 |
| "Hook" aka Harold Van Buskirk - circa 1978 |
It was around 1978. The two men stood in the middle of the dusty street, about thirty feet apart, eyes locked on one another. Empty hands held slightly away from their bodies, inches from the revolvers they wore on their hips. It was a classic showdown between a Sheriff and an Outlaw. A battle between Good and Evil. A battle where Good was going to win because Good always won here at the Old West show in the historic Calico Ghost Town near Barstow, CA. The audience paid good money to see Good win. And besides the Sheriff was a better shot then the Outlaw. At least that’s what everyone thought until...
BLAM! BLAM! In a blinding flash of steel and flesh, they drew and shot, seemingly in one motion. When the smoke cleared, the Sheriff was on his back, a red splotch on his chest. It wasn’t real blood, the bullets were tiny balloons filled with red paint. But they hurt like heck, and the Sheriff was wincing in pain. The show director balled out the cantankerous Outlaw...then offered him the job of Sheriff. The Outlaw turned him down. Playing the Bad Guy was just more fun recalls quick draw artist, Harold Van Buskirk. “I didn’t want to wear a badge. I liked jumping behind stuff and shooting up the town.”
Harold now lives here in the M Street neighborhood. He goes by the nick-name, Hook, because like the fabled “Captain Hook” he’s missing a hand, the result of a childhood accident. Raised in Pennsylvania, he moved to Los Angeles to escape the frigid winters. In the early 70’s, he began frequenting the Pioneer Club on Lankershim Boulevard where bands played the “outlaw” country music of Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. He developed a taste for cowboy boots and western style clothes. Then a friend introduced him to the art of the fast draw. At a gun store in Hollywood, he bought a matched pair of nickel-plated, pearl-handled, single action Colt 45’s. He practiced night and day drawing the guns out of the hand-tooled leather holsters, every week getting a little quicker. At the San Angeles shooting range, he shot at targets until he could shoot a bulls eye almost every time.
One day, a talent scout from the Calico Ghost Town saw him shooting and invited him to join the cast of the Wild West show. Joining the Cowboys of Calico was a bit of an honor in those days. Not only was it a popular tourist destination, it was a popular movie location for westerns. And it was a place where movie stars could test their gun skills against each other. The contests took place in the back stage area, away from the public. Hook remembers seeing Steve McQueen and Sammy Davis, Jr. go at it. Big money was at stake. The loser had to pay the winner about ten thousand dollars, Hook recalls. “It wasn’t a friendly thing. They really didn’t like each other.” McQueen won the contest, but Davis wanted to go again. McQueen turned him down. Later that day, Hook showed McQueen his matched pair of Colt 45’s. McQueen loved them and offered Hook five thousand dollars for the pair. This time, it was Hook who turned down McQueen.
While Hook participated in the Old West shows in Calico, he pursued an acting career in Los Angeles, appearing as an extra in numerous films and TV shows including “Starsky & Hutch,” “The Champ,” “Hill Street Blues,” “St. Elsewhere,” “Battlestar Galatica,” and Steve McQueen’s last film, “The Hunter.” Even though Hook wore a prosthetic hand that virtually hid his disability, he felt casting agencies were prejudiced against anyone who was different. Eventually, he was blackballed as a “trouble-maker” even though he showed up on time and was always cooperative on set. Pursuing acting work, “just wasn’t worth it any more,” he recalls.
Hook became an entrepreneur, bidding on close-out liquidations, buying merchandise by the truck load and selling it at flea markets, swap meets, and garage sales. “Sometimes you make good money. Other times you just break even. But it keeps me busy,” Hook told me. These days he has trouble walking long distances so he rides a blue motorized scooter when he walks his Siberian Husky, Wolfie. But he still adheres to the cowboy code by living each day with courage, taking pride in his work, and knowing that some things--like your pearl-handled colt revolvers-- just aren’t for sale at any price.
BLAM! BLAM! In a blinding flash of steel and flesh, they drew and shot, seemingly in one motion. When the smoke cleared, the Sheriff was on his back, a red splotch on his chest. It wasn’t real blood, the bullets were tiny balloons filled with red paint. But they hurt like heck, and the Sheriff was wincing in pain. The show director balled out the cantankerous Outlaw...then offered him the job of Sheriff. The Outlaw turned him down. Playing the Bad Guy was just more fun recalls quick draw artist, Harold Van Buskirk. “I didn’t want to wear a badge. I liked jumping behind stuff and shooting up the town.”
Harold now lives here in the M Street neighborhood. He goes by the nick-name, Hook, because like the fabled “Captain Hook” he’s missing a hand, the result of a childhood accident. Raised in Pennsylvania, he moved to Los Angeles to escape the frigid winters. In the early 70’s, he began frequenting the Pioneer Club on Lankershim Boulevard where bands played the “outlaw” country music of Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. He developed a taste for cowboy boots and western style clothes. Then a friend introduced him to the art of the fast draw. At a gun store in Hollywood, he bought a matched pair of nickel-plated, pearl-handled, single action Colt 45’s. He practiced night and day drawing the guns out of the hand-tooled leather holsters, every week getting a little quicker. At the San Angeles shooting range, he shot at targets until he could shoot a bulls eye almost every time.
One day, a talent scout from the Calico Ghost Town saw him shooting and invited him to join the cast of the Wild West show. Joining the Cowboys of Calico was a bit of an honor in those days. Not only was it a popular tourist destination, it was a popular movie location for westerns. And it was a place where movie stars could test their gun skills against each other. The contests took place in the back stage area, away from the public. Hook remembers seeing Steve McQueen and Sammy Davis, Jr. go at it. Big money was at stake. The loser had to pay the winner about ten thousand dollars, Hook recalls. “It wasn’t a friendly thing. They really didn’t like each other.” McQueen won the contest, but Davis wanted to go again. McQueen turned him down. Later that day, Hook showed McQueen his matched pair of Colt 45’s. McQueen loved them and offered Hook five thousand dollars for the pair. This time, it was Hook who turned down McQueen.
While Hook participated in the Old West shows in Calico, he pursued an acting career in Los Angeles, appearing as an extra in numerous films and TV shows including “Starsky & Hutch,” “The Champ,” “Hill Street Blues,” “St. Elsewhere,” “Battlestar Galatica,” and Steve McQueen’s last film, “The Hunter.” Even though Hook wore a prosthetic hand that virtually hid his disability, he felt casting agencies were prejudiced against anyone who was different. Eventually, he was blackballed as a “trouble-maker” even though he showed up on time and was always cooperative on set. Pursuing acting work, “just wasn’t worth it any more,” he recalls.
Hook became an entrepreneur, bidding on close-out liquidations, buying merchandise by the truck load and selling it at flea markets, swap meets, and garage sales. “Sometimes you make good money. Other times you just break even. But it keeps me busy,” Hook told me. These days he has trouble walking long distances so he rides a blue motorized scooter when he walks his Siberian Husky, Wolfie. But he still adheres to the cowboy code by living each day with courage, taking pride in his work, and knowing that some things--like your pearl-handled colt revolvers-- just aren’t for sale at any price.
