Biography

ED BRUCE BIOGRAPHY
With a string of hits, both as an artist and a writer, Ed Bruce has maintained a successful career for more than four decades. "Mamma's Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys", "After All", "Girls, Women and Ladies", "When You Fall In Love Everything's A Waltz", "My First Taste of Texas", "Ever, Never Loving You", "The Last Cowboy Song", and the "Theme from Bret Maverick" are just a few of the self-penned hit songs from this great artist. Then there's "Texas When I Die" and "The Man That Turned My Mama On" which were giant hits for Tanya Tucker -and the list goes on.
Ed was born in Keiser, Arkansas. Early on, the family moved to Memphis and he claims Tennessee as his home. In the late 70's, he represented the state as "The Tennessean" in a nationwide campaign promoting tourism.
Ed started writing songs in his early teens and first recorded on the famed Sun Records label while a senior in high school. Writing the B-side of Tommy Roe's million seller "Sheila" furnished funds and motivation for Ed to move to Nashville in 1962. "See The Big Man Cry", recorded by CMA Hall-of-Famer Charlie Louvin, earned Ed his first BMI award and Charlie credits the song with establishing him as a solo artist. "Mamas--" and "Texas When I Die" also earned Grammy and CMA nominations for Song of the Year and are both certified for 1,000,000 broadcast performances.
In addition to performing and writing, Ed also has a very successful acting career -he appeared in the CBS mini-series "The Chisolms" with Robert Preston, the NBC movie "Frank and Jesse James" and of course, was the co-star or "Bret Maverick" with James Garner. He appeared as Sgt. Daryl Kelso in the CBS Movie of the Week "Separated by Murder" and as Attorney Harlan Hayes in the pilot episode of "XXX's & OOO's produced in Nashville.
Other star turns include the pragmatic Sheriff Lloyd in the Steven Segal feature "Fire Down Below"; Thunder Malloy in the "Walker Texas Ranger" inspired "Son's of Thunder"; and Ed's favorite, the curmudgeonly rancher Mitch in Sundance Films "The Outfitters".
Ed was also the host of "American Sports Cavalcade" on The Nashville Network and hosted the seven seasons of "Truckin' USA", also on TNN. He recently began taping the fourth season of "Doc on Point", a series, featuring his dog Doc, which focuses on the training of gun dogs and airs weekly on Outdoor Life Network. He has recorded dozens of national TV and radio commercials including United Airlines, McDonalds, Kawasaki, John Deere, Dodge Trucks and the Armed Services Campaign "It's a Great Place To Start" -to name just a few.
Today, as always, Ed loves to sit around with friends and talk sports -most notably, football and hunting, and of course, horses and dogs. There is championship breeding among the herd of 22 Tennessee Walking Horses, and numerous champions and Hall-of-Famers are apparent in the pedigrees of their 5 English Setters. This "royalty" is no more treasured, however, than the always present, variegated pack of tail-wagging strays, orphans and drop- offs greeting visitors to Ed's and Judith's "Home At Last" ranch.
Ed Bruce's career now spans both sides of the Atlantic -he has gained an enormous following in Europe and performs there at least once a year.
Next time you see the movie "Electric Horseman" or hear "Mamma's Don’t' Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys" on the radio, take a good listen. It's a better biographical sketch of Ed Bruce than any of these words.