(Billy Jack) Tom Laughlin

Um, er, uh...
he's been rather deceased for a little more than a year now (December 2013) however I think this may be my first learning of this, so,thank you.

The place I got my information made it seem like a current story. I should check dates, but in this case it did not seem necessary.

Ah, my dad knew him and liked him. He went to our church and they got to talking several times, maybe at the Knights of Columbus breakfasts. I remember reading negative stuff about him at some time later but not the details. My father died, no time for us to talk more about him. Anyway, rest in peace, Tom.

I thought the original "Billy Jack" movie, which did not mention the character in the title (it was something about an outlaw motorcycle gang instead, as I recall) was kinda like Stallone's "Rocky." Both generated sequels which were probably not as good as the original, and both were actually better scripted, better acted, and more thoughtful than one would have expected, going in. In the Billy Jack case (haven't seen all the Rocky sequels), the sequels became mere caricatures of the original--like later James Bond (with Moore) films did, as compared with the oirginals (with Connery).

A bit of trivia. The martial art Billy Jack used was Hapkido, a Korean martial art. That movie introduced the art to the US, where it was previously unknown. IIRC, that is.

Un huh. His real life instructor was Bon (maybe Bong) Su Han.

That sounds familiar. Oddity to go with the trivia: Hapkido is the reason I chose Korea over China or Japan. BUT...I didn't know the Billy Jack link until years later. To the best of my memory, I've never even seen the movie.

That is a movie that has not aged well. It was a brief reflection of its time (with all the Barney Miller clothing that cops wore)

Easy Rider was another one that, if first seen today would be a sad attempt at comedy.

or not

No doubt. But for a bit of nostalgia, it might be worth a watch. As for Easy Rider, as much as I dug the bikes, the movie was **** the first time I saw it. Well, except for Dennis Hopper. Bless his heart, Peter Fonda couldn't act his way out a wet paper bag.

I think that Peter Fonda and Gardner McKay were two "actors" who gave acting lessons to Vin Diesel, another "great".

As far as billy jack, there shoulda been a "Billy Jack meets Dracula"

Heeheehee...good one. I'd like to see the screenplay.

The first Billy Jack movie came out in 1967. Billy Jack takes on a vicious gang of bikers. I think Tom Laughlin wanted to use the title "Billy Jack" but the movie distributor used "Born Losers" to cash in on the 1960's biker gang genre.

In my opinion, Born Losers was the best in the Billy Jack series. No politics, just action.