Memories: Bronco Billy, Clint Eastwood and Candy Loving

  Quick, do you remember Bronco Billy?

  If you didn’t live in the Boise area 45 years ago, chances are you don’t.

  Bronco Billy was a Clint Eastwood movie, sort of a Western comedy/drama. 

  It was filmed mostly in Boise and Garden City, in 1979. Hundreds of Idahoans watched the filming. Some were extras in the movie and a lucky few had speaking parts. Eastwood has been quoted as saying that it was one of his most enjoyable film making experiences.

  So why am I writing about it?

  The answer is that a Bronco Billy Weekend was planned for Saturday to commemorate its 45th anniversary. The main event would have been Saturday evening at the Riverside Hotel, where locals who either were involved in the movie or simply enjoyed watching the filming could have met to share their experiences.

  Unfortunately, the event was canceled. But the news release about it  triggered memories about meeting famous people that seemed worth sharing regardless. (That the column was ready to go before the cancellation and needed only a bit of tinkering to reflect the new reality also may have been a factor.)

  There’s something uniquely exciting about seeing famous people in person. It happened to my wife and me in San Francisco, early in our marriage. We were having lunch at a restaurant on Fisherman’s Wharf when two distinguished looking men walked by.

  “A movie star just walked right behind you,” I said to my wife.

  “Who was it?”

  “I don’t know his name, but he played General Bradley in ‘Patton.’’’

   Karl Malden. He was accompanied by a relatively unknown sidekick, then a rising star name Michael Douglas. They were filming a scene for a television series, “Streets of San Francisco.” We quickly finished lunch and followed them to a dock to watch. It was fun seeing them at work, up close and personal. 

  My first view of Eastwood, during a Bronco Billy scene being filmed in Fort Boise Park, was anything but up close and personal. Crowds were kept at a distance from the action. But even from 30 or 40 yards away, he was unmistakable – Clint Eastwood himself, resplendent in cowboy garb and looking every inch the movie star he was.

  My second view of Eastwood was up close and personal – and then some.

  It happened that the movie’s filming was happening at the same time as a Boise promotional visit by Playboy Magazine’s 25th anniversary “Playmate.” (The magazine still uses that degrading term.) Her name was Candy Loving. My assignment for the paper I was working for at the time was to shadow her for a day.

  The first indication that Ms. Loving was as no-nonsense as she was beautiful came when a television reporter asked an ignorant and demeaning question:

  “So, you’re this year’s bunny?”

  “We’re not bunnies,” she replied. “We’re people.”

  I liked her immediately.

  Loving (her real name) went on to work in television and film, earn a masters degree and design benefit packages for health insurance companies.

  There was no connection between Bronco Billy and her being in Boise, but she ended up that evening at a party attended by none other than … Eastwood. She and I were talking when he walked in and immediately made his way to the most gorgeous woman in the room.

  What struck me most was how tall he was – 6 feet 4 according to Google. The three of us stood and talked until a man wielding an old-fashioned camera with a huge flash attachment suggested that we hop into the suite’s heart-shaped bathtub for a photo.

  We obliged (fully clothed, obviously). My one claim to uniqueness may be that I’m the only person ever to have been in a bathtub with Clint Eastwood and a Playboy Playmate.

  Thanks for the memories, Bronco Billy. Sorry your weekend got canceled. 

Tim Woodward’s column appears every other Sunday in the Idaho Press and is posted on woodwardblog.com the following Mondays. Contact him at woodwardcolumn@gmail.com.