Clint Walker's acting career started because of ''a string of geographical flukes''
Have you heard the phrase "Home is where the heart is?" Sometimes you have to move away from the environment you grew up in; it's vital to your growth as a person and to your career. We're not saying those who stay in their hometowns can't succeed or grow; it's just that exposure to new things can increase your ability to adapt to life's changes.
Clint Walker did this when he moved away from Texas (though he was born in Illinois) with his family for a better life. In a 1957 Morning World article, the star of Cheyenne told the story of how he went from rags to riches. He started by saying he went from nobody to a 'somebody' in two years, and a lot of people wanted to know how.
"The answer is surprisingly simple. I got to be 'Cheyenne' through a string of geographical flukes," he said. What does that mean? To find his way to Hollywood, he had to go through job losses in different locations. He continued, "The first one happened about five years ago at a dusty fork in the road in Texas. My job as a cow-puncher and rancher dried up like most of the water in Texas after a long drought. So my wife Lucille and our one-year-old Valerie piled into our Model-A and headed for damper country."
Walker had only 15 dollars and 12 cents in his pocket. He suggested moving to Florida, but his wife suggested California because she had a cousin there. They ended up in Long Beach, where he worked various jobs such as a private eye and a bouncer.
Those jobs didn't work out, and his next geographical fluke happened. Eventually, they landed in Hollywood after people kept telling Walker he needed to be on TV. A few months later, he tested at Warner Bros. and ended up playing Cheyenne.