All the facts have become muddled over the years and one name keeps cropping up...Francis the Talking Mule who did have a grudge against Ed for decades. Was Mr. Ed killed by multiple tranquilizer shots...or as popular myth would have you believe by a single shot from a marksman with a syringe. The lone killer is thought to have been Francis but the mule never made it trial. Other equine witnesses have also died mysteriously just as they were supoened to testify to a Congressional Committee. Many think Francis was also killed by lethal injection before he could talk and spill the oats.
Mister Ed (real name Bamboo Harvester) you know Hollywood types...gotta have a catchy name, first appeared on television in 1961 and retired from show biz in 1966. Mr. Ed was all male..a real stallion, Francis the Talking Mule however was from Missouri and was a female mule named Molly. As a transvestite animal she was chastised by the rednecks and fled to Hollywood and there found a home in movies. Being able to talk was a blessing but also curse at the same time. Francis the Mules popularity waned and Mr. Ed rose to fame on television creating animosity between the two. They never spoke to each other again. In an interview with Trigger after Mr. Ed's mysterious death he is quoted as saying on Equine Entertainment Tonight..."Ed was a pal of mine and a true friend. I never got along with that crossdressin Francis as her voice was frightening to me..so deep she sounded more like Chill Wills than a woman!"
Then there is the Mysterious Mare who shared more than a stable with Mr. Ed during filming. Her name was Pumpkin and was Mr. Eds stand in and stunt double for those times when Mr. Ed was drying out from alcohol abuse or checked into the Betty Ford Horse Clinic for treatment of tranquilizer addiction. Pumpkin later appeared as a regular on Green Acres. Pumpkin is now dead too so the mystery went to the grave with her. Notice the correlation between her death and that of Marilyn Monroe. Flicka, Silver and Trigger all rushed to her side when they were notified of her overdose in the stable and authorities were not notified until the morning when she died peacefully in her sleep. Francis was not implicated in this death either but there were rumors that they had romantic rendevous in Nevada after checking into the Mustang Ranch Frequently seen with them on nights on the town were close friends Trigger and Buttermilk, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans horse. The Lone Ranger and Tonto would not give interviews, as Silver and Scout were also close associates. When the Equine Rat Pack would party hearty on oats and hay until all hours of the morning. There are also rumors of a menage a trois between Mr. Ed, Pumpkin and Mustang Sally. Ride Sally Ride...Giddy up you gelding you...you go girl....
Mr Ed died in 1970 in California. Allan Young, who played Wilber Post on the TV series was a close human companion of Ed and visited him frequently after the show ended. Mr. Ed (Bamboo Harvester) died from a tranquilizer administered in his stable in California while living with his trainer Lester Hilton. Hilton had an alibi as he claims he was out of town and a temporary care giver saw Mr. Ed rolling on the ground and adminsitered the tranquilizer for unknown reasons. Mr Ed died within hours. He was immediately cremated. Was Mr. Ed euthanized maliciously? An accident? A conspiracy? What about other mysterious deaths? such as Jimmie Hoffa, Martin Luther King, Rin Tin Tin and Lassie?
There have been as many Mr. Ed sightings as there have been of Elvis. Mr. Ed has been reported to be living in disguise in a rodeo as a horse clown. The truth may never be known as one by one..the participants have all died mysteriously before they could testify.
Francis never talked..too stubborn! Pumpkin never married, and Roy Rogers had Trigger stuffed. If we ever needed the truth we have to hear it from the horses mouth..Mr. Eds mouth to be exact...but now we can only speculate on who the horses ass it was that killed Mr. Ed.