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Hoyt Axton
March 25, 1938, 
Died: October 26, 1999, 
Hoyt Wayne Axton was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and actor. He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voice.

Note From Don:
I recently got to know Matthew Axton. I remember his father, Hoyt Axton, as a talented Singer, Songwriter, and Actor in a fantastic array of Movies and Television projects.
A number of his songs were used in movies such as Forrest Gump.

History Note: Born in Duncan, Oklahoma, Axton spent his preteen years in Comanche, Oklahoma, with his brother John.
His mother, Mae Boren Axton, a songwriter, co-wrote the song "Heartbreak Hotel," which became a major hit for Elvis Presley!!!
Note from Don: I had to highlight this above. Heart Break Hotel/Elvis Presley.
Now, this is a HISTORY NOTE!!!!
Want To Hear It?
Click On the Cover at Left

Presley later recorded some of Hoyt's songs.

Axton's father John Thomas Axton was a naval officer stationed in Jacksonville, Florida, where the family joined him in 1949.

 Film appearances

  • Smoky (1966) – Fred Denton
  • The Black Stallion (1979) – Alec's Father
  • Skinflint: A Country Christmas Carol (1979, TV Movie) – Cyrus Flint
  • Cloud Dancer (1980) – Brad's Mechanic
  • Liar's Moon (1982) – Cecil Duncan
  • The Junkman (1982) – Himself / Cap. Gibbs / Rev. Jim Beam (voice)
  • Endangered Species (1982) – Ben Morgan
  • The Black Stallion Returns (1983) – Narrator (voice)
  • Heart Like a Wheel (1983) – Tex Roque
  • Deadline Auto Theft (1983) – Captain Gibbs
  • Fred C. Dobbs Goes to Hollywood (1983)
  • Gremlins (1984) – Randall Peltzer
  • Act of Vengeance (1986, TV Movie) – Silous Huddleston
  • Retribution (1987) – Lt. Ashley
  • Christmas Comes to Willow Creek (1987, TV Movie) – Al Bensinger
  • Guilty of Innocence: The Lenell Geter Story (1987, TV Movie) - Charlie Hartford
  • Dixie Lanes (1988) – Clarence Laidlaw
  • Disorganized Crime (1989) – Sheriff Henault
  • We're No Angels (1989) – Father Levesque
  • Buried Alive (1990, TV Movie) – Sheriff Sam Eberly
  • Harmony Cats (1992) – Bill Stratton
  • Space Case (1992) - Charlie
  • Season of Change (1994) – Big Upton
  • Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long (1995, TV Movie) – Huey P. Long, Sr.
  • Number One Fan (1995) – Lt. Joe Halsey
  • King Cobra (1999) – Mayor Ed Biddle (final film role)

Axton also contributed songs for the films The Legend of Hillbilly John (1972), Buster and Billie (1974) and Mitchell (1975).

Television appearances

  • The Story of a Folksinger (TV special, 1963) - Himself
  • Hootenanny (1964) – Himself
  • Bonanza (1965, Season 6, Episode 27: "Dead and Gone") – Howard Mead
  • Iron Horse(1966) – Slash Birney
  • I Dream of Jeannie (1966, Season 2, Episode 7: "Fastest Gun in the East") – Bull
  • The Midnight Special (1973) (musical guest)
  • The Hoyt Axton Country Western Boogie Woogie Gospel Rock and Roll Show (1975) – Himself. NBC TV special featuring Linda Ronstadt, Arlo Guthrie and Ringo Starr.
  • The Bionic Woman (1976) – Buck Buckley
  • McCloud (1977) – Johnny Starbuck
  • Hee Haw (1977) (musical guest)
  • The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1979) (musical guest)
  • WKRP in Cincinnati (1979, performed "Della and the Dealer" and "Jealous Man") – T.J. Watson
  • Austin City Limits (1979) (musical guest)
  • The Dukes of Hazzard (1981) (musical guest)
  • Flo (1981) (musical guest)
  • Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1982, Season 1, Episode 3: "Challenges," and Episode 8: "Rodeo", in which he sang "I Dream of Highways") – Cooper Johnson
  • The Rousters (1983–1984) – Cactus Jack Slade
  • Diff'rent Strokes (1984-1985) – Wes McKinney
  • Domestic Life (1984) – Rip Steele
  • Faerie Tale Theatre (1984, "Goldilocks and the Three Bears") – Forest Ranger
  • Cover Up (1984) - John Cody
  • Steel Collar Man (series pilot, 1985) - Red
  • Trapper John, M.D. (1985) - Jack Dearborne
  • Dallas: The Early Years (1986, TV Movie) – Aaron Southworth
  • Murder, She Wrote (1988) – Sheriff Tate
  • Midnight Caller (1990) – Ralston Cash Dollar
  • Growing Pains (1990) – Claver Jackson
  • Doorways (1993, series pilot) - Jake Mitchell

Several songs for the 1977 film Outlaw Blues were composed by Axton and sung by Peter Fonda.

The Rousters was a short-lived television comedy adventure series (1983) with Axton as "Cactus" Jack Slade. The show starred Chad Everett as Wyatt Earp III, the grandson of the legendary Wyatt Earp, and Jim Varney as his dimwitted brother Evan.

In 1992 Axton narrated The Alaska Highway: 1942-1992 a documentary about the history of the Alaska Highway that was produced by public television station KAKM of Anchorage and shown nationally on PBS. In the mid-1990s, Axton was chosen to host and narrate the profile series Life and Times on The Nashville Network, in which a different country music figure was spotlighted each hour. His voice was heard throughout, and he was seen on camera introducing and closing each show he participated in.

Axton was also the narrator for two documentaries about the Western States Endurance Race in 1982 and 1983 titled Desperate Dreams.