Kenneth Olin Maynard (July 21, 1895 – March 23, 1973) was an American actor and producer. He was mostly active from the 1920s to the 1940s and considered one of the biggest Western stars in Hollywood. Maynard was also an occasional screenwriter and director. In 1960, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the film industry. Biography Maynard was born in Vevay, Indiana, United States, one of five children, another of whom, his lookalike younger brother, Kermit, would also become an actor; most audience members assumed that Kermit was his brother's identical twin. Ken Maynard began working at carnivals and circuses, where he became an accomplished horseman. As a young man, he performed in rodeos and was a trick rider with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Maynard served in the United States Army during World War I. After the war, Maynard returned to show business as a circus rider with Ringling Brothers. When the circus was playing in Los Angeles, California, actor Buck Jones encouraged Maynard to try working in the movies. Maynard soon had a contract with Fox Studios. He first appeared in silent motion pictures in 1923 as a stuntman or supporting actor. In 1924, he began working in western features, where his horsemanship and rugged good looks made him a cowboy star. Maynard's silent features showcased his daredevil riding, photographed fairly close so audiences could see that Maynard was doing his own stunts with his white stallion "Tarzan." The action scenes were so spectacular that they were often reused in films of the 1930s, starring either Maynard himself or John Wayne, or Dick Foran. (Wayne, and later Foran, starred in westerns for Warner Bros. and were costumed like Maynard to match the old footage.) Maynard made a successful transition to talking pictures and became the movies' first singing cowboy in 1929 Talkie Hit from Universal Picture The Wagon Master were he sang both The Cowboy's Lament and The Lone Star Trail. He recorded eight songs for Columbia Records "The Cowboy's Lament (Columbia 2310-D 149832 and "The Lone Star Trail" (Columbia 2310=D 149833) became the only issued album. Ken Maynard gifted the eight one sided pressings of his 4/14/1930 recording session with Columbia Records to the John Edwards Memorial Foundation. Maynard's first talkies were made for Universal Pictures. His reckless screen personality spilled over into his private life, with