Lou Diamond Phillips, Bob Wills to be honored
Western Heritage Awards are set for April 14-15
Emmy-nominated actor Lou Diamond Phillips, “King of Western Swing” Bob Wills and cowboy poet Red Steagall will be among the honorees at the 62nd Western Heritage Awards in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma businessman Robert A. “Bob” Funk Sr., the late Texas rancher Daniel Webster “80 John” Wallace and Colorado beer mogul Pete Coors also will be honored at the 2023 Western Heritage Awards, scheduled for April 14-15 at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
The venerable OKC event annually lauds people who have made significant contributions to the history and culture of the American West. The ceremony also recognizes the year’s top releases in Western literature, music, television and films, although the winners in those categories have not yet been announced.
Here’s a look at the honorees who have been announced so far for the 2023 Western Heritage Awards:
Lou Diamond Phillips and Bob Wills to join Hall of Great Western Performers
Phillips and Wills (1905-1975) will be ushered into the National Cowboy Museum’s Hall of Great Western Performers during the event. Recent inductees include Kurt Russell and Burt Reynolds.
Born in the Philippines and raised in Texas, Phillips, 60, has earned more than 150 film and television credits in his almost 40-year acting career. His portrayal of rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Ritchie Valens in the 1987 biopic “La Bamba” proved Phillips’ breakout role, and he was nominated for a Golden Globe and won an Independent Spirit Award for his turn in the 1988 drama “Stand and Deliver.” Other film credits include the upcoming feature “Easter Sunday,” Warner Bros.’ “The 33” and the Sundance Film Festival favorite “Filly Brown,” for which he was named Best Actor at the Imagen Awards.
A Texas native, Wills is credited with popularizing Western swing music, which fuses jazz, blues, big band swing, mariachi, gospel and frontier fiddle music. In a career spanning five decades, Wills wrote and/or recorded several songs that have become staples, including “Faded Love” and “San Antonio Rose.”
With his longtime band the Texas Playboys, Wills made Tulsa’s Cain’s Ballroom his performance home from 1935 to 1942. They also toured consistently throughout the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s and appeared in nearly 20 Western films.
The bandleader, entrepreneur and musician died May 13, 1975, at age 70.
Red Steagall to receive Lifetime Achievement Award
A songwriter, recording artist, TV personality and radio host, Steagall will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, devised to honor the life’s work of extraordinary Westerners. Previous recipients of the rare honor include George Strait and Robert Duvall.
A five-time Western Heritage Award winner and 2003 Hall of Great Westerners inductee, Steagall has written more than 200 songs; among his well-known tunes are “Here We Go Again,” “Freckles
Brown” and “Lone Star Beer and Bob Wills Music.”
A 2004 inductee into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, Steagall is the host of the RFD-TV show “Red Steagall is Somewhere West of Wall Street.” He also is credited with helping Oklahoma native and entertainment icon Reba McEntire launch her music career.
Hall of Great Westerners to add Bob Funk Sr. and ‘80 John’ Wallace
Funk and Wallace (1860-1939) will join the Hall of Great Westerners.
Funk is the founder, chairman and CEO of Express Employment Professionals, one of the nation’s largest privately held staffing companies. As president and CEO of Express Employment Professionals-Oklahoma, Funk also operates one of the largest Express franchises, with more than 50 offices in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Kansas.
He’s also the owner of Express Ranches, which produces Angus and Hereford cattle, is the largest Angus genetic seedstock producer in America and houses his collection of champion Clydesdale and Percheron horses.
Born into slavery in coastal Victoria County on the Gulf of Mexico in 1860, Wallace joined a local cattle drive as a chuckwagon helper and horse wrangler, soon earning a reputation for his skills and character. He attended school to learn how to read and write at age 25 and eventually purchased his own 1,280-acre ranch.
He became an innovative rancher and philanthropic pillar of his West Texas community: When he died in 1939, he had no debt and was worth more than $1 million.
Pete Coors to receive Western Visionary Award
Coors will become just the third recipient — after Phillip Anschutz and Foster Friess — of the Western Visionary Award, a rare honor bestowed on a person who has made “a national impact on preserving Western heritage and Western ideals.”
The great-grandson of Adolph Coors, who founded the Golden Brewery in 1873, he remains on the board of Molson Coors Brewing Co. Now retired, he has served in several executive positions, including president and chairman of Coors Brewing Co., as well as chairman of Molson Coors Brewing Co.
He also ran for U.S. Senate in 2004.
Champion horse trainer Bobby Ingersoll to round up founder’s award
Champion horse trainer Bobby Ingersoll will garner the 2023 Chester A. Reynolds Memorial Award, an annual prize named in honor of the National Cowboy Museum’s founder.
A native Californian, Ingersoll became interested in the horsemanship of the Spanish vaqueros as a boy. He has 22 American Quarter Horse championships to his credit and has trained champions of many breeds. At 83 years old, he continues to train riders on a regular basis.
How to get tickets to the 2023 Western Heritage Awards
Ticketing information for the 2023 Western Heritage Awards will be released in February. For more information, go to https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/western-heritage-awards.