Sammy Baugh

Football-player-turned-actor "Slinging" Sammy Baugh was born in Texas in 1914 to a father who worked for the Santa Fe Railroad, which meant that the family moved around a lot. Sammy attended Texas Christian University on a baseball scholarship, but he also played football and basketball at the college (although he is most famous for his football prowess, his nickname, "Slinging Sammy", was bestowed upon him at TCU because of his baseball skills). Upon graduation in 1937 Sammy signed up with the Washington Redskins of the NFL. He played minor-league baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals farm team the next year, but stayed with the Redskins. It was inevitable that a big, strong, good-looking athlete would attract attention in Hollywood, and in 1941 Republic Pictures approached him about starring in a serial for them. He liked the idea and signed up for King of the Texas Rangers (1941), directed by ace serial specialists John English and William Witney, with a cast that included such serial veterans as Roy Barcroft, Duncan Renaldo, Stanley Blystone and Bud Geary and backed by Republic's top-notch team of stuntmen, such as Tom Steele and David Sharpe. The serial is considered by many western and serial aficionados to be one of the best ever made by Republic. The picture was a rousing success and Republic wanted Sammy to make more of them, but although he said that he had fun doing it, acting was not something he was particularly interested in and he turned down the offer. He wanted to go back to playing football. In 1952 he retired from professional football after 16 seasons with the Redskins. He was inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1963. Although he didn't play football again, he did coach college and pro teams before retiring from the sport in 1968.