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47
He Dug His
Wa? In
Guinn Williams entered the movies by means
of a pickax, but it has taken him ten years to
reach the inner circle.
By Helen Louise Walker
GUINN "BIG BOY" WILLIAMS might never have been in pictures if he hadn't been commissioned a second lieutenant in the army.
And he entered pictures in a novel manner. He dutj his way in — with a pickax. Honestly! And if his horse hadn't died, and if it hadn't been for that plumber, and if he hadn't had such welldeveloped muscles in his arms — everything might have been different.
Oh. well, all right! I know it sounds involved. But I'll straighten it all out in just a minute.
We'll begin with the commission and work along from there. It was like this. Big Boy joined the army during the War and won his commission when he was nineteen. After the armistice was signed, he went home to the ranch in Texas and found that his father had secured an appointment for him to go to West Point.
Big Boy was a little dismayed at the prospect, lie had already had quite a lot of army lite — and he had made other plans.
''You see," he drawls, "I figured that I was already a second lieutenant. The idea seemed to be for me to go and work like everything for four years at West Point, and when I got through — I would be a second lieutenant ! Seemed kind o' silly ! So I said I'd rather play baseball. I'd had an offer from the White Sox."
The elder Williams didn't care for that. They couldn't seem to compromise on their divergent plans for Big Boy's future. So Big Boy left home.
Baseball, it seems, didn't wear so well, and it wasn't long before Big Boy was wandering about the country, cashing in upon his early ranch experience by riding and roping in rodeos.
What more natural at this point than that he should come to Hollywood to do stunt riding in pictures ?
He arrived with two dollars and a half in his pocket and looked about him for a motion-picture studio. He found Larrv Semon and his
Photo ! iv Fryet Guinn Williams, nicknamed "Big Boy," was born on a Texas ranch, and much of that environment still clings to him.
In "Lucky Star" he is the villain to the hero of Charles Farrell, left.
company working out of doors on a comedy. Here is where the pickax enters the story. A large hole in the ground was required for the picture and Big Boy, standing by. considered that the efforts of the workmen employed to dig the hole were distinctly halfhearted.
"I hadn't had any exercise for days." lie said. "I went over to a man and said. 'Say! Would you lend me your pick for just a minute?' The bird was glad enough to turn it over to me. and I tore into that hole like nobody' husiness. Pretty soon everybody began to watch me — I guess they thought it was funny that anybody could he so enthusiastic about digging! Semon came over and asked me if I'd like to do some work in coin<-dies.
See" What did I tell you ?
lie still had the notion that a hard-rifling cowboy should make good in Westerns he drifted out of comedies, and sought employment in the wide-open epics.