Gretna Native Lash Larue, 'King Of The Bullwhip,' Dies
05-31-1996 Times Picayune

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Lash LaRue, a Gretna-born star of "B" westerns who thrilled a generation of
young fans when he routed villains with his trusty bullwhip, has died. He was
in his late 70s or 80s, friends said.

Mr. LaRue, who on screen wore black from hat to boots, died May 21 at
Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Calif. The hospital declined
to disclose the cause of death.

Mr. LaRue had not wanted his death reported, said Dennis Rogers, a Raleigh,
N.C., columnist and friend of the star who broke the story Thursday. After the
obituary appeared on The Associated Press wire, Rogers said, he was besieged
by calls from news organizations in the United States and Great Britain.

Mr. LaRue's official birth date was listed as June 15, 1917, but he had told
at least one friend he was as much as seven years older, Rogers said.

Although Mr. LaRue made about 75 movies between 1938 and 1963, he was best
known for his work from 1945 to 1952 in two dozen low-budget westerns that
became favorites of the kiddie-matinee crowd. They included "Wild West,"
"Outlaw Country," "The Frontier Phantom," "Son of Billy the Kid," "Mark of the
Lash" and "Border Feud."

One 1951 title sums up his reputation: "King of the Bullwhip."

In stage appearances at the height of his fame, Mr. LaRue's bullwhip could pop
the cap off a Coca-Cola bottle.

He wasn't always so proficient. In fact, he said in a 1988 interview, he lied
about his prowess to play the Cheyenne Kid in "Song of Old Wyoming," the 1945
film that made him a star.

The part called for Mr. LaRue to pluck a flower with his whip for a female
admirer.

When the producer told him what the part required, "I looked him in the eye
and said, 'I've been messing with whips all my life,' " Mr. LaRue said. "Then
I went out and rented a 20-foot bullwhip and almost beat myself to a pulp
trying to practice."

After three days of filming, LaRue admitted his failure. The studio kept him
and hired a whip expert from Australia. A career was born.

Until then, he had been known as Alfred LaRue, the son of Charles and Sarah
Louise LaRue of Gretna. After his father was killed in World War I, his mother
moved the 10-year-old boy and an older sister to Ohio, then to California,
where he began working in pictures.

Unfortunately for Mr. LaRue, his career took off just as television began to
make inroads on movies, especially the "B" westerns he was cranking out. He
tried his hand at TV with a series, "Lash of the West," featuring footage from
his movies, but it didn't last beyond the 1952-53 season.

His life after stardom "was a constant struggle for survival," Rogers said.

He made personal appearances at county fairs, film festivals and rodeos,
punctuated by occasional brushes with the law. After being arrested in 1966 on
a vagrancy charge, he spoke at many churches in Louisiana and Mississippi.

He was forced to give up preaching after a 1975 arrest for marijuana
possession, Rogers said. Mr. LaRue testified that he had talked a drug user
into trading his stash for Mr. LaRue's Bible. The judge put him on probation.

Three fans - Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash - gave him a bit
part in their 1986 remake of the classic "Stagecoach."

"I worked two days," Mr. LaRue said, "and made more money than I did when I
was starring."

Mr. LaRue refused to say how many times he had been married. Rogers estimated
he had as many as a dozen wives. Survivors include three sons and two
daughters.

Funeral and burial arrangements are incomplete.