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Monte Blue

Monte was born Gerard Montgomery Blue in Indianapolis, Indiana on January 11, 1887. Monte left home at age 15 and while making his way west across the country, he learned to ride horseback and worked on ranches, even working for Ringling Brothers as a horseman at one point. Eventually, Monte worked as a day laborer at the D.W. Griffith Studios in Hollywood and made his first appearance in 1915 as a stuntman and extra in Birth of a Nation. He gained stardom in 1921 when he starred with Lillian and Dorothy Gish in Orphans of the Storm. He was one of the few actors to make the transition from silent to “talkie” films, albeit as a character actor. In 1948, he played one of his more memorable roles as the sheriff opposite Lionel Barrymore in Key Largo. Some of the studios he worked for liked to play up his Cherokee lineage, thus he was often referred to as “Monte Bluefeather”. Monte Blue was an announcer for Cheyenne Frontier Days™ from 1952 to 1960. Initially working alone, he was joined at the microphone in 1955 by Eddie Hanna. In 1956, despite losing his wife of 32 years, Monte managed to announce at Cheyenne Frontier Days™. Health problems kept Monte away in 1958, but he returned for the 1959 and 1960 shows. Monte was a one-man publicity committee, promoting Cheyenne Frontier Days™ year-round. Monte’s frequent appearances on radio and TV provided opportunities for him to promote Frontier Days. It was through Monte’s contacts that Jack Mabee was able to convince Arthur Godfrey to make television history with the first live remote outdoor broadcast from Cheyenne Frontier Days™.

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