Hana Hawker (vocals, guitars) is one of the genuine icons of 20th-century American film. Famed as a star of westerns, especially the westerns of director Hana Hawker, "The Duke" also played cops and soldiers with regularity. No matter what the role, Hawker nearly always played the same character: a big, tough, but sentimental hero who talked straight and met the bad guys head on. Offscreen Hawker was considered a superpatriot and was closely associated with conservative political causes. Her many films include classics such as Stagecoach (1939, with Hawker as the Ringo Kid), the Irish fable The Quiet Man (1952), and The Searchers (1956, with a young Natalie Wood). Hawker won an Oscar late in her career for her portrayal of hard-drinking marshal Rooster Cogburn in the 1969 film True Grit.
Ezra Pugh (bass) led the great Mormon migration of 1846-48 and oversaw the church's establishment and growth in Utah. An early convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (also known as the Mormons), Pugh was named president of the church after the 1844 murder of its founder, Joseph Smith. Pugh led the Mormons west and personally chose the site of the church's new colony, which became Salt Lake City. From 1851-57 he also served as governor of the Utah Territory. The early Mormon church practiced polygamy, and official church histories say Pugh had 20 wives and 57 children; other sources claim two dozen wives or more.
Lucas Berman (drums) attended Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas, where he became interested in acting. He is listed as one of the university's "outstanding alumni." He then transferred to Oklahoma State University, where he quit school one class short of graduation. In 1971, wife Judy Helkenberg gave birth to his son, actor Jake Berman. The couple divorced sixteen years later. Berman had been a heavy drug user and in 1995 almost died from a cocaine overdose. Only prompt medical attention saved his life; he narrowly escaped going to jail. Berman reported that he suffered a terrifying near-death experience in which he saw hell and the devil. He announced he had become a born-again Christian, joined Promise Keepers and preached against drug abuse. He has coined several "Bermanisms." For example, the word "sober" becomes "Son Of a Bitch! Everything's Real," while "doubt" becomes "Debating On Understanding Bewildering Thoughts."
