1. Robert Gene "Red" West was an American actor, film stuntman and songwriter.
22 Facts About Red West
1. 2.
Red West was known for being a close confidant and bodyguard for rock and roll singer Elvis Presley.
3.
Red West was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to Lois and Newton Thomas Red West.
4.
An excellent athlete and US Marine, Red West played football for his high school and junior college at Jones County Junior College teams and was a boxer in the Golden Gloves championships.
5.
In 1961, Red West married his wife Pat Boyd who was Elvis' secretary.
6.
Red West co-wrote "If You Think I Don't Need You" with Joey Cooper for the motion picture Viva Las Vegas.
7.
Red West cowrote the song "Separate Ways" with Richard Mainegra for Elvis in 1972, and "If You Talk in Your Sleep" with Johnny Christopher for Presley's 1975 album Promised Land.
8.
Red West wrote "If Every Day Was Like Christmas", recorded by Presley in 1966.
9.
In 1976, Red West was criticized in the media for his involvement in a series of heavy-handed incidents with fans in Las Vegas.
10.
When Presley was making films in the 1960s in Hollywood, Red West appeared in small roles in sixteen of the star's films.
11.
Red West frequently served as a stuntman and occasional actor in the CBS TV series The Wild Wild West and was personally friendly with that show's primary star, Robert Conrad.
12.
Red West was one member of a group of stuntmen used frequently by the show.
13.
Red West played Klaxton in S3 E18 "The Night of the Vipers".
14.
West was severely injured in a stunt gone awry while filming the episode "The Night of the Avaricious Actuary"; according to Conrad and the show's stuntman and choreographer Whitey Hughes, West had broken his skull during one incident on the show.
15.
Red West played the role of Sheriff Tanner of Alcorn County, Mississippi in the 1973 film Walking Tall.
16.
Red West reprised the role in the 1975 film Walking Tall Part 2.
17.
Red West played the ornery, sometimes violent Master Sergeant Andy Micklin on Black Sheep Squadron.
18.
Red West played the lead role in the 2008 independent film Goodbye Solo as William, an elderly depressed man who befriends a Senegalese man in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
19.
Red West died on July 18,2017, aged 81, from an aortic aneurysm, at Baptist Memorial Hospital in his native Memphis.
20.
Red West's death occurred less than two months after the death of his cousin, actor Sonny West, in May 2017.
21.
In John Carpenter's 1979 film Elvis, Red West was portrayed by Robert Gray.
22.
Red West was portrayed by his son John Boyd Red West in the 2005 Golden Globe winning CBS mini-series Elvis and in the 21st episode of the fifth season of Quantum Leap, Memphis Melody.