Actor. He made over seventy-five movies and starred in his own television series. The era of the Western movie was over but Lash LaRue remained as the last of the series Western stars. He looked more like a bad guy than a cowboy hero wearing an all black outfit while sporting his Main weapon, an 18-foot bullwhip coiled at his holster. He was born Alfred LaRue in Gretna, Louisiana and raised in several different towns in the State. He dreamed of being a cowboy as a youngster, learning to ride horses during summer vacations herding cattle. His family moved to Los Angeles while he was still in his early teens attending St. Johns Military Academy and had some college education with a goal to enter the legal profession. While attending school, he worked as a real estate agent encountering George Brent who arranged a screen test. He appeared in a few low quality films but cast as the Cheyenne Kid in "Song of Old Wyoming" in 1945, he revealed his talent with a bullwhip. (The moniker Lash immerged} The black-clad character caught on with the kids in the Saturday matinee audience. His subsequent pictures were low quality but his whip carried the day and he starred in several films in the late 1940's. His best work resulted as he starred in "King of the Bullwhip" a series of western movies. A few of his many...His first "The Master Key" (1945) "The Caravan Trail" "Law of The Lash" "Pioneer Justice" "Stage to Mesa City" "Pair of Aces" (TV film, his last 1990.) Notable television character role appearances..."26 Men," "The Gabby Hayes Show" and many appearances on "Judge Roy Bean." Westerns faded quickly in the mid 1950s and LaRue was out of work. Between 1949 and 1961, Fawcett Comics published a series of Lash LaRue comic books. He appeared sporadically in films in later life but made a living doing appearances at western film buff conventions putting on a show with his whip while maintaining a busy souvenir sales booth. His wealth was diminished by many marriages and large settlements. The former actor's life turned to one of vagrancy, drunkenness and drug abuse. Finally, preacher Bob Woodward converted him to a born again Christian and he turned to religion. He became an evangelist on the rodeo and country-music circuit. He died at St Joseph's Hospital in Burbank of emphysema and was cremated.