Shorty kellum beverly hillbillies house

Quick-draw artist William "Shorty" Young can twirl a pistol with the finest of gunslingers, but he can't quite work the same magic with his life story.

It's not that his 67 years lack luster.

A former Hollywood bit actor with recurring roles in TheBeverly Hillbillies and Gunsmoke, Shorty has fallen gracefully off a horse in many a western and even spent time in a mud pit with John Wayne. Big-shouldered men in buckskin, with names like Sunset Carson and Chief White Eagle, people his anecdotes.

On August 12, 1955 he worked the stage at the Municipal Auditorium.

But since he's never learned the art of selective detail, such accomplishments get lost in the telling. The man can't just spin a yarn -- he has to knit the whole sweater. So unless you've got a few spare eons, don't ask him what he's doing in a broken-down section of Cleveland, dressed in a frock coat and bathtub-sized cowboy hat.

You won't get the direct answer: that some years ago, he relocated from