thedrifter
09-24-07, 08:59 AM
Cowboy died with his boots on
Sunday, September 23, 2007
By JAY LEVIN
STAFF WRITER
Teenage Marine at Iwo Jima. Rodeo performer. Actor who rode with John Wayne in "Rio Bravo." Market research executive. Passionate Jets fan. Dude ranch mainstay.
Donald DeMarzio wore lots of hats in his 81 years. He was buried wearing the one he liked best, a dressy black cowboy hat, along with snakeskin boots.
Ever vacation at the Rocking Horse Ranch in the Catskills? Then you probably ran into the irrepressible Cowboy Don and his favorite mount, Shenandoah. After a heart attack ended his business career, Don started working there and wound up as entertainment director. He booked the acts, ran the Wild West shows, called bingo, dealt blackjack, made the announcements over the intercom, greeted guests. He did pretty much everything there for 15 years, until cancer forced his retirement last December.
"This guy knew all there was to know about horses, and cowboys, and Westerns," said Robert Saypol of Wayne, who's been going to Rocking Horse Ranch with his wife and kids for 11 years.
"And if he didn't know it, he made it up real well."
Cowboy Don, a onetime Ramsey resident, died Sept. 14 at the Lillian Booth Actors' Home in Englewood.
He led such a full, varied life that it's best to start at the beginning.
Born in Schenectady, N.Y., Don had his family sign papers to allow him to join the Coast Guard at age 16. The Marines got their hands on him, and it was off to Iwo Jima, one of World War II's fiercest battles.
After getting out of the service in 1946, he needed a job. He found one as a foreman at a ranch in the Adirondacks.
"He'd never ridden a horse before," said his only daughter, Kyla Pryor, 35, of Hoboken. "He got there and they said, 'Why don't you ride every horse in the barn?' "
Don rode well, so well that he joined the East Coast rodeo circuit. Legend has it that during a rodeo at the old Madison Square Garden, Don galloped out into Eighth Avenue to lasso a wayward bull.
He moved to New York City to study acting. According to Actors' Home records, Don -- stage name Scott Ware -- was in more than 25 off-Broadway productions and received an award from Show Business magazine "for showing the most improvement in the 1955-56 season."
His rodeo credentials no secret, Don was hired to teach Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson how to ride horses for their roles in the 1959 Western "Rio Bravo," starring John Wayne. Don was in the movie, too, as an extra on horseback.
" 'Rio Bravo' was on a month ago and I TiVo'ed it," said Patricia Peterson, admissions coordinator at the Actors' Home. "And there Don was. He had a lot of face time. He was an integral part of the film because he was the real deal -- a real rodeo cowboy."
But acting didn't pay all the bills, so Don took a job as a typist at Ehrhart-Babic Group, a market research firm.
"He told me that was a bigger stage than any stage he was ever on," Kyla said.
He moved up the ladder, following Ehrhart-Babic to Englewood Cliffs and rising to vice president and to president of a subsidiary, the National Retail Tracking Index.
For 30 years, the cowboy-actor was a jacket-and-tie businessman. Along the way, he married, became a doting father and divorced.
Then he went back to being a cowboy.
"When I was 13, Dad said to me, 'You wanna ride a horse?' " Kyla recalled. "He found a ranch in Tucson, and he taught me. We came back from that trip, and because I loved riding so much, he looked for a place around here we could ride."
Father and daughter settled on the Rocking Horse Ranch. They went many weekends and eventually made an arrangement with the owners to work in the stables in exchange for room and board.
In 1991, Don suffered a heart attack at his own Super Bowl party. He retired from Ehrhart-Babic and spent more time at the Rocking Horse. He moved there and branched out from the stables.
"Don was just one of the most colorful, warm human beings -- I feel like I knew him my whole life," said Steve Turk, owner of the Rocking Horse. "He was everyone's uncle, everyone's father, everyone's grandfather. If guests had a problem, Don would take care of them.
"He was always in character. Always Cowboy Don."
Flo Cook, who teaches line dancing at the Rocking Horse, was Don's assistant.
"The thing that impressed me most, little kids would come running in and say, 'See, Mom! I told you Cowboy Don would be here!' He was one in a million."
"It made my dad feel so valued and special that so many people came up to the ranch asking for Cowboy Don," Kyla said.
"He adored that place. Other than me, that's what he talked about."
Illness and old rodeo injuries took a toll. "He didn't want to give up on the ranch," Flo said. "He went out kicking, fighting. He didn't want to retire."
Cowboy Don was laid to rest Tuesday in Schenectady. With his snakeskin boots on.
Ellie
Sunday, September 23, 2007
By JAY LEVIN
STAFF WRITER
Teenage Marine at Iwo Jima. Rodeo performer. Actor who rode with John Wayne in "Rio Bravo." Market research executive. Passionate Jets fan. Dude ranch mainstay.
Donald DeMarzio wore lots of hats in his 81 years. He was buried wearing the one he liked best, a dressy black cowboy hat, along with snakeskin boots.
Ever vacation at the Rocking Horse Ranch in the Catskills? Then you probably ran into the irrepressible Cowboy Don and his favorite mount, Shenandoah. After a heart attack ended his business career, Don started working there and wound up as entertainment director. He booked the acts, ran the Wild West shows, called bingo, dealt blackjack, made the announcements over the intercom, greeted guests. He did pretty much everything there for 15 years, until cancer forced his retirement last December.
"This guy knew all there was to know about horses, and cowboys, and Westerns," said Robert Saypol of Wayne, who's been going to Rocking Horse Ranch with his wife and kids for 11 years.
"And if he didn't know it, he made it up real well."
Cowboy Don, a onetime Ramsey resident, died Sept. 14 at the Lillian Booth Actors' Home in Englewood.
He led such a full, varied life that it's best to start at the beginning.
Born in Schenectady, N.Y., Don had his family sign papers to allow him to join the Coast Guard at age 16. The Marines got their hands on him, and it was off to Iwo Jima, one of World War II's fiercest battles.
After getting out of the service in 1946, he needed a job. He found one as a foreman at a ranch in the Adirondacks.
"He'd never ridden a horse before," said his only daughter, Kyla Pryor, 35, of Hoboken. "He got there and they said, 'Why don't you ride every horse in the barn?' "
Don rode well, so well that he joined the East Coast rodeo circuit. Legend has it that during a rodeo at the old Madison Square Garden, Don galloped out into Eighth Avenue to lasso a wayward bull.
He moved to New York City to study acting. According to Actors' Home records, Don -- stage name Scott Ware -- was in more than 25 off-Broadway productions and received an award from Show Business magazine "for showing the most improvement in the 1955-56 season."
His rodeo credentials no secret, Don was hired to teach Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson how to ride horses for their roles in the 1959 Western "Rio Bravo," starring John Wayne. Don was in the movie, too, as an extra on horseback.
" 'Rio Bravo' was on a month ago and I TiVo'ed it," said Patricia Peterson, admissions coordinator at the Actors' Home. "And there Don was. He had a lot of face time. He was an integral part of the film because he was the real deal -- a real rodeo cowboy."
But acting didn't pay all the bills, so Don took a job as a typist at Ehrhart-Babic Group, a market research firm.
"He told me that was a bigger stage than any stage he was ever on," Kyla said.
He moved up the ladder, following Ehrhart-Babic to Englewood Cliffs and rising to vice president and to president of a subsidiary, the National Retail Tracking Index.
For 30 years, the cowboy-actor was a jacket-and-tie businessman. Along the way, he married, became a doting father and divorced.
Then he went back to being a cowboy.
"When I was 13, Dad said to me, 'You wanna ride a horse?' " Kyla recalled. "He found a ranch in Tucson, and he taught me. We came back from that trip, and because I loved riding so much, he looked for a place around here we could ride."
Father and daughter settled on the Rocking Horse Ranch. They went many weekends and eventually made an arrangement with the owners to work in the stables in exchange for room and board.
In 1991, Don suffered a heart attack at his own Super Bowl party. He retired from Ehrhart-Babic and spent more time at the Rocking Horse. He moved there and branched out from the stables.
"Don was just one of the most colorful, warm human beings -- I feel like I knew him my whole life," said Steve Turk, owner of the Rocking Horse. "He was everyone's uncle, everyone's father, everyone's grandfather. If guests had a problem, Don would take care of them.
"He was always in character. Always Cowboy Don."
Flo Cook, who teaches line dancing at the Rocking Horse, was Don's assistant.
"The thing that impressed me most, little kids would come running in and say, 'See, Mom! I told you Cowboy Don would be here!' He was one in a million."
"It made my dad feel so valued and special that so many people came up to the ranch asking for Cowboy Don," Kyla said.
"He adored that place. Other than me, that's what he talked about."
Illness and old rodeo injuries took a toll. "He didn't want to give up on the ranch," Flo said. "He went out kicking, fighting. He didn't want to retire."
Cowboy Don was laid to rest Tuesday in Schenectady. With his snakeskin boots on.
Ellie