WESTERNS REVISITED STARS FROM MOVIES AND TV ATTEND BASH AT SPORTSMEN'S LODGE.

Byline: MARK KELLAM Valley News Writer

Every year, stars from Western movies and television shows come to Los Angeles for an awards ceremony honoring their own. The night before the awards ceremony, many of them gather at the Sportsmen's Lodge Hotel in Studio City for a huge party around the pool.

Called the Golden Boot, the awards ceremony was started 22 years ago. This year, it was held Aug. 12 at the Beverly Hilton.

The top award recipient was Clint Eastwood.

The party at the Sportsmen's Lodge is coordinated annually by Jim Roberts, who lived in the Valley for 38 years until he retired and moved to Mississippi 13 years ago. The party, called the Jim Roberts' Roundup, started 16 years ago and was attended by 600-700 people this year.

Among the guests was Herb Jeffries, who, at 92, was the oldest Western movie star at the event, Roberts said.

Jeffries starred in several Westerns in the late 1930s and made appearances on TV series such as ``The Name of the Game,'' ``The Virginian'' and ``Hawaii Five-O.''

Another legend at the party was award-winning country singer Frankie Lane, Roberts said.

Dale Robertson, who made several appearances on the TV series ``Death Valley Days'' in the 1960s and was in the TV movie ``The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang'' in 1979, was also at the party.

More recently, Robertson made appearances on several TV series such as ``Dynasty,'' ``Fantasy Island,'' ``The Love Boat,'' ``J.J. Starbuck'' and ``Murder, She Wrote.'' He was also in the 1993 TV movie ``Wind in the Wire.''

Among the Western actresses at the party was Donna Martell of Chatsworth, who shared the silver screen with several Western stars including Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and Kit Carson. She also had several guest appearances on the TV series ``Bonanza.'' She said she had screen time with many of the big Western stars -- except one.

``I never worked with John Wayne,'' she said.

The crowd at the Sportsmen's Lodge was entertained by Stan Corliss and the Comancheros. Corliss has opened for the Sons of the Pioneers in Branson, Mo., and was nominated by the Western Music Association as Songwriter of the Year in 1999 and for Song of the Year (``A Cowboy Knows There's a God Above''), also in 1999.

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Jim Roberts, right, shares a moment with Western movie star and singer Herb Jeffries, left, and Jeffries' wife, Julie Ashley.

(2 -- color) Stan Corliss and the Comancheros perform a song for the crowd at the Sportsmen's Lodge in Studio City.

(3 -- color) Dale Robertson, left, and Donna Martell are familiar faces in old Western movies and TV shows.

Mark Kellam/Valley News