- Born
- Died
- Arvo Ojala was born on February 21, 1920 in Seattle, Washington, USA. He was an actor, known for Silverado (1985), Back to the Future Part III (1990) and ¡Three Amigos! (1986). He was married to Doris Seversen. He died on July 1, 2005 in Gresham, Oregon, USA.
- SpouseDoris Seversen(1951 - 1978) (her death, 5 children)
- Lightning fast quick-draw gunman
- A legendary Hollywood quick-draw expert and gun coach, he appeared as the anonymous bad guy who loses the gun duel with James Arness' Marshal Matt Dillon in the opening of the long-running weekly TV series Gunsmoke (1955). Arvo once said that the royalties that he earned from that one scene paid for many Cadillacs over the years.
- Of Finnish descent. Said that his success came from having "sisu" - the Finnish word for a person's driving focus to be the best.
- Taught himself marksmanship and how to quick-draw a handgun while living on his father's ranch near Yakima, Washington, during the 1930s. Designed a special holster that allowed him to draw a gun faster than the standard holster.
- With an ability to cock his pistol, fire and reportedly hit his target in one-sixth of a second, he was the go-to guy for learning the art of the fast-draw during the heyday of TV westerns in the 1950s and '60s.
- A stuntman and bit player who turned his skill with a six-gun into a lucrative business, he manufactured his own patented, metal-lined fast-draw holsters that were used by countless sagebrush heroes and quick-draw competitors.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
