Jack Favor | |
---|---|
Born | Jack Graves Favor
[1] November 30, 1911
Eula, Texas, U.S. |
Died | December 27, 1988
Arlington, Texas, U.S. | (aged 77)
Occupation | Rodeo performer |
Spouse |
Ponder Favor (
m. 1940) |
Children | 3 [2] |
Jack Graves Favor, also known as Cadillac Jack Favor, [3] [4] (November 30, 1911 – December 27, 1988) was an American rodeo performer. [5] [6]
Favor was born on a ranch in Eula, Texas. [1] [2] He attended and graduated from Abilene High School. [2] While at high school he won his first rodeo competition as a bronc rider in Cameron, Texas. [2]
Favor served in the United States Navy from 1929 to 1932, returning to Texas after his discharge. [2] He worked as a truck driver for a plumbing company in Abilene, Texas. [2] Favor later settled in Fort Worth, Texas, [1] before returning to the Navy in 1941. [2]
Favor continued to compete in rodeos, retiring in 1961 to live in Texarkana, Texas and work as a salesman. [2]
In 1967, Favor was convicted of a double murder after being accused by a hitchhiker he had picked up. He served eight years in Angola prison before being acquitted in a retrial. [1]
After his release, Favor was the subject of a book by William B. Moody titled In Jack’s Favor, and appeared on the late-night television talk show The Tomorrow Show and a radio show hosted by author, presenter and sports journalist, Howard Cosell. [2]
Favor died in December 1988 of complications from cancer in a hospital in Arlington, Texas, at the age of 77. [1] He was buried in Parkdale Cemetery. [1]
In 1998 Favor was played by actor and musician Clint Black in the television film Still Holding On: The Legend of Cadillac Jack. [4] Black also wrote a song titled "Cadillac Jack" with country guitarist and songwriter, Hayden Nicholas. [3] Favor was posthumously inducted into the Texas Trail of Fame in 2009. [7]