Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Tabloids Revisit John Pickard’s 1993 Bull-Goring Death, Career Legacy

New pieces draw on local Tennessee history to recount the veteran actor’s path from 1930s films to True Grit, concluding with the fatal farm accident.

Overview

  • Multiple outlets on November 17, 2025, including the Mirror, Mirror US, Daily Star and Daily Record, published retrospective profiles citing Rutherford TN History.
  • Pickard died in 1993 at age 80 after being gored by a bull he had rented for breeding during a family picnic on his Lascassas, Tennessee farm, and he is buried near the site.
  • The actor is remembered for playing Frank Ross in the 1969 film True Grit alongside John Wayne, following an earlier pairing in The Wake of the Red Witch (1948).
  • His career began in 1936, included service in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1946 and a 1939 war-bond poster, featured TV work such as Boots and Saddles, and ended with a 1987 role on CBS’s Simon & Simon.
  • At his death he was survived by his wife Ann, his son John and three grandchildren, with coverage highlighting his Tennessee roots and family history.