[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 132 (Thursday, October 19, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              IN TRIBUTE TO WALTER BRENNAN AND JOEL McCREA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELTON GALLEGLY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 18, 2000

  Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to two stars from my 
home in Ventura County, California, who made their mark on the world as 
screen legends and in Ventura County as good neighbors.
  The duo will be honored this weekend with a statue in Old Town in 
Camarillo.
  My best screen memories of Walter Brennan are probably the same as 
many--that of the shuffling, wizened and crotchety patriarch Grandpa 
Amos in The Real McCoys. The Real McCoys was ``a moral show . . . about 
the love of a family,'' in the words of Kathleen ``Kate McCoy'' Nolan. 
We could use more of that fare on television today.
  No brag, just fact.
  Walter Brennan became Amos McCoy after a successful career on the big 
screen. Walter Brennan died in Oxnard, California, in 1974 at the age 
of 80, but his film career--which began in 1927--didn't end until a 
year later when his last film, Smoke in the Wind, was released.
  In all, Walter Brennan acted in 186 films and three television 
series, not to count the singular TV shows in which he appeared. Mr. 
Brennan was the first actor to win the Best Supporting Oscar and the 
first to win three Oscars.
  But to his neighbors in Moorpark, where he lived for some 20 years, 
the film and television star was just Mr. Brennan. It's fitting that a 
statute to Walter Brennan will grace Old Town Camarillo. Walter Brennan 
twice served as the city's grand marshal and his son lives in the city. 
A daughter still makes Moorpark her home.
  Joel McCrea made his home in Moorpark Road at the foot of the 
Norwegian Grade, where his grandson still lives.
  Joel McCrea began his career as a movie stuntman and landed his first 
starring role in The Silver Horde. He starred in dozens of more films 
throughout the 1930s and '40s. In the '50s, he starred as Ranger Jase 
Pearson in the television series Tales of the Texas Rangers.
  Cry Blood, Apache, which was released in 1970, was a family affair. 
Joel McCrea and his son, Jody, starred in the film, and Jody McCrea 
also produced it.
  Much of the McCrea Ranch now serves the public as parkland.
  Mr. Speaker, Walter Brennan and Joel McCrea enriched our lives in 
many ways. I know my colleagues will join me in paying tribute to their 
memories.

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