Post by neferetus on Jan 13, 2007 14:16:54 GMT -5
Penny Campbell-Loewen, creator of the Alamo Village Reunion website, sent me the following post from John Daniels, who played "Happy Sam" in John Wayne's The Alamo, the boy who leads the donkey out at the end of the movie. I got in touch with him, and he agreed to let me post this on our website. I figured it would be of interest to all. Here is his post:
john daniels Tuesday, 7/25/06, 10:32 PM
I was in the movie "The Alamo". I had three (3) different parts in the movie. The best part I had was when Assia Wayne, Joan O'Brien and myself walked out of the alamo and I was pulling this donkey and he was being real mean. A lot of people don't know but that donkey kept stepping on my foot on purpose. As we were going down a little embankment (I remember a small pond to my right)that donkey wanted to run. I remember Joan saying "slow him down. I was 9 years old and had to use all of my might to slow him down. Thanks for the memories.
Here is an excerpt from my e-mail from John:
Richard, you do by all means have my permission to post my comments on your website. Matter of fact I can tell you a lot more about things that happened while we were filming. Did you know that John Wayne wanted to take me and my brother to Hollywood? My mom said "NO". That was that.
In 1967, when "The Alamo" was re-released, I was working for my third summer at Alamo Village. John Daniels, mutual buddies David and Benjy Classen and I went to see it at Brackettville's Palace Theater (no longer there). Every time John came on the screen, all his buddies in the theater would throw spitballs at him.
More notes from John:
Did you know that me and my brother had our own limo and driver that came and picked us up to go to work. We were tutored at the village. Did you know that there was a party (not in film) that coincided with my birthday? Big softballs were used for cannonballs. They had rifles that were made of rubber. At my audition I was chosen over about 500-600 kids. People in Arkansas don't believe me when I tell them that that's me in the movie.
When I first heard from John Daniels, he told me that Pompey Factor (a famous Seminole-Negro who was stationed at Fort Clark in Brackettville in the 1800's and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor) was his great grandfather. I asked him to provide us with some background on the REAL history connection for our Boy of "The Alamo." Here it is in his own words:
Now, about Pompey Factor. Yes he was my great grandfather. Related on my Mother's side. He was my mothers grand dad. My mothers dad was Kelly Factor. Kelly Factor was one of Pompey Factor's son. Pompey died in the 1920's. Kelly Factor died in the '70s. My grandmother, Victoria Factor (Kelly Factor's wife) died in 1990 at the age of 104. We don't know where the medal is. She (grandmother) loaned it to someone and it was never returned. She couldn't remember who she loaned it to. She was senile and just couldn't remember. I wanted to lend it to the Smithsonian Institute for public display and we came up empty handed. My Aunt, Annie Shields, lives in Brackett with her daughter and son-in-law, Audrey and Clarence Ward. I'm sure she would be more than glad to tell you more if you wanted to know. My uncle, Fred Factor, lives in Big Lake,Texas. He taught me a few seminole words. Can't spell them so I can't tell you on email. I can say them and know what they mean. You do know that my spelling is a zero (that I spell that right?). When I came back from 'Nam I noticed that granddad was not speaking to much English. He was speaking Spanish and seminole. I would ask grandma "what is he saying?", she would say "he's gone back to his days in Mexico. He is talking seminole and Spanish." The Spanish I understood, por que yo hablo y escribo en espanole. Except what I learned from my uncle, I would not know a word of seminole. Hope this helps with you knowing about my Great Granddad.
john daniels Tuesday, 7/25/06, 10:32 PM
I was in the movie "The Alamo". I had three (3) different parts in the movie. The best part I had was when Assia Wayne, Joan O'Brien and myself walked out of the alamo and I was pulling this donkey and he was being real mean. A lot of people don't know but that donkey kept stepping on my foot on purpose. As we were going down a little embankment (I remember a small pond to my right)that donkey wanted to run. I remember Joan saying "slow him down. I was 9 years old and had to use all of my might to slow him down. Thanks for the memories.
Here is an excerpt from my e-mail from John:
Richard, you do by all means have my permission to post my comments on your website. Matter of fact I can tell you a lot more about things that happened while we were filming. Did you know that John Wayne wanted to take me and my brother to Hollywood? My mom said "NO". That was that.
In 1967, when "The Alamo" was re-released, I was working for my third summer at Alamo Village. John Daniels, mutual buddies David and Benjy Classen and I went to see it at Brackettville's Palace Theater (no longer there). Every time John came on the screen, all his buddies in the theater would throw spitballs at him.
More notes from John:
Did you know that me and my brother had our own limo and driver that came and picked us up to go to work. We were tutored at the village. Did you know that there was a party (not in film) that coincided with my birthday? Big softballs were used for cannonballs. They had rifles that were made of rubber. At my audition I was chosen over about 500-600 kids. People in Arkansas don't believe me when I tell them that that's me in the movie.
When I first heard from John Daniels, he told me that Pompey Factor (a famous Seminole-Negro who was stationed at Fort Clark in Brackettville in the 1800's and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor) was his great grandfather. I asked him to provide us with some background on the REAL history connection for our Boy of "The Alamo." Here it is in his own words:
Now, about Pompey Factor. Yes he was my great grandfather. Related on my Mother's side. He was my mothers grand dad. My mothers dad was Kelly Factor. Kelly Factor was one of Pompey Factor's son. Pompey died in the 1920's. Kelly Factor died in the '70s. My grandmother, Victoria Factor (Kelly Factor's wife) died in 1990 at the age of 104. We don't know where the medal is. She (grandmother) loaned it to someone and it was never returned. She couldn't remember who she loaned it to. She was senile and just couldn't remember. I wanted to lend it to the Smithsonian Institute for public display and we came up empty handed. My Aunt, Annie Shields, lives in Brackett with her daughter and son-in-law, Audrey and Clarence Ward. I'm sure she would be more than glad to tell you more if you wanted to know. My uncle, Fred Factor, lives in Big Lake,Texas. He taught me a few seminole words. Can't spell them so I can't tell you on email. I can say them and know what they mean. You do know that my spelling is a zero (that I spell that right?). When I came back from 'Nam I noticed that granddad was not speaking to much English. He was speaking Spanish and seminole. I would ask grandma "what is he saying?", she would say "he's gone back to his days in Mexico. He is talking seminole and Spanish." The Spanish I understood, por que yo hablo y escribo en espanole. Except what I learned from my uncle, I would not know a word of seminole. Hope this helps with you knowing about my Great Granddad.