Bill A. Pearson (May 19, 1920 – November 28, 2002) was an American

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

, a quiz-show winner, bit-part film actor, and an

art dealer An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationshi ...

. A native of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, Pearson was successful jockey throughout the 1940s and 1950s, credited with over 800 victories, Pearson developed his interest in art after a serious riding accident, and went on to win over $170,000 on the television quiz shows ''

The $64,000 Question ''The $64,000 Question'' was an American game show broadcast in primetime on CBS-TV from 1955 to 1958, which became embroiled in the 1950s quiz show scandals. Contestants answered general knowledge questions, earning money which doubled as the ...

'' and ''The $64,000 Challenge'' in 1956-57. ''The $64,000 Question'' had a series of contestants with what were considered to be unusual interests and a jockey who was also an art expert was of great public interest. He acquired celebrity status as a result. On November 15, 1958, Pearson appeared as a jockey in an episode of ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a cli ...

'' called "The Case of the Jilted Jockey", and had several small film parts in the next 20 years. In 1958, he was cast as private eye Donald Lam in a pilot episode of ''Cool and Lam'', based on the books by

Erle Stanley Gardner Erle Stanley Gardner (July 17, 1889 – March 11, 1970) was an American lawyer and author. He is best known for the Perry Mason series of crime fiction, detective stories, but he wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces and also a series of ...

writing as A. A. Fair, but the pilot remains the only episode in existence. He assembled an extensive art collection and in later life became a dealer in

pre-Columbian art Pre-Columbian art refers to the visual arts of indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, North, Central, and South Americas from at least 13,000 BCE to the European conquests starting in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era c ...

. Writer

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any write ...

dedicated his 1983 play '' Fool for Love'' to Pearson. Pearson was married six times, and was living in

Kingston, New York Kingston is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York, Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grouped with t ...

at the time of his death in 2002.

References

* *Pearson, Billy and Stephen Longstreet (2003). ''NEVER LOOK BACK, The Autobiography of a Jockey'', Simon and Schuster. *

External links

*
The Case of the Jilted JockeyVanity Fair article, "The Jockey and the Showman"Pearson on ''You Bet Your Life'' January 26, 1956
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Billy 1920 births 2002 deaths American jockeys American male actors Contestants on American game shows American art dealers Sportspeople from Chicago

See also

References

External links