I came up with the character Mark "Quickdraw" McGraw back in the fall of 1999 while I was working as
night manager at a grocery store in Eastern Ky. We were having Western Days and everyone was encourged to
dress western style that week. I take every chance I get to dress up, so I grew a gotee for the
first time and donned a cowboy hat and western apparell.
I had a lot of fun that week and was told by customers that the cowboy look suited me. I named my cowboy character Mark "Quickdraw" McGraw. I brought
my video camera to work and we made some silly videos where McGraw is looking for a woman, but
keeps getting turned down and beat up by the ladies. Finally he meets a woman who is interested, but it turns out that
she is married to a rough character named Grizzly who beats up on McGraw.
I portrayed McGraw in the video "Friend Like U" in 1999 where he plays his guitar and sings. Several months
later, I made another video starring this character using Tim McGraw's song "I Like It, I Love It".
This video also starred Darla who is dressed as a cowgirl and leaves lipstick kisses all over
McGraw.
I left employment in the retail business in the winter of 2000 and went to work for Sykes. At our first company
picnic, we had karaoke and I donned my cowboy hat and shades and sang "I Like It, I Love It".
The next winter I bought a new white cowboy hat at a flea market and dressed up like Mark McGraw
just to take some pictures. No video was made at that time.
Mark McGraw dissappeared for over a year but then came back in July 2002 with a whole new cast of
characters in the video "Wild Wild West". I had help from my friends Kim and Melissa who dressed up as Madame Ruby and Lady Amethyst.
McGraw made an appearance at Sykes for Western Day in April 2003. We made a short video and introduced Goldtooth McGraw, Mark's cousin, and Black Tom Dalton, leader of the infamous Dalton gang.
Mark McGraw's biggest role yet was at the Sykes company picnic of 2003. We put together and performed a western musical "Showdown at the Sapphire Saloon" complete with a western town, show girls and outlaws.
I went as Mark McGraw to a hospital in Eastern Ky with several employees to give out cowboy hats to sick children. This was also in 2003.
Mark McGraw disappeared for a couple of years, and then showed up again in June 2005, this time in Northern California at the office where I am employed. We had a day designated as hat day, and I won 3rd place for the best hat.
A more recent portayal of Mark McGraw was for the film "Illegal Smile". McGraw is waiting in line at a drug store when Detective Sullivan comes in looking for Preperation H. The shot of McGraw lasts for just a split second but if you know where to look you can see him in the film.
Mark McGraw's most recent appearance was at work on our Western Day in July 2008. I got some good ideas from one of our partner papers and decided to have a theme dress up day once a work. It went over well and we had a lot of people participate.
Mark "Quickdraw" McGraw has appeared in the following films:
1. Friend Like U - November 1999
2. I Like It, I Love It - February 2000
3. Wild Wild West - July 2002
"Copyright 1999-2009 by Mark A. Boyd"
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Disclaimer: Many gifs and background images on this site were not created by the owner of Crazy Characters. They were obtained from various sources on the internet that labeled them as "freely distributable". If you should discover images on any of my web pages which you recognize as copyrighted, please email me immediately so that they may be removed.
