Actor Glynn Turman will be the grand marshal at the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo in Fort Worth on Saturday for its Juneteenth celebration, according to WFAA-TV (Channel 8). Now in its 40th year, the rodeo travels across the country, honoring Black cowboys and cowgirls’ contributions to rodeo culture.
Turman, who got his start as a child actor in the 1950s, is known for his roles in the coming-of-age film Cooley High, the Cosby Show spinoff A Different World, and the HBO crime drama The Wire.
His connections to the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo can be traced back to 1984 when its founder, Lu Vason, called Turman and actor Donald Glover to serve as grand marshals at his Los Angeles rodeo, according to Keith Ryan Cartwright’s 2021 book Black Cowboys of Rodeo: Unsung Heroes from Harlem to Hollywood and the American West.
Turman developed a fascination with horses as a young boy growing up in Harlem watching police officers ride the animals, the book says. By the 1984 rodeo in L.A., he had been a top competitor in a 100-mile horse race called the Tevis Cup.
In an interview with WFAA, Turman called the opportunity to serve as grand marshal an important part of history.
“[Our] story, our history is not only an American history but a worldwide participation history,” he told the station.
Turman is an honorary lifetime grand marshal for the rodeo, WFAA reported.
Details
1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. June 15, Cowtown Coliseum, 121 E. Exchange Ave. Tickets start at $10. For more information, visit the rodeo’s website.
