This biography from the Archives of AskART:
| Cecil A. Broadhurst, born May 8, 1903, was a Canadian artist, songwriter, actor and playwright, who had a passionate in and love for all things Western. At age 15 he began his lifelong commitment to painting, studying under LeMoine Fitzgerald and Frank Franz Johnston A.R.C.A. members of Canada’s renowned Group of Seven.
In 1932 he launched out on his own, but the great Depression in the 30’s led him to other fields: among them flying as a bush pilot, radio and theatre, followed by college and a year at the Detroit Art Academy. A Canadian producer asked him to paint a state set for him, which prompted Broadhurst to focus his talents on the theatre and his gift of songwriting. He subsequently wrote over a hundred cowboy songs, including There’ll be a New World Beginning from Tonight, which became an annual fixture as the rousing finale of the hugely popular Christmas concerts of Malcolm Sargent at the London’s Royal Albert Hall.
In 1940 he appeared singing one of his cowboy songs in the movie Susan and God starring Joan Crawford. In 1952 he wrote and co-starred in the Broadway Production of his musical Jotham Valley. Another of his plays, A Cowboy's Christmas was produced in many countries.
He returned to painting full time in the 1960s, and quickly established a reputation as one of the West’s finest artists at his studio in Arivaca, Arizona. His paintings are in galleries and private collections coast to coast as well as in Europe and South America.
He died on December 16, 1981 in Arivaca, Arizona.
He is quoted as saying: “Some say the Cowboy is a vanishing species, but in my book he’ll be around as long as the paint stays on the canvas.”
Biography courtesy of Wikipedia. Taken from Cecil Broadhurst’s printed brochure describing his life experience and services as an artist in Arivaca, Arizona.
Submitted by Edward P. Bentley, Art Historian, Lansing, Michigan
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