Here’s a movie clip to watch. It’s the “what was your best/worst day” scene from “City Slickers.” As you enjoy the scene, keep your eye on Billy Crystal’s horse. He’s riding the middle one, the black with a blaze.
That horse’s name is Beechnut. Billy Crystal took him home from the set of the 1991 film. In mid-November, about a week before this writing, Beechnut had to be put to sleep at the age of 27 due to illness.
Although Crystal hasn’t come out and said so, I do believe that Beechnut’s passing may have been one of Crystal’s real-life worst days.
Soon after filming “City Slickers” (1991), Crystal brought Beechnut home from the set. “It was an on-location romance,” Crystal has been quoted as saying in news reports.
Still, Crystal being Crystal, the jokes continued. Crystal rode Beechnut onto the stage when he hosted the 1991 Academy Awards telecast.
Plus, I remember a late-night talk show appearance several years later in which Crystal mentioned that, yes, he’d kept the horse from “City Slickers” and that he boarded him in the Los Angeles area at a stable where other busy movie stars kept their horses.
Almost in the next breath, Crystal had joked about the horses hanging out at the stable and commiserating about their busy owners, about how they don’t write or call, as if the horses were retirees complaining about neglectful children.
But had Beechnut and Crystal not enjoyed a good relationship, Crystal wouldn’t have been able to have said that Beechnut would “always put his head on his shoulder.”
RIP, Beechnut. Our condolences, Mr. Crystal.
Check out the
City Slickers (Collector’s Edition)
Tags: Beechnut, Billy Crystal, City Slickers
January 19th, 2009 at 11:13 am
nice report!
r.i.p. beechnut and r.i.p. bruno kirby too!
my question is: what was that for a kind of horse!
thanks, michael
January 19th, 2009 at 11:29 am
Yes! RIP Bruno Kirby, too. I remember being so shocked when I heard that he’d passed. And not long after the City Slickers series of films, either.
As for your question, Michael, I don’t think we ever heard what breed Beechnut was. I would assume that he was an American Quarter Horse.
Anyway, thanks for stopping by.
July 8th, 2011 at 8:42 pm
While vacationing on Lanai in Feb 1998, I was very fortunate to be allowed to ride Beechnut on a trail ride on the northernmost part of the island.
I am a very inexperienced rider, as was Billy, and so they paired this horse up with me. A very fine mount, indeed. I could have sent all sorts of mixed signals to this wonderful animal and still would have gotten where I needed to go.
I found out later, a bit to my chagrin, that Beechnut was indeed SUCH a fine horse that the ranch where he lived set him apart for the least able riders visiting there. That included disabled people and small children. RIP Beechnut. Thanks for taking me, safely, where I needed to go. Love, Cas’
July 9th, 2011 at 11:35 am
Wow, that’s cool, Lori. How did you find out that you were riding THE Beechnut? If you don’t mind me asking.