Ellis County Press Article of Ray Cavender's experience with Bonnie and Clyde

Very interesting article of an Ellis County resident's run in with Bonnie and Clyde. Over the years I have talked to Ovilla residents who spoke of Bonnie and Clyde living in the mesquite tree hilly area of Midlothian, Grand Prairie and Cedar Hill. One Midlothian recollection was about Bonnie and Clyde rolling into to town stopping at a burger joint and tipping something like $20 to the waitress. Here is a recollection of Ray Cavender who use to come into the Tote-a-way where I worked in Ovilla when I was younger. Below is the beginning of the article click on the link to read the rest. (Just put your cursor over article section hold shift and left click mouse to open separate window for article.)

OVILLA – Sit back and read a tale of just one of many regarding the remarkable people who make up the Meals-on-Wheels family of Johnson and Ellis Counties.
At the tender age of 12, Ray Cavender ambled out of the woods and into a clearing grinning from ear-to-ear.
It was the early 1930s in Ovilla, Texas, and the farm boy was proud to emerge from the under bush with a veritable feast for his family – two large swamp rabbits that he landed with his shotgun. But from his peripheral vision on a hill to his right he saw a familiar sight to some of his family members in his small community, though no one talked publicly about it.

Thanks to Smiley for the heads up on the article!!!

Movies Filmed in Waxahachie

Was talking to a young aspiring film director Aaron Walker about Waxahachie/Ellis County being a great filming location and found these movies filmed in Waxahachie on Waxahachie's Chamber Of Commerce web-site.


Waxahachie Movie List
• Bonnie and Clyde, 1967 – Faye Dunaway, Warren Beatty, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons.Oscars for Best Supporting Actress (Parsons) and cinematography (Burnett Guffrey).
• Deadly Blessings, 1980 – Ernest Borgnine, Maren Jensen.
• Tender Mercies, 1981 – Robert Duvall, Tess Harper, Wilford Brimley. Oscars for Best Actor (Duvall) and Best Screenplay (Horton Foote).
• Of Mice and Men (TV), 1981 – Randy Quaid, Robert Blake.
• Cowboy (TV), 1981 – Ted Danson, James Brolin, Patrick Tovatt.
• Glory Road, 1982-83 – Gary Busey, Marjoe Gortner (film went bankrupt; never released).• Ellie, 1983 – Pat Paulsen, Shelley Winters, George Gobel.
• Places in the Heart, 1983 – Sally Field, Danny Glover, John Malkovich, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Lindsay Crouse, Bert Remsen. Oscars for Best Actress (Field) and Best Screenplay (Waxahachie Native, Robert Benton).
• 1918, 1984 – Matthew Broderick.
• The Last of the Caddoes (TV)
• The Aurora Encounter, 1984 – Jack Elam.
• Peyton Place: The Next Generation, 1985 – Dorothy Malone, Ed Nelson.
• The Trip to Bountiful, 1985 – Geraldine Page, Rebecca DeMornay, John Heard, Carlin Glynn. Oscar for Best Actress (Page).
• Valentine’s Day, 1985 – Matthew Broderick, William Converse Robert.
• True Stories, 1985 – David Byrne.
• Thompson’s Last Run, 1985 – Robert Mitchum.
• The All-American Cowboy, (TV special) with Charlie Pride.
• Katherine Anne Porter: A Texas Childhood (TV), 1986.
• Square Dance, 1986 – Jason Robards, Jane Alexander, Winona Ryder, Rob Lowe.
• Traveling Man, 1987 – Kay Lenz.
• The Fig Tree, 1987-88 – William Converse Roberts, Theresa Wright, Doris Roberts.
• Norman Rockwells’s Breaking Home Ties, 1987-88 – Jason Robards, Eva Marie Saint, Doug
McKeon, Erin Gray, Claire Trevor.
• It Takes Two (working title: My New Car), 1987-88 – Patrick Dempsey, Leslie Hope Barry Corbin.
• River Bend (originally titled Night of the Eagles, and previously titled Give or Take a Hundred Years), filmed in 1987-88; released in 1989 – Steve James, Margaret Avery.
• Ollie Hopnoodle’s Haven of Bliss, 1987-88 – James B. Sikking, Jean Shepherd.
• Born on the Fourth of July, 1987-88 – Tom Cruise (only one small scene in rural part of county).
• Love Hurts, 1987-88 – Jeff Daniels, Cloris Leachman.
• Bonnie & Clyde: The True Story, 1991.
• Pure Country, 1993 – George Strait.
• Curse of the Starving Class, 1994 – James Woods, Kathy Bates, Lou Gossett Jr., Randy Quaid, Henry Thomas.
• Universal Soldier: The Return, 1999 – Jean-Claude Van Damme.
• Walker, Texas Ranger (TV Series), 1993-2000.
• Slap Her . . . She’s French, 2001 – Piper Perabo, Jane McGregor, Trent Ford.
• Fat Girls, 2005 – Ash Christian.
• Walking Tall 2, 2006 – Kevin Sorbo.
• Walking Tall 3, 2006 – Kevin Sorbo.
• Prison Break (TV Series), Season 2 - 2006.