Arvo Ojala (born January 21,
1920 in Seattle, Washington; died July 1, 2005 in Gresham, Oregon) was
a Hollywood advisor and expert quick draw artist, frequently credited
as a "technical director" but also working as an actor. He appeared in
the weekly opening sequences of Gunsmoke for over 18 years being
gunned down by Marshall Dillon.
Ojala taught himself
marksmanship and how to quick-draw a handgun while living on his
father's ranch near Yakima, Washington, during the 1930s. He 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
television westerns in the 1950s and '60s.
One of Ojalas' major acting
parts was the film "The Oregon Trail" as "Ellis" His speaking role and
expertise as a gun handler, fast draw artist, and instructor are
shown. Ojala is the originator of "The Metal lined fast draw Holster",
in which he holds the United States Patent in 1954
For
twenty years, fans of the Western TV series "Gunsmoke"
watched the opening credits in which James Arness as Matt Dillon faced
down a gunslinger. Each week, Dillon killed the badguy. What many
people didn’t know was the name of the gunslinger in the famous credit
sequence, now you do: Arvo Ojala. The sequence was actually filmed
four different times during the series's two decade run, but Mr. Ojala
was the duelist in the first version. Arvo Ojala was one of the top
gun coaches in Hollywood history. He was a master of the quick draw,
and not just in the movies. Mr. Ojala was a marksman with few peers.
The man who lost the draw against Matt Dillon every week finally lost
the draw that all of will face someday. Arvo Ojala died at age 85. Mr.
Arvo worked both in front and behind the cameras. He acted in such
films and TV shows as "Lancer,"
"Two-Gun Lady" and "The
Oregon Trail." He was technical advisor and gun coach on such
films and TV shows as "Silverado,"
"The War Wagon," "Back
to the Future III," "Sugarfoot,"
"Maverick," the rock and
roll Western "Zachariah" and
"Three Amigos.".
Excerpts from
Entertainers Inside, (July 2004 issue of the WFDA Top Gun magazine)
