Jerry's History as Wild Bill Part 4
*Read the previous four volumes to get the rest of Jerry's story
By the mid-2010’s, Jerry realized that, despite his successful career as a singer and actor, he could not shake the need to bring Hickok to life in a movie of his own, believing it was his destiny. At the conclusion of the tourist season in Keystone, SD in 2016, Jerry resurrected his movie project with the help of a large network of friends and locals, though this time around he planned on turning his biographical movie into a docudrama--a mix of live action and documentary filmmaking.
By turning his script into a blend of action and pictures/commentary, Jerry now had the ability to scale his project to his budget and resources, focusing the action and drama on the key events of Hickok’s life. It also allowed him to highlight several other important historical figures in Hickok's life, such as Buffalo Bill, Charlie Utter, and Calamity Jane. The new iteration of his film not only included a blend of narration, historical photos, and interviews interspersed with scenes of action and drama; he also changed its title from "Prince of Pistoleers" to “Deadman’s Hand,” a reference to the last cards Hickok was ever dealt. Again, Jerry had no choice but to self-finance his movie and spent the next several weeks filming in old ghost towns, secret locations, and Custer State Park.
Most of the money he spent went to authentic costumes, special effects, horses, and weapons, including a canon and Gatling gun for the Civil War scenes. As director and videographer, he captured spectacular shots of buffalo hunts, Custer’s Last Stand, historical shootouts, and the trial and hanging of Jack McCall—all of which cost upwards of $30,000.
With fifty-plus hours of unedited footage, Jerry would need another herculian effort to acquire the editing equipment, purchase time in the studio for narration, and record interviews for Ken Burns-like commentary in between action scenes. In order to complete the movie, he would need more time and money. As he spent the next three years saving the money to complete the project...tragedy struck unexpectedly.
Jerry’s beloved wife Ruby (below), soulmate of 20 years, died suddenly, and without warning. Ruby’s loss was devastating and left Jerry reeling, and his dream of finishing his docudrama about Wild Bill fell by the wayside. (Click here to listen to the holiday song he wrote about her death). But like Hickok himself, Jerry would not be beaten...even though life would throw him more challenges at him to dodge, like bullets from a gun.
Click on the below video to hear Jerry's song about his late wife, Ruby:
