Those playing in the annual Ben Hogan Legacy Golf Series Tournament received a warm welcome Thursday, June 11 at the dinner before Friday’s event, including an enthusiastic speech by Hollywood legend Burton Gilliam.
As the dinner kicked off at the Majestic on Grafton, participants gathered to visit, share tips about PAR Country Club for the next day’s golf tournament and talk about Dublin’s own Ben Hogan.
Ben Hogan was a professional golfer regarded as one of the greatest players in history often celebrated for his influence on golf swing theory.
He was the winner of 64 PGA tour events, including nine majors, including the legendary 1950 comeback after suffering from a near fatal car crash.
Dublin’s Ben Hogan Museum in downtown Dublin on Blackjack Street is listed as one of the Travel Channel’s ‘Ten Bucket list destinations for golf fans.’
Each year the annual tournament, live auction and donation benefits the museum and its efforts.
Event organizer Charlie Finnegan encouraged attendees to give generously to support the museum and future efforts.
Ben Hogan Museum curator Karen Wright welcomed guests and showcased the draw of the museum.
“During a city council race last year, a candidate stated they would like to see less museums downtown,” she said.
Within only three months the Hogan Museum drew visitors from four countries, 29 states and 49 Texas cities, she said.
“Most of these are people who have been before or are from family and friends of those who have come before. So, anybody who thinks the Hogan story is no longer relevant should talk to those visitors,” she said.
Wright also shared news on an upcoming special for Veterans Day from Fox Nation that compares the characteristics between veterans and athletes. Interviews were conducted at the museum for the major broadcast.
She also shared that a special set of one-of-a-kind Ben Hogan golf clubs from astronaut Charlie Duke who was youngest person to walk on the moon with Apollo 16 may be donated to the museum.
During the dinner, the well-known 1950 U.S. Open photo of Ben Hogan’s backswing was showcased on stage, an image Wright said tells the Hogan story.
“The story of Ben Hogan is right here,” she said, pointing to Hogan’s legs. “He has no right to be standing here, much less to have played 36 holes, often 72 holes.”
Hogan wore bandages on his legs and took hot baths every day in order to keep the swelling down from the car accident. He had 13 spikes in his shoe because he couldn’t feel his pivot anymore, she said.
“That’s the greatest comeback in sports,” she said. “He taught us a lot and that’s why we preserve this.”
Paul Darwin, a friend of Hogan’s and Burton Gilliam, introduced Gilliam, the guest speaker. He met him on a flight to play in a celebrity golf tournament.
Darwin, whose favorite movie is Blazing Saddles, recounted a missed opportunity to meet the actor, only to run into him on the flight where he was wearing a bright orange shirt featuring Blazing Saddles.
“I asked him are you, Burton Gilliam?” he said. The actor affirmed that he was and then reached his hand out to shake hands. When Darwin stated Blazing Saddles was his favorite film, Gilliam only had one response.
“It’s mine too,” he said. When taking the stage, Gilliam said he was honored to be there and that golf had meant so much to him for the past 45 years.
“45 years and I still haven’t made a hole in one,” he said, joking.
Gilliam recounted his life, stating he never set out to be an actor, being a boxer, a Coast Guard veteran and a Dallas firefighter for 14 years.
In 1972, Gilliam saw an article in the Dallas newspaper asking for extras in a film by Peter Bogdanovich called “Paper Moon” by Paramount Pictures. The movie starred Ryan and daughter Tatum O’Neil and Gilliam was excited about the potential opportunity to meet the actor so he decided to go to the casting call.
Obviously, the O’Neil’s weren’t there but he met casting director Gary Chason and then later saw Hollywood starlet Cybil Shepherd and Bogdanovich.
Everyone involved loved Gilliam’s reading for the part, and three days later he received a call at the fire station stating he got the part.
Taking his vacation time from the fire department, he went to Missouri to shoot and enjoyed his time on set.
Earning $288 a week and learning about the word per diem for the first time, Gilliam was amazed he would also be receiving $78 a day for incidentals and food, which was already provided on set.
“Everyone was so nice,” he said. “They kept telling me, you should move to Hollywood, you could get all the work you want.”
But at that point, Gilliam was happy in his life as a Dallas firefighter.
His life drastically changed three months later after getting a call from Mel Brooks at the station who had seen an advanced screening of Paper Moon.
He was working on a new picture called Blazing Saddles and thought Gilliam would be perfect in the film.
“I said thank you very much, and hung up on him,” he said, thinking it was a fellow firefighter playing a joke on him. They then reconnected and Brooks told him, “Don’t hang up, this really is Mel Brooks.”
The director then attempted to get him to quit the fire department, which he declined, but agreed to go to Hollywood to meet producers and read the script.
He wasn’t a fan and stated there was nothing in there for a character actor to hold on to. They told him thank you for his time, and he returned to Texas.
A few days later Richard Pryor, a writer with the film, called him, and they had re-written the movie to showcase him including opening the movie.
Returning to Hollywood, he was a fan of the part and visited with the casting director who said there was no money in the picture, most likely wanting to give his role to a friend or family member. Gilliam left and returned home, only to receive a call from Brooks saying, “What happened?”
After Gilliam explained the casting director hadn’t offered him any amount, Brooks said he would call the actor right back, having words with his casting director.
After that Gilliam was hired for the picture at $4,000 a week for three weeks, quitting Dallas Fire Department and starting his acting career that has spanned 52 movies, 176 television shows and more than 200 commercials.
A few of the actors Gilliam is proud to have worked with includes Burt Reynolds, who he was also friends with, Robert Mitchum, Andy Griffith, Jeff Bridges, Marilu Henner, Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger, James Gardner, Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, John Wayne, Chevy Chase, Sarah Jessica Parker, Nicolas Cage and Richard Pryor.
“It’s more than me and my family could have ever asked for,” he said.
(Winners and details of the Hogan tournament will be in the June 25 edition.)