Faye Blackstone was an American rodeo star, performer and elected member of the Cowgirl Hall of Fame died from cancer she was 96..
(June 3, 1915 – August 30, 2011)
She is credited with inventing three rodeo maneuvers, the reverse fender drag, the flyaway and the ballerina.[1]
Blackstone was born Fayetta June Hudson in Diller, Nebraska in 1915.[1] She self taught herself to perform tricks on horses after watching a woman handle a flailing bronco when she was eight years old.[1] In 1937, Blackstone married her husband, the Texan rodeo performer Vic Blackstone, in a ceremony held in the center of a rodeo arena in Bladen, Nebraska.[1] Faye and Vic performed together throughout the United States the 1940s and 1950s.[1] She performed as far away from Nebraska as Havana, Cuba, and competed alongside well known celebrities, including Gene Autry.[1]
Vic Blackstone retired during the 1950s, while Faye Blackstone continued to perform until her retirement during the late 1960s.[1] The couple moved to a home on the outskirts of Parrish, Florida, in Manatee County during the 1951.[2] They worked and raised cattle at a nearby ranch.[1]
In 1978, Blackstone and her husband helped McEntire, the daughter of friends, launch her career, by arranging for her to perform at a county fair in Florida.[1] McEntire recalled the performance as a breakthrough in her career in a 2003 interview with the Bradenton Herald saying, "That was my first big fair by myself. It was huge to me."[1] [2]
Faye Blackstone was elected into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 1982, the same year that her husband was inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame.[2] The Blackstones became the namsakes of Blackstone Park in Palmetto, Florida.[2]
Death
Faye Blackstone died in Bradenton, Florida, aged 96, from cancer, on August 30, 2011. Her husband died in 1987.[1]To see more of who died in 2011 click here
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