acher ▁who ▁def ied ▁all ▁labels ." ▁ ▁Early ▁life ▁Buck ley ' s ▁father , ▁William ▁Buck ley , ▁was ▁from ▁Manchester , ▁England . ▁ ▁He ▁st owed ▁away ▁on ▁a ▁ship ▁that ▁eventually ▁arrived ▁in ▁San ▁Francisco . ▁In ▁California , ▁William ▁met ▁An nie ▁B one . ▁They ▁married , ▁and ▁their ▁son , ▁Richard , ▁was ▁born ▁in ▁Tu ol um ne , ▁California , ▁in ▁a ▁mountain ous ▁region ▁where ▁l umber ing ▁was ▁a ▁major ▁industry . ▁ ▁As ▁children , ▁Buck ley ▁and ▁his ▁sister , ▁Nell , ▁would ▁often ▁perform ▁on ▁the ▁streets ▁of ▁Tu ol um ne , ▁singing ▁for ▁change ▁from ▁pass ers by . ▁ ▁When ▁he ▁was ▁a ▁bit ▁older , ▁Buck ley ▁got ▁a ▁job ▁in ▁the ▁local ▁l umber ▁cam ps ▁as ▁a ▁" tree ▁to pper ", ▁which ▁was ▁considered ▁an ▁especially ▁dangerous ▁position . ▁It ▁involved ▁clim bing ▁up ▁to ▁the ▁very ▁top ▁of ▁a ▁tall ▁tree , ▁cutting ▁off ▁the ▁tip ▁and ▁then ▁se cur ing ▁ro pes ▁that ▁would ▁guide ▁the ▁rest ▁of ▁the ▁tree ▁as ▁it ▁was ▁fel led . ▁ ▁Career ▁By ▁the ▁mid - 1 9 3 0 s , ▁he ▁was ▁performing ▁as ▁em ce e ▁in ▁Chicago ▁at ▁Leo ▁S elt zer ' s ▁dance ▁mar ath ons ▁at ▁the ▁Chicago ▁Col ise um , ▁and ▁worked ▁his ▁own ▁club , ▁Che z ▁Buck ley , ▁on ▁Western ▁Avenue ▁through ▁the ▁early ▁ 1 9 4 0 s .