F ury was born on  March 4, 1943. His parents were Sire: Liberty Dale, and Dam:   Marian Highland. Interestingly enough Fury's ancestry consisted mostly of bays, browns, and chestnut colors. The only ancestors of his that were black were  studs, Rex McDonald, Gains McDonald, Black Squirrel, Black Eagle, and Washington Denmark all born in the 1800's. 
Fury was never gelded, and was never bred. Later in life, Fury developed a breathing disorder, and he remained with Ralph until his death at age 29.

Fury had a great disposition and was a very handsome horse. Fury was trained on the reward system, and never tired of his favorite reward, "carrots!" He had access to Ralph's swimming pool, among other things. Ralph and Fury would do road trips in their trailer, and Ralph even had a yacht named "Fury".

 

 

Fury would be described as an American Register Saddle-Bred Stallion. He was 15 hands high and his weight was kept at around 1000 pounds, maintained by eating about thirty pounds of mixed feed a day, plus all the green grass he could munch on in the field.

	Fury when he first arrived at Ralph's    Ranch in Van Nuys Calf.

 

 

F rom the tone of McCutcheon's voice, Fury could tell whether he was pleasing his trainer or not. With Ralph's help, Fury could adapt what he knew to any action the story called for. He knew about ten words McCutcheon had taught him. (Pictured) Ralph McCutcheon giving cues to Fury

 

McCutcheon claimed that Fury was not a trick horse. "He was a trained horse. There is a big difference. A trick horse will perform stunts as if he memorized them. But a trained horse seems to understand the things he's taught. Writers were constantly putting new things into scripts. I just sort of explained the stunt to Fury right on the set, give him a rehearsal or two, and then he did it. He has forgotten his part from time to time when distracted by noises or unusual movements of people or other animals."

Fury knew how to play dead, walk lame, untie a knot, laugh and whinny on command. But his very best trick was earning $5000.00 a week! He was insured for more than a quarter million dollars.

One day on the set they were filming a scene with a lion. A heavy glass was set up between the horse, the actors and the lion to restrain the lion. Suddenly the lion broke the glass and stood face-to-face with Fury. Both animals exchanged quizzical glances. Then Fury trotted away while the other actors fled in panic. That is everyone except Bobby Diamond. Being a shutter-bug, the boy stayed behind to take pictures.

*****

 

Fury's Film Career

 

 

F ury shown here with owner Ralph McCutcheon receiving an acting award from the American Humane Association. One of many awards Fury amassed in his career. Award Of Excellence for Outlaw Stallion (1955). The Patsy Award for Gypsy Colt (1956). Second -Place awards for Giant (1957), and Wild Is the Wind (1958). He also received similar awards for his television work.

 

Ralph McCutcheon , who owned and trained Fury, bought the black stallion   when he was eighteen months old. His registered name was  Highland Dale. None of the cast or anyone involved with the show ever heard him called by any other name but Beaut. Even on his ranch, McCutcheon always called him Beaut.

Twentieth Century Fox announced they were casting horses for Black Beauty. Black horses were in abundance in Hollywood and many were considered for the part. But Fury was selected for the title role. The picture did not turn out to be a very popular one, but it established Fury as a reliable and capable performer. 

                                                          
                                                         Fury with his co star

 

 

Fury played a number of "bit" parts, whenever a black horse was needed for a picture .
           

 

 

 

F ury is all attention as Ralph McCutcheon places a short stake to indicate where he must halt for a scene.

 

 

Fury receiving The Patsy Award for his role in Gypsy by child star Donna Corcoran

MGM announced that they were going to film Gypsy Colt, a poignant story about a girl and her almost human horse. Fury was selected for the part.

When reading the script for the movie, McCutcheon was slightly disturbed by the number of tricks that had been written into the script for Fury to perform. Although Fury knew some of them, he had to learn many more. MGM allowed McCutcheon three months to prepare Fury . Fury was an intelligent horse and learned the acting routines with speed. Some of the tricks written into the script for him to perform were, opening doors with his mouth, running to the schoolhouse to pick up his young owner, poking his head into windows, and allowing himself to be chased by a group of motorcyclists.

The picture received good reviews and publicity was stepped up by MGM, and Fury became a star.

A number of roles were added to Fury's list of credits. He played a wild Nevada stallion in "Wild Is The Wind". And because he was gentle, he was used as Elizabeth Taylor's horse in the picture Giant. His most important scene in that movie was set in the early morning on the Texas plains. Just after dawn, Fury was seen limping toward the ranch. A medium shot of the horse showed his bridle broken and hanging over his head; blood on his flanks revealed he had been spurred viciously. After limping to the ranch house, Fury stood there, on three legs, and whinnied softly. This was Fury's closing scene in Giant, and he stole the acting honors from the human stars.

 

 

F ury, one of the most successful motion picture horses, pictured here with his owner-trainer, Ralph McCutcheon
F ury's fame grew larger in the role that made his name familiar to many, the television series Fury. The series ran over five years and made Fury the most publicized horse in films. There were storybooks about Fury, puzzles, games, comic strips, and Fury hobby horses. His fan mail was as extensive as Trigger's and Champion's in their heyday.  Fury acted well into the 60's, and had parts on such shows as The Monkee's. Bonanza and National Velvet.

 

 

 

Both Fury and Ralph have since left us. Fury was said to be one of the smartest horses in Hollywood, and we can truly thank Ralph McCutcheon for bringing us that horse that we enjoyed so much every Saturday morning.

*****

 

 

 

F riends on and off the camera. Bobby and Fury relax after a hard days work on one of their episodes for the series

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fury Faqs

 

Fury was probably the most prominent of horses as a star. Fury had been a star performer most of his life. His gross earnings were far above $500,000 and he was second only to Lassie as a great money earner in Hollywood's animal kingdom.

Fury appeared more than once on the TV show Bonanza. He was never Pernell Roberts horse on the show. He appeared in the episodes "The Wild One", "The Strange One",  "The Lonely Runner" and "Check Rein". Most of these episodes were filmed at Spooner Lake.

Fury was never found abused and half dead at a stable. He lived a very good life and was well taken care of until his death. Confusion about the identity of that horse is due to the fact that there were several horses that played the part of Fury on the show. So the confusion about it being Beaut would be normal but not true. 

Also, the book "The Gentle Jungle", that is not Fury folks, sorry. For those who have written me telling me how abused Fury was, I guess you people just don't know what Fury really  looked like. See below for a picture of King, and one of Fury. Notice there is no resemblance. As far as the old wrangler who told Toni Helfer  it was, well guess you can't believe everything your told.

Notice Fury has white on his back legs, King has black. Therefore, King wasn't Fury like the old wrangler said.

 

There was actually five horses that played the part of Fury. Each one of the horses had their own specific part. One would be for long shots, one was used in scenes which had long dialogue's where the horse needed to stand still for long periods of time. Another was used in riding scenes. And there was even a special one for rearing scenes. Beaut was used for tricks. McCutcheon would be off camera and tell Beaut "Go pull the boy by his shirt, and pull him backwards". Beaut would go and pull one of the actors by the shirt tail or seat of their pants and pull him backwards.

 

 

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Parts taken from "Movie Horses" Their Treatment And Training
Photo of King taken from the book "The Gentle Jungle."

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