Little Known Western Actors ~ Bill Catching

[These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]

 Jerome Peter Catching was born in Bexar, Texas on June 19, 1926. Known as Bill Catching, he hitchhiked from Bandera to Hollywood in 1942 when he was 16. He went to work in barns that furnished horses to the movies. After Navy service in WWII, Bill worked as a wrangler for Ralph McCutcheon, who furnished livestock to Columbia Pictures. Upon urging from Al Wyatt and Jock Mahoney, Bill and Troy Melton, he signed on as stuntmen at ZIV, an early giant in TV production. Catching worked on “The Cisco Kid” and “Boston Blackie” at ZIV as well as over 500 episodes of “Highway Patrol”, “I Led Three Lives”, “Bat Masterson”, “Tombstone Territory”, “The Rough Riders” and others over a five-year span. Leaving ZIV in 1953, he went to Columbia Pictures where his first stunt coordinating job was on “They Rode West”.

After a four-decade career of thrilling audiences and making actors look good, Bill spent a well-deserved retirement on his ranch just outside of Yuma where he raised prize horses. In August 1994 he received a Golden Boot Award for excellence in western films. His dear friend, the King of the Cowboys, Roy Rogers, presented Bill with his Golden Boot. The veteran stuntman died of cancer at 81 on August 24, 2007, at his home in Somerton, Arizona.

Cathcing worked as a stuntman on two Spaghetti westerns, “El regreso de los siete Magnificos” (The Return of the Seven) in 1966 and on 1967’s “La bataille de San Sebastian” (Guns for San Sebastian).

CATCHING, Bill (aka J.P. “Bill” Catching, J.P. Catching, William Catching, Bill Katching) (Jerome Peter Catching) [6/19/1926, Bexar, Texas, U.S.A. – 8/24/2007, Somerton, Arizona, U.S.A. (cancer)] – assistant director, stuntman, film, TV actor, married to Helen Margaret Davis [1927-1993] (1949-195??), father of Mary Renton [1956-    ], Trudy Catching [1959-    ], Carol ‘Cara’ Kaufman married to Dorothy Eva Blair [1942-    ] (1965-1970), member of the Stuntman’s Hall of Fame, awarded a Golden Boot Award [1994].

Return of the Seven – 1966 [stunts]

Guns for San Sebastian – 1967 [stunts]