Roscoe Ates

Roscoe Blevel Ates (January 20, 1895 – March 1, 1962) was an American vaudeville performer, actor of stage and screen, comedian and musician who primarily featured in western films and television. He was best known as western character Soapy Jones. He was also billed as Rosco Ates. Early years Ates was born on January 20, 1895, in the northwest of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, in the rural hamlet of Grange (Grange is no longer included on road maps). Ates spent much of his childhood learning how to manage a speech impediment,<ref name=allmov>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:2680|title=Roscoe Ates": Biography by Hal Erickson|publisher=allmovie.com|access-date=March 1, 2009}}</ref> succeeding when he was 18. Early career Ates played violin to accompany silent films at a theater in Chickasha, Oklahoma. Following that experience, he became an entertainer as a concert violinist but found economic opportunities greater as a vaudeville comedian, appearing as half of the team of Ates and Darling. For 15 years, he was a headliner on the Orpheum Circuit, and he revived his long-gone stutter for humorous effect Military service Ates served in World War II, training of the Air Force fighter squad program in Houston, Texas at Ellington Field Texas.