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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Robert Sorrells -- Don't Fuck with the Cowboy

Sorrells in 1967 (aveleyman.com)
Born in 1930, Sorrells was a bit player in films, especially Westerns, from the early to the late 1960s.  His films include All Fall Down (1962), Morituri (1965), Gunfight in Abilene (1967), The Last Challenge (1967), The Ride to Hangman's Tree (1967), Death of a Gunfighter (1969), Bound for Glory (1976, as Woodie Guthrie's father), Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978), Fletch (1985), and Nowhere to Run (1989).  Sorrells also landed small parts in three made-for-television movies (San Francisco International, 1970, NBC; Female Artillery, 1973, ABC; Gus Brown and Midnight Brewster, 1985, NBC), and was seen on a variety of Western television series (Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Rawhide, Lancer, Cimarron Strip).


Sorrells in 2002
The 74-year-old actor was retired and living in a low income senior citizens complex in Simi Valley, California, when an argument in a bar on July 24, 2004, turned deadly.  The night before, Sorrells drank until closing at the Regency Lounge, a seedy downtown bar located on Los Angeles Avenue and Galt Street about twenty miles northwest of L.A.  The next morning, he revisited the tavern to inquire about a lost credit card, returning later in the afternoon to resume drinking.  Sorrells harassed a female bartender to the extent Arthur DeLong, a 45-year-old painting contractor who was drinking at the tavern, escorted the elderly man outside.  Sorrells drove his Volkswagen minibus back to his apartment in Heywood Gardens, retrieved a semiautomatic pistol, and returned to the Regency Lounge around 5:00 P.M.  What next transpired was captured on silent videotape from a surveillance camera mounted in the ceiling above the bar.  Sorrells, a silver-haired man with a Col. Sanders-type goatee, walked into the bar, held the gun to DeLong's back, fired, and shot another round at the man as he lay dead on the barroom floor.  The former Western actor then turned the gun on another patron seated at the bar, Edward Sanchez, 40, shooting him in the face and back.  Sanchez survived the attack.  Stunned patrons recalled prior to exiting the bar, Sorrells shouted, "Does anybody else want to fuck with the cowboy?"  Simi Valley police apprehended the retired actor in his van minutes later three blocks from the shootout, and booked him in the Ventura County Jail on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.  A detective later testified that five hours after the shooting Sorrells' blood-alcohol level was still more than twice the legal limit.

Interviewed by detectives, the former actor's friends painted a sad picture of a man in emotional decline.  Friendly and outgoing, Sorrells was a practicing vegetarian who kept a small shrine to an Eastern god in his apartment.  Proud of his former screen accomplishments, he often showed friends residual checks from the Screen Actors Guild.  The death of his mother and poodle in 2003, however, radically changed Sorrells' personality.  He cut himself off from others, and resumed drinking.  Paramedics once called to his apartment described Sorrells in their report as a "babbling drunk."  A friend who spent the last decade performing with Sorrells (a talented guitarist) in a weekly jam session reported how after the deaths the elderly man began acting "weird."  Sorrells started calling the man to complain of how he felt he ruined his life by "pickling his brain" with alcohol and drugs.  Later, he received a threatening phone call from Sorrells announcing their friendship was over.  "I don't like you," the actor said.  "I have a gun and will come after you."  The music group banned the aging actor, a self-professed celibate yogi with the email username "yogibob," after he propositioned one of its female members.  A woman in Heywood Gardens sadly commented, "He was my friend, but he was a wacko, no doubt about it.  My intuitive reaction is that he's nuts....  It's just so heartbreaking."

The damning videotape recorded by the surveillance camera in the Regency Lounge was played at a preliminary hearing in October 2004 to determine a trial date.  The prosecutor likened Sorrells to a "gunfighter" in one of his 1960s Westerns.  The trial date was set, Sorrells later pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and attempted murder in May 2005 after a psychiatric examination determined he was sane at the time of the shooting.  On July 13, 2005, Sorrells was sentenced to a prison term of 25 years to life.

46 comments:

  1. I guess the heart he received in the Twilight Zone episode "The Mighty Casey" just stopped working.Maybe they should have given him a brain instead.

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  2. maybe, in addition to the heart, they should have given the mighty casey a RHINOCEROS LIVER to soak up all that PBR and BAR WHISKEY. steeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerike, you're OUT!!!

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  3. They just aired the Twilight Zone episode The Mighty Casey. He seemed odd even back then.

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    1. And it's on again right now on New Years Day as part of their NY Marathon. (2:30 pm ET)

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    2. Lol...I just watched the episode googled his named saw him on wikipedia..and now what a coincidence i read this hilarious comment!!!

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    3. Just watched it too. Have seen .any twilight zone episodes through the years, but this was the first time I'd seen this one. I then did as i often do when watching old shows or movies, I googled him and immediately became interested in this story.

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    4. yeah johnny i always check what became of there lives..and sadly his went down a dark path..so sad..

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  4. Maybe the bar Patron who threw him out of the bar should have minded his own business and he might still be alive today

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    1. Pathetic comment ... A man tries to prevent the female bartender from being further harassed by this drunken animal, and you say he should have minded his own business ... If everyone had your attitude, the world would be in even more trouble than it already is ... Grow up.

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    2. What? And now he's dead! When you kill a man, you take away everything that he has or will ever have. Female bartenders can take care of themselves! They do not need nor do they require help. It's part of the job.

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    3. I sure hope your daughter don't work in a bar and somebody bothered
      her I would hate to think somebody like you will feel that way and not help her

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    4. And you better hope you never get in a bad situation and somebody let you lay there and die and don't help you because they wasn't minding their own business

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    5. If there was a problem at the bar then the police should have been called to handle the problem not a customer

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    6. they were instructed to NOT contact police for issues due to prior history

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    7. Instructed by whom, due to who's prior history? The bar's history, or Mr Sorrell's history? Since when is a bar instructed NOT to contact police if a customer becomes drunk and disorderly? Normally that's an obligation under the terms of a liquor license. Not only does that statement not make sense it's almost incoherent.
      I agree with the comment above, to a point, Mr. DeLong should not have intervened in the way that he did. He could have simply warned Mr Sorrell to leave the bar maid alone or he would call the police, and if Sorrell didn't desist then he should have called called them. Instead he decided to "White Knight" and act as a volunteer bouncer, maybe he physically grabbed Sorrell as he was escorting him out, or threatened him as well, who knows? But something he did obviously set Sorrell off?

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    8. @ Ron Wilson: Agreed. people need to keep to their own in a situation like this. Very stupid move on DeLong's part - sticking his nose in where it didn't belong. Had he just stayed out of it, the whole thing would've blown over. When you involve yourself like that, you automatically create an adversarial situation & escalate things. You invariably flare the other guy's temper, & who knows where that leads? Some knuckleheads just have to be the hero on a white steed, though. DeLong was likely hoping to roll thisgreat act of chivalry into a one night stand - looks like he found eternal rest instead...

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    9. Agreed, absolutely. DeLong was wrong, plain and simple. And his stupid action set off a chain of events that resulted in easily avoidable tragedy. Even a casual armchair cowboy has enough sense to know if there's trouble in the Long Branch, you send Chester scurrying to bring back Marshal Dillon, not try to reason with a drunk or pretend you're a lawman.

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    10. hell of a thing, killin' a man....

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    11. There are some details that never came out. The men who 'escorted' him from the bar actually dragged him out and threw him onto the street. This doesn't condone his actions but might explain why he snapped.

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    12. Robert passed away 6/11/19. GS

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  5. If they just now invented alcohol, they would never be allowed to sell the stuff. It has ruined more lives than can be counted. No, I'm not a reformed alcoholic, I'm still drinking, I'm jus sayin

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  6. Hmmm! I just learned of his murder conviction tonight.
    Just watched all 32 Ensign O'toole episodes.
    He seems like an off-kilter personality. A hick, but not normal.
    Good acting or true to life? Another fallen wanna-be who never made it big?

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  7. Boy, what in thee hell is the matter with you?!

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  8. Bob was like a Father to me,brilliant Actor,probably a genius.He should have pleaded temporary insanity,but his conscious wouldn't allow him to do it.He was an Alcoholic.Very sad about my friend

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    1. he tried to plead insanity and was found sane.

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  9. Bob was like a Father to me,brilliant Actor,probably a genius.He should have pleaded temporary insanity,but his conscious wouldn't allow him to do it.He was an Alcoholic.Very sad about my friend

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    1. Hello, if you knew him I would like to meet you. Contact me at delanedale123@yahoo.com and I will tell you why. It’s interesting.

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    2. I know him and I was the bartender that just came on when he came in shooting. I'm not the bartender that was having problems with him. He liked me and I liked him. He was very nice to me

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    3. I know him and I was the bartender that just came on when he came in shooting. I'm not the bartender that was having problems with him. He liked me and I liked him. He was very nice to me

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    4. Bob Sorrells was a terrific actor. My father, Bob Faircloth, also a terrific actor and acted in many shows with him, including Shakespeare, in the 1950s mostly at Long Beach State. Though Sorrells tended to have smaller roles on screen, on stage in the 1950s he was excellent in large roles. My dad and he were roommates in the late 1950s seeking hollywood roles. Sorrells was a pro and showed no sign of his later problems in those days. I'm interested to talk with anyone who knew him. In fact if anyone knows of the whereabouts his personal belongs I'd be honored to look at them. He did something horrible because of later decline, but tragedies happen. Bob Sorrells was a very talented actor. My number is 207-307-9868. My email is seanfaircloth01@gmail.com. I'd really like to talk to anyone who knew about Bob Sorrells. I'd like to talk to Bob himself assuming dementia or other maladies have not taken him.

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  10. I just watched the premiere episode of the old detective show "Cannon" (w/William Conrad) and Sorrells was in that first episode as a... bar patron!

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  11. I just watched an episode of Death Valley Days titled, The 30 Caliber Town. Sorrels was in a lot of scenes. His character was a simple minded, clumsy townsman. His lanky build and big ears make him suitable for off-beat characters. He looks kind of looney.

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  12. Robert guest starred in the 1974 MOVIN'ON episode "The trick is to stay alive".The series starred actor Claude Akins.

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  13. Just watched an old Gunsmoke episode with him and checked the internet to see how his life had turned out. Do it all the time but this is the first time the result was something like this.

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  14. Watching an episode of Mannix and recognized him right away. I knew of his trouble with the law after reading his bio on IMDb. I'm not going to point the finger of blame at the patron who tried to get Sorrells out of the bar as hindsight is always 20-20.

    Bottom line is this incident was just a tragedy highlighting how vulnerable we all are to the onset of mental illness. The fact some doctor found him sane at the time of the crime is something I suspect as incorrect.

    Years ago and even today, our jails are filled with "criminals" who simply suffered from mental illness. The rush to put such persons in the prison system is a totally slap on our justice system.

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  15. Bob Sorrells was a terrific actor. My father, Bob Faircloth, also a terrific actor and acted in many shows with him, including Shakespeare, in the 1950s mostly at Long Beach State. Though Sorrells tended to have smaller roles on screen, on stage in the 1950s he was excellent in large roles. My dad and he were roommates in the late 1950s seeking hollywood roles. Sorrells was a pro and showed no sign of his later problems in those days. I'm interested to talk with anyone who knew him. In fact if anyone knows of the whereabouts his personal belongs I'd be honored to look at them. He did something horrible because of later decline, but tragedies happen, sometimes involving addiction and mental illness. Bob Sorrells was a very talented actor. My number is 207-307-9868. My email is seanfaircloth01@gmail.com. I'd really like to talk to anyone who knew about Bob Sorrells. I'd like to talk to Bob himself assuming dementia or other maladies have not taken him.

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  16. "You are both currently ALIVE, I take it?" Fletch is where I remember him. "Boy... What in THE HELL is the matter with you?"

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  17. Ok. Some of you are saying that He should have just minded his on Business but what about the other guy Robert shot twice? He was minding his owm Business!

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  18. I see he died in Vacaville, CA in 2019 at age 88. He would still have been a prisoner, right? Mass murderer John List died in 2008 in a hospital while still a prisoner, so what were the circumstances of Sorrells' death?

    It was called to my attention that Sorrells, in addition to that Twilight Zone role, played Gus Walters in a black & white Bewitched episode airing in 1st half of 1966. Those 2 episodes were on within 2 days of each other just now, and I entered note of his Bewitched appearance in his Wikipedia entry.

    Too bad about getting involved in murder. I am rarely on the medium you are reading, so please forward responses from here to me at carlm0404@gmail.com .

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  19. I am right now watching him on GUNSMOKE, as a patron of the Longbranch Saloon ,who, according to Matt Dillon, "always comes to town and gets drunk and mean".I decided ,as I often do, to look this actor up, as I've seen him in great performances over the years. Googling someone can often be very surprising and (for good or ill)interesting.

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  20. It doesn’t matter if he was the Pope. He killed 1 innocent person and tried to kill another for no reason he suffered the consequences. End of story.

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  21. He was in a lot of Gunsmoke episodes over the course of its 20-year run. He had lost his mother and his beloved dog in 2003, about a year before he lost it. He had stopped drinking and became a vegetarian and yoga practitioner for a few years but resumed drinking heavily after losing Mommy and Doggy. He was drunk when he committed the dastardly dirty deeds done dirt cheap. In return, he received free rent and board in a Vacaville prison for the rest of his life. It was probably nicer than the place he was living at the time of the crime. No doubt he was existing on typical Congressional poverty-level SSB's.

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  22. Robert Sorrells went from being a beloved actor to a cold-blooded killer. But that was HIS choice. Do I sympathize with that? No. Would I condone it? No. Would I just stand by and watch a guy like him harass a lady in a bar? No. There's a lotta things I wouldn't do. Those are just several. But to find out that he did all of that still scares me 'cause he's one of my favorites. I just hope Johnny Depp doesn't copy this bullshit. Either way, don't fuck with a cowboy. He might draw down on you and then he'll be on you like ugly on an ape. I should know. I'm one of them. If you did that to me, I'm pretty sure I'd get mad. But not mad enough to kill like Robert Sorrells did. I'm not that crazy. So do us all a favor. If you see a cowboy, like I said, don't fuck with him. And if you ARE that cowboy, don't get fucked with. And if you've had too much to drink, find someone to take you home. And by all means, check your damn gun before you enter. I'm only gonna say it once. RIP to the victims and to Bobby Sorrells wherever they may be. And remember what I said about cowboys and guns. Adios, amigos. Catch ya soon.

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  23. I have to say that one of my favorite roles for Robert was when he played on Bonanza and that particular episode was titled "Hoss and the Leprechauns". The best episode of Bonanza's 14 year history.

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  24. Alcohol addiction can do sad and terrible things to people. I don't think he was an inherently evil person. I just found out today how his life progressed. I enjoyed and still enjoy watching him and the shows he was in to this day. I had a beautiful, sensitive, caring, younger sister who died at the age of 50 from alcoholism. She started drinking at 19 and in earnest at 21 yrs old. She had needed an intervention years earlier but no one listened to me. A divorce and loss of work despite her being a 'functional alcoholic' hastened her death.
    My main point being: Addictions are a terrible thing and can make people do sad and/or terrible things. My sister killed herself slowly with alcohol, Robert Sorrels' addiction became extreme: he killed one person and injured another. They both are examples of tragedies, one more extreme. Both are cautionary stories of what severe addictions can do to people. Again, very tragic....

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