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An American
cowboy star of "B" westerns who had a brief career in the 1940s,
Sunset Carson was born with the decidedly unheroic name of Winifred Maurice
Harrison (although he was generally known to his family as Michael or Mick) in
Gracemore, Oklahoma. He moved to Plainview, Texas, as a boy and became a
successful rodeo rider. Supposedly spotted at a rodeo by Tom Mix, Carson--like
Mix, never one to let the truth get in the way of a good story--was given a job
in Mix's touring circus/Wild West Show. He also claimed to have appeared in a
few bit parts in movies before traveling to South America in 1940 and winning
the Champion All-Around Cowboy awards in Buenos Aires (!) two years in a row.
Returning
to the US, he got small parts in such films as Stage Door Canteen (1943) and
Janie (1944) before being spotted by Republic executive Louis Gray. His size,
looks and horsemanship got him a Republic contract as the star of a series of
"B" westerns, along with a name change to Sunset Carson. Within two
years Carson was #10 on the list of top money-making western stars, but
Republic parted ways with him in 1946. According to stuntman Yakima Canutt,
Carson attended a studio function drunk and accompanied by an underage girl,
and studio head Herbert J. Yates fired him. Carson claimed to have left over
business disputes. In any case, he never again achieved the level of success he
had had at Republic. After a string of very low-budget westerns for other
companies, Carson retired from films in 1985 after making the sci-fi western
Alien Outlaw (1985). Sunset Carson toured with Tommy Scott's Country Music
Circus and Wild West Show. He replaced Tim McCoy after his death and stayed
with them for five seasons. Thereafter he lived in retirement, making film
appearances and attending western film conventions.
Sunset
Carson died in Reno, Nevada, in 1990.