Photo by Dorri Partain

Dorri Partain

Managing Editor

From lariats and saddles to pistols and spurs, the collection of Kansas City’s own “Hollywood Cowboy” is on display at the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center (3700 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.) now through the end of July.

During a span of over 50 years, Kansas City native Nathaniel “Rex” Purefoy — along with his horse Ringo — has performed on the silver screen, television and live performances across the U.S. During his “Wild as the West“ Hollywood cowboy show, audience members have been treated to an array of Western feats, including rope twirling, whip cracking and gun spinning tricks.

Purefoy met fans and media representatives during a press event on Wednesday, June 4, at the Spirit of Freedom Fountain ( Benton & Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevards.) to promote this exhibit of historic photographs, which showcases the history of the Black cowboy, interspersed with embellished western wear Purefoy has worn during performances.

During this press event, Purefoy shared with the Northeast News that the current equine star of his show, Ringo, is 15 years old and about the fifth horse he has owned with the same name. He trains his own horses to perform, which he said takes around four weeks, though the horse continues to learn as they work together. Just like western stars Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, Purefoy is a singing cowboy and offered an acapella snippet of his favorite western tune, “Ghost Riders in the Sky.”

Purefoy traces his interest in the cowboy heritage to the movies of Herb Jefferies (1913- 2014), who starred in “The Bronze Buckaroo” and other films featuring all-Black cast members from 1937 to 1939. Just as Jeffries was honored in 2003, Purefoy was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum in Fort Worth, Texas in 2007. Other notable hall of fame inductees include Harry Belafonte, Sammy Davis Jr., Morgan Freeman, Danny Glover and Sidney Poitier.

In conjunction with this exhibit, numerous events are planned during June and July, including Western Family Day on Saturday, June 21 and vintage western movie showings on June 28 and July 12 at the Watkins Cultural Center.

“Hollywood Cowboy Collection and the History of Cowboys” exhibit is open during regular museum hours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday;  admission is free. For specific questions, call 816-513-0700 or visit www.brucewatkinscenter.com.

For more information about the National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum, visit www.nmwhm.org.