The Nicest Fella - The Life of Ben Johnson: The world champion rodeo cowboy who became an Oscar-winning movie star

An interesting and fun read about a man who may have represented the best qualities of American manhood. The son of a rodeo champion raised in the grasslands of north central Oklahoma, Johnson, during a hiatus from film making, went on to become a world champion team roper in 1953. A great horseman whose riding skills initially earned him bit parts in Hollywood westerns, Johnson became a popular actor who won an Oscar. Earnest, humble and kind, Johnson always remained his own man, who neither adopted the Hollywood social scene nor allowed himself to be bullied by tyrannical film makers like John Ford.

I've been looking forward to reading a biography on this cowboy/movie great, and in this book, I learned just about everything I'd want to know about Ben Johnson, or "son," as they used to call him. The only thing this book is missing is style, and that is sad. The book has lots of facts, good quotes from people who worked with him, and a filmography that includes every movie and every episode of every TV show Ben ever worked on; that in itself takes up a third of the book.Ben Johnson is a pleasure to watch. In every part he played he kept it real. He started out as a stuntman, then got a few lines in movies, then became a regular costar, then after winning an Academy Award for THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, he became a star. THen, as often happens in Hollywood, his star faded, and he became a costar, and even did cameo work and stunts. But in whatever he did, he was great. I could watch him in some of those old Joh Ford westerns 100 times and never tire of him. My favorite film that Ben Johnson worked on is THE WILD BUNCH. Ben objected to nudity on screen and he's got a scene in that film with Warren Oates and two prostitutes funning it up in an old wine cellar, and because of the partial nudity, Ben wouldn't allow his family to watch the film. But if you like Ben, or even if you don't, this is one of the best films ever made, and Ben's terrific work in it earned Ben a place in future Sam Peckinpah films, like THE GETAWAY, starring Steve McQueen.The book is big and heavy, and gives some information about every movie Ben was in, and also covers his days working the rodeo circuit. The book is written by an obvious fan of Ben's and it's thoroughly researched. The problem with it is that it lacks a story. There's no heart or soul to this book. It's less of a biography and more of an encyclopedia of Ben's work and life, and there were long portions that were just not very interesting. Informative? Yes, but not very interesting.I'm sure that someone else will take a crack at a true biographical study of Ben Johnson. I recently read a great bio on his buddy and sometimes co-star, Warren Oates, and was so delighted with that book I dreaded the day when I'd be finished with it. That book was fun to read from page one right to the very end.But if you're a Ben Johnson fan and want to know everything that can be said about the man, this is a good book for you.

The book was a stocking stuffer for my wife. She is actually a cousin of Ben Johnson. I was kind of worried wether she would like it or not. She loves it! It Went way above my expectations. Lots of good insightson this one of a kind actor. She actually remembers her grandmother saying what a nice guy he was.

A nice bit of information about a real cowboy and good actor.

I have not read this yet but it looks interesting.

I have always loved watching Ben Johnson, He and my Dad road in rodeos together, It was great fun to read about Ben Sr. and Jr. This is a must for any library that truely enjoys real cowboys and their stories.

Although I did enjoy this book on one of my favorite cowboy actors, I did not think that it was especially well written.Although there were quite a lot of "typo. " errors- e.g. using the word "an " for the word "and", it was perhaps a bit too much focused on say release dates of Ben's movies and TV episodes, and not really enough on his personal life. Having said that , I do realize that he was a fairly humble and private man, so perhaps there was not much more personal anecdotes that could have been included in this book. Still very much appreciated, though, faults and all.

I have always been a fan of Ben Johnson and his movies. My personal favorite has always been Rio Grande. I was always interested in his life because I knew nothing about it other by seeing him in the movies. The book by Richard Jensen allowed me to learn a lot about who he was and what he stood for.For example, I never knew that close friends and family called him son. The book was an easy and enjoyable read. I was recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about the true working cowboy who happened to be an oscar award winning actor. As Mr. Johnson so famously said " It could not happen to a nicer fella ".

I have read a lot of biographies and autobiographies and I have to say this is one of the few I have enjoyed the most. It not only tells of Ben Johnson Jnr's life in the film industry but also his life in rodeos and as a cowboy. Jensen started the book with the life of Ben Johnson senior who was also a cowboy and rodeo champion. Not being an American I found this back ground information about rodeos and cowboys very interesting. I also liked the way that Jensen researched with the Johnson family and people who had known Ben, therefore the book seems to portray a very honest account of the man and his life. The book does show that he was a very talented man and a generous one but he also had a few old fashion ideas. I would definitely recommend this book as I will be reading it again from time to time.

I have admired Ben Johnson since seeing him in the early Ford westerns and even more so after The Last Picture Show.I wanted to know more about the man and was delighted to buy this biography.Ben was like he,s father a champion rodeo rider and got into films mainly for he,s horsemanship.Never seeking to be the star and very shy of having to have to learn scripts,"Too many words" Ben would say.He went on to be a very big star mainly by just playing himself.Richard D Jensen has written a wonderful book about a wonderful man,the title The Nicest Fella sums it up.

This expensive paperback is a good read so long as you can get past some really awful proof reading with multiple errors on almost every page. This book indicates how American goods have deteriorated over the years. It was brand new but the pages came unstuck from the spine of the book and pages became detached, all within a day. So sad as the content could be excellent but is completely spoiled by the poor workmanship.

Found it difficult to put this book down, as it’s so good. Excellent read about the life of a great man.

Learnt more about Ben than I already knew. Great book for anyone interested in Western movies.