blue-Eyed Sally", a popular song of the time. He also earned the nickname "Slim", as he was 6 feet 8 inches tall and slender.

He caught the attention of Watso the Musical Wizard, a traveling showman who needed a car and an assistant. Watso taught Andrews how to play the handsaw, the banjo, and other homemade instruments, and how to be a one-man band.
Watso also developed Andrews's comedic talents into a Toby country boy act, a slapstick character with a red wig, freckles, blacked-out teeth, bare feet, and baggy clothes. Andrews and Watso toured the South, advertising their shows by driving through town playing the horns and shouting, "Big show tonight!"

After two years with Watso, Andrews had a successful solo act, which he gave up to join one of the larger itinerant tent shows. These shows were a form of rural vaudeville that featured a melodrama with Toby as the leading heroic character, followed by a musical concert with the actors playing in the band.

Andrews and his wife Lucille, whom he married in 1929, worked together in these shows, with Lucille as the leading lady. They had one son, John, who also became an actor.

Andrews's big break came in 1938, when he met Tex Ritter, a rising western star, in Monticello, Arkansas. Ritter was impressed by Andrews's stand-up comedy routine, which was outdrawing his own performance. He invited Andrews to come to Hollywood and work in movies with him. Andrews accepted, and soon became Ritter's sidekick in fifteen films, such as Arizona Frontier (1940), The Pioneers (1941), and The Lone Star Trail (1943).

Andrews also appeared in films with other western stars, such as Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Eddie Dean, and Lash LaRue. He often played a comic relief character, such as a sheriff, a deputy, a cook, or a ranch hand.

He also showcased his musical abilities, singing and playing various instruments. Some of his memorable roles include Buffalo Bill in Tomahawk Territory (1952), Slim Hunkapillar in The Singing Hill (1941), and Arkansas in The Phantom Cowboy (1941).

Although he acted as a movie cowboy, he had a hatred for horses, which is why he chose to ride a mule in many movies. He also had a distinctive voice, which he described as "a cross between a foghorn and a rusty gate". He often used his voice to imitate animals, such as a rooster, a dog, or a horse.

Andrews also composed songs for some of his films, such as "I'm a Cowboy from the Lone Star State" and "I'm a Rootin' Tootin' Shootin' Son of a Gun from Texas". He also recorded some of his songs for radio and records, such as "The Arkansas Traveler" and "The Strawberry Roan".

When western B-movies began to lose popularity in the early 1950s, Andrews found a new career as a host of weekday children's TV programs. He started in 1951 as "The 49er" for KGEO-TV and KMJ-TV in Fresno, California, where he wore a miner's outfit and entertained the kids with stories, jokes, songs, and games. He also introduced cartoons and serials, such as The Adventures of Superman and The Lone Ranger.

In 1954, he moved to KOAM-TV in Pittsburg, Kansas, where he hosted "The Fun Club" as Arkansas Slim. He wore his trademark cowboy hat and bandana, and continued to amuse the children with his humor and music. He also had a puppet sidekick named Elmer, who was a mule. He often invited local talent and celebrities to join him on the show, such as Bob Wills, the king of western swing, whom he had toured with in the late 1940s.

Andrews also hosted other children's shows, such as "The Slim Andrews Show" and "The Slim and Shorty Show", in various stations in Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. He retired from television in 1968, and moved back to Gravette, Arkansas, with his wife Lucille.

He remained active in the entertainment industry, appearing as a guest at film festivals, western conventions, and nostalgia events. He was a member of the Screen Actors Guild and a lifetime member of Musicians Local 47 of Hollywood.

Andrews died on April 3, 1992, at the age of 85, in Bentonville, Arkansas. He, his wife, and son are buried in the Bethel Cemetery just south of Gravette.

He was inducted into the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame in 2000, and a historical marker was erected in his honor in Gravette in 2006.

*Posted with permission of @FunInArkansas

Lucille
1908 - 1992
Born Pineville AR

John
1941 - 1991

Contributed on 4/19/10

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