HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK, Arkansas — Forrie J. Smith, the real cowboy who rode to fame as the beloved Lloyd Pierce in the insanely popular “Yellowstone” TV series, will be the official starter March 17, 2024, in the First Ever 21st Annual World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Hot Springs.
“We could have looked forever and never have found a more perfect person to fire the official starter’s pistol for our world-famous little parade,” Visit Hot Springs CEO and parade founder Steve Arrison said. “Forrie is a real cowboy who plays a real cowboy, and he has ridden into the hearts of millions of ‘Yellowstone’ fans. He’ll be perfect for the 21st edition of our parade on 98-foot Bridge Street next March.”
The parade annually attracts more than 30,000 fans from across the country to Bridge Street, which Ripley’s Believe It or Not declared the World’s Shortest Street in Everyday Use. It features an array of 40 or more zany entries that include a troupe of marching Irish Elvis Presley impersonators, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, marching Irish wolfhounds, wacky floats, marching bands and assorted marchers who adopt the parade’s irreverent take on the boisterous holiday.
Smith, born in Helena, Mont., is a veteran actor and stuntman who has appeared in dozens of movies and television shows. He is an actual cowboy who began riding at a young age and grew up on his grandparents’ Montana cattle ranch. Both his parents were ranchers and riders, and Smith began competing in rodeos at the age of 8. By age 11 he was riding rodeo bucking stock bareback. He spent much of his adulthood riding the rodeo circuit, competing primarily in bareback riding.
Smith got his start as a movie/TV stuntman in the 1980s and also began taking on small acting roles as well.
“I use a lot of the things I learned from rodeo in the film industry,” Smith says. “Like breaking things down into steps, thinking positive and not being negative. Thinking about what you did wrong and forgetting it, thinking about what you did right and building on it. Hurry up and wait — that’s all learned from rodeo.”
In “Yellowstone,” Smith plays head ranch hand Lloyd Pierce, the oldest ranch hand at the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch.
Off-camera, Smith has built a genuine friendship with series star Kevin Costner. “I respect and appreciate his work more now, after ‘Yellowstone,’ than I ever did before,” Smith has been quoted. In Yellowstone” flashbacks, a younger Lloyd Pierce is portrayed by Smith’s real son, Forrest Smith.
Smith owns his own ranch in New Mexico.
For more information call Steve Arrison at 501-321-2027.