Luster
Bayless
had
a
warm
southern
aff
ect,
but
was
fearless.
He
lived
his
life
in
hyperbole,
from
playing
a
championship
football
game
directly
after
appendix
surgery,
to
hitchhiking
cross
country
on
the
promise
of
a
job
in
Hollywood.
On
a
John
Wayne
picture
in
Mexico,
he
braved
a
bull
fi
ghting
ring
with
no
experience
and
lived.
In
the
Philippines
during
Apocalypse
Now,
while
escaping
a
typhoon
by
boat,
he
was
thrown
into
the
water
and
avoided
being
killed
by
the
propeller,
but
contracted
typhoid
fever
and
parasites.
He
jumped
onto
a
helicopter
and
left
everything
behind.
Bayless
loved
all
historical
costumes,
but
became
most
closely
associated
with
Westerns.
The
genre
established
Hollywood,
capturing
the
imagination
of
a
generation.
In
the
center
of
those
classic
fi
lms,
one
often
found
Luster.
"I
did
fi
ve
years
with
Walt
Disney,
when
Walt
was
alive,
we
did
Mary
Poppins,
Robinson
Crusoe,
and
when
Walt
passed
away,
I
went
back
into
the
independent
fi
eld.
The
fi
rst
one
that
grabbed
me
was
John
Wayne.
I
worked
with
him
on
McClintock!
before
'62
or
'63
then
Duke
wanted
me
to
do
all
of
his
movies.
So,
I
did
until
the
day
he
died.
I
worked
with
John
Ford,
Hogs
Hathaway,
Francis
Ford
Coppola,
and
did
fi
lms
for
Charles
Bronson,
Steve
McQueen,
and
Jimmy
(James)
Caan."
Photos:
United
merican
Costume
