Westerns Reach a New Generation of Viewers Old
Tucson Studios remained a popular location for film and television executives as well as visitors. Annual park attendance was nearing the half million mark just as Old Tucson Studios became part of the
made-for-television movie trend of the late 1980's and early 1990's. The studio hosted productions such as CBS-TV's Poker Alice starring Elizabeth Taylor, TNT's Geronimo, Buffalo Soldiers and
Billy the Kid. The eighties saw major films as well, most notably Three Amigos (1986) starring Chevy Chase, Steve Martin and Martin Short.The nineties brought their share
of movie stars to Old Tucson and Mescal to follow in the famous footsteps of their predecessors. Some of the films became classics and some, well, didn't. But Tombstone (1993)  with Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer; Lightning Jack (1993) starring
Paul Hogan and Cuba Gooding, Jr., and The Quick and the Dead (1994) with Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio
showed that westerns were popular again. This is in part thanks to television productions like the Old Tucson and Mescal-based The Young Riders (1989-91), whose ensemble cast of young actors (above
right) helped bring the western genre to a whole new generation of viewers. Click here to visit www.theyoungriders.net, an informative site dedicated to the series.
Old Tucson and Mescal continue to play host to Hollywood productions, including the 2002 shoot of Ghost Rock with Gary Busey, Jeff Fahey and rising stars Jenya Lano and Michael Worth.
Today, after six decades, hundreds of films and a devastating fire, the award-winning movie location continues to reign as America's "Hollywood in the Desert." |
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