- Shoulders, Jim
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▪ 2008James Arthur Shoulders American rodeo cowboyborn May 13, 1928, Tulsa, Okla.died June 20, 2007, Henryetta, Okla.was a fearless and fierce competitor who notched 16 world championship titles (all-around, 1949, 1956–59; bull riding, 1951, 1954–59; and bareback riding, 1950, 1956–58) despite injuries that resulted in a raft of broken bones: both arms (twice), collarbone (three times), and face (27 breaks). His most amazing ride came when he broke a hand during competition, switched to the other hand, and won the title. After retiring from the rodeo circuit in 1970, Shoulders worked his ranch and provided livestock to rodeos. He also established the first rodeo riding school and invented a mechanical bucking machine. Besides serving as a spokesperson for jeans and boots, Shoulders appeared for more than 15 years in print ads and television commercials for beer; in one commercial, in the 1980s, he was famously paired with scrappy New York Yankees manager Billy Martin. In 1955 Shoulders was inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, and in 1979 he became a charter member of the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo.
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Universalium. 2010.
