He was awarded a Degree as an honor by the school due to his strong support over the years. Around here that makes him a grad.

He was also a very strong Democrat and from what I heard once had a script rewritten to change his character from a Republican to a Democrat. What that had to do with the story I can't say because I cannot see how something like that would move the plot, but it seemed important to him. I guess he would feel more natural playing what he really was and apparently it did not distract from the story.

Folks have told me that he was a lot like Ben Johnson. What you saw on the screen was what he was like in person. Honest, witty..... Sort of like a laid back John Wayne.

(Ben Johnson was also from Oklahoma.)