The High Chaparral Bob Hoy Obit

Messages from Friends and Fans

As you all may know, Kent and I worked with and loved our dear friend, actor/stuntman Bob Hoy for many years. Kent has known Bob Hoy for fifty years. I have known him for 43 years. Our love and admiration for Bob is hard to put into words.

Monday morning, February 18th, at approximately 5:30 a.m., Bob lost his courageous battle with lung cancer. His loving wife Kiva was with him as she always was. I thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers on behalf of Bob and Kiva. Bob was a great friend and the best stuntman that ever rode the range. He will be alive in our hearts forever. May God bless his soul.

-Susan McCray

This is for Bobby.

Bobby Hoy was a wonderful human being. A joy to be around. He will be missed by many. I will always remember him as one of the distinct pleasures I enjoyed while been part of the cast of The High Chaparral.

-Linda Cristal ("Victoria Cannon")

I will always be grateful to Bobby for being there in my beginning, showing me the good, the bad, and how to look sober when your Executive Producer walks into the same bar while you are on location!!!
Love U Bobby.

-Rudy Ramos ("Wind")

I was privileged to meet Bob several times and loved him dearly. He was unfailingly kind to fans, and always such an example of courage, humor and wit. Bob always indulged me when I asked him to introduce me to someone, and because he was held in such universal respect it was like having a free pass – when Bob Hoy passed a crowd, marched up, and said, ‘Hey, you’ve got to meet her,’ people always paid attention. He must have made hundreds of calls over the years to stuntmen and actors who were out of work, since that’s the usual state in their profession, and he had a ‘Buck up, soldier’ manner that was encouraging while at the same time not to be denied – when he issued an order it was impossible not to obey. I’ll always remember the call he made to me when I lost my job, mixed sympathy and orders not to let the so-and-so’s get me down.

So much more I could say but I can barely believe he’s no longer with us....the world is so much poorer without him. I’ll always miss you, Bobby.

-Penny McQueen, HC Newsletter Editor

I first met Bob in 2003. He was an individual who truly lived by the "Cowboy Code". Always a gentleman, he gave his fans his full attention and appreciation. By the time I returned from LA after doing the slide shows in 2003, he had already phoned my staff at City Hall to leave his thanks for the presentations and followed that with a written thank you as well. My colleagues at the time were quite impressed that a "real Hollywood actor" would be calling me in Wilsonville, OR.

Bob was respected for his talents, his sense of humor, and his good will. He will be missed by friends around the world.

Charlotte Lehan, HC Webmaster

Obituary
from the Santa Clarita Signal

By Stephen K. Peeples
Signal Online Editor
Posted: Feb. 8, 2010 6:25 p.m.
POSTED Feb. 8, 2010 6:41 p.m.

Western movie and television legend Robert F. "Bobby" Hoy, who appeared in many productions shot on location in the Santa Clarita Valley, died Monday morning at Northridge Hospital after a six-month battle with cancer. He was 82.

Kiva Hoy, his wife of 22 years, was at his bedside.

"My fervent wish was to be holding him in my arms when and if he ever left, and that was granted," she said.

Just days before, Hoy was honored with the prestigious Golden Boot award by the Motion Picture & Television Fund, commemorating his contribution to the genre of Western television and movies in all three award categories -- acting, stunt work and directing.

In addition to his widow, Hoy is survived by a son, Christopher Hoy, 45, a resident of Bali, and numerous nieces and nephews.

In his 55-year career as an actor, Hoy played a wide variety of movie and television roles ranging from cowboys to spies. He was best-known for his role as ranch hand Joe Butler on "The High Chaparral," a TV western that aired four seasons from 1967 to 1971.

His acting roles in more than 67 films included "Bite the Bullet," "The Outlaw Josey Wales," The "Legend of the Lone Ranger," "The Gambler II," "Nevada Smith," "Bronco Billy," "The Enforcer" and "The Great Race."

On the small screen, Hoy appeared in more than 75 TV programs in addition to "The High Chaparral," including "Wanted: Dead or Alive," "Walker: Texas Ranger," "JAG," "Dallas" (recurring role), "The Wild, Wild West," "Magnum P.I." (five episodes), "The Young Riders" and "Zorro."

Hoy's most recent on-screen appearance was a brief part in the "Lost and Found" episode of the CBS TV series "NCIS" in 2007.

Behind the camera, Hoy was second unit director and stunt coordinator in Spain for the TV series "Zorro" and on the pilot of "The Three Musketeers."

In more than 100 appearances as stuntman, Hoy doubled for stars such as Tony Curtis, Charles Bronson, Audie Murphy, Tyrone Power, David Janssen, Telly Savalas and Jay Silverheels, among many others.

Hoy performed stunts for "The Lone Ranger," "The Defiant Ones," "Spartacus," "River of No Return," "Revenge of the Creature" and many more films and TV shows.

"Bobby was one of the rare stuntmen who also became an actor," Kiva Hoy said Monday. "He was more and more in demand as an actor as his (stunt) career progressed. People started calling him for roles, not just stunts. He was very much the reluctant actor, along the lines of (Academy Award-winner) Richard Farnsworth."

Hoy had many long-term connections in the film industry, including the late Jack Williams, another stuntman and actor who worked extensively on SCV locations and received the Golden Boot award in 1999.

Hoy and Williams were founding members of The Stuntman's Association of Motion Pictures in 1961. The organization awarded Hoy its Lifetime Achievement award in August 2009, in recognition for his "extraordinary achievements and dedication to excellence."

Hoy was also a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences, the Directors Guild of America, AFTRA and the Screen Actors Guild.

Memorial services were pending at press time, Kiva Hoy said.

Signal Intern Paige Hagen and Hoy Webmaster Ginny Shook contributed to this story.

* * * * *

The Last Golden Boot
Actor Robert Fuller, a 1989 Golden Boot recipient, represented the Golden Boot committee as he presented the 2010 award to his longtime friend on Thursday, Jan. 28 in the penthouse suite at Northridge Hospital, as more than 60 friends and cohorts gave Hoy a standing ovation.

It marked the first time the Golden Boot was given to an honoree in the hospital, and the last time the award would be presented. The annual award and its related induction event ended in 2007; there were no honorees in 2008 or 2009.

Among those on hand to honor Hoy were Dick Jones, Wyatt McCrea, Gregg Balmer, Bruce Boxleitner, Andrew Prine, Heather Lowe, John Strong, Morgan Woodward, Jennifer Savitch (Fuller's wife), Martin Kove, Peter Brown, Dave Snowden, Billy Burton, Terry Leonard, Diane McClure (Doug's widow) and Bob Word.