- Born
- Died
- Birth nameLennie B. Osborne
- Nicknames
- Lennie Miles Osborne
- Bud Osburne
- Bud Osbourne
- One of the finest teamsters in Hollywood screen history, Osborne handled the reins for horse-drawn coaches and wagons in countless westerns and historical photoplays from the early 20's through late 50's. And with his weathered, rumpled look, his Texas drawl and his nasal twang, he was often called upon to portray a seedy outlaw in any of those same westerns.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Bill Takacs <kinephile@aol.com>
- Bud Osborne's almost 50-year career in films began--as far as is known--in 1912 with, naturally, a western. Originally from Texas, Osborne worked for "Wild West" shows where he was noted for his astonishing prowess in handling six-horse wagons and stagecoaches, a talent that carried over into films. He began as a stuntman but the fact that he not only looked like a cowboy but actually was one meant that he was soon playing cowboys in front of the camera, in addition to his stunting and horse-handling chores. His stocky, somewhat rugged appearance and Texas accent carried him easily through the transition to talkies, and he soon became one of the busiest supporting players in westerns of the 1930s and 1940s (altogether he appeared in more than 550 films, in addition to much television work, almost all of it in westerns). Age began catching up with him in the 1950s, and he wound out his career appearing in several of director Edward D. Wood Jr.'s micro-budget horror and sci-fi extravaganzas.- IMDb Mini Biography By: frankfob2@yahoo.com
- SpouseElderine(? - February 2, 1964) (his death, 2 children)
- Unlike most, if not all, movie cowboys, Osborne almost always wore the drawstring on his cowboy hat firmly cinched under his chin.
- Noted for his amazing ability to handle a team of horses, whether a four- or six-horse team, a skill he picked up while working in Wild West shows in his youth and never lost.
- Before entering films he worked for a variety of traveling Wild West shows, including the famous Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, for which he was arena director.
- [on how he got his start in films] I came out to Hollywood from Indian Territory in 1912 with a consignment of horses and cattle for the Thomas H. Ince movie outfit. The studio was located on the beachfront at the foot of Santa Inez Canyon, four miles north of Santa Monica. There were just a few sets, and interiors were built outdoors just the same as exteriors. Transportation from the end of the trolley line was the stagecoach and ranch wagon we used in the pictures. And it wasn't the smoothest riding in the world. We found it took too much time traveling back and forth from Santa Monica so Ince decided to build a tent city at the studio. I put up the 24 tents, including a cook and mess tent. The place became known as Inceville. And I became an actor. Our bathtub was the Pacific. Our recreation hall was the beach. When we went on location we used horses and stagecoaches and wagons. We had sandwiches and cold coffee for lunch. In the old days, we didn't draw salaries. We got wages. Five dollars a day. Leading men and women sometimes got $60 a week. And no limit on working hours. Overtime? Everything was overtime. But there were compensations. You could get a room at the swank Hollywood Hotel for three dollars a week. A good meal from soup to nuts cost two bits. A drink was a dime instead of a dollar.
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