Famous People Who Are Civil War Aficiandos

John Ford was an avid reader of history had a deep interest in the war that shows in his movies, most notably in the Cavairy Trilogy, The Horse Soldiers, Judge Priest and The Sun Shines Bright.

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Comedian Jonathan Winters(right) was a collector of uniforms and model soldiers. I bought a Confederate flag bearer from his collection. He and Robin Williams(left) would sit on their floor and play with their collection of soldiers.
Here os a photo where he wore a Union uniform on the Johnny Caron’s Tonight Show.

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Mary Tyler Moore. She purchased the Conrad Shindler house in Shepardstown WV and it became a history
center for Shepard University. Links with info--

www.commdiginews.com/entertainment/mary-tyler-moores-surprising-civil-war-connections-77014/

www.shepherd.edu/history-of-the-schindler-family/

Moore also assisted with maintenance of her great grandfather's Col Lewis Tilghman Moore's home in Winchester, VA,
now a museum. Another link--

www.historynet.com/collateral-damage-stonewalls-winchester-headquarters.htm
 
David Harper.

He's not famous today, but was a very recognizable child actor during the 1970's.

A few older CWT members may remember the long running CBS series " The Waltons ".
Harper portrayed the youngest Walton son ... "Jim-Bob ".

He's always been a big Civil War enthusiast/amateur historian.

To paraphrase actress Judy Norton, that played the eldest sister "Mary Ellen " :
(Harper would explain details of various CW battles to his fellow cast mates when they were attending school on the Hollywood set . Then as now, the kids didn't care, but the Civil War was still being taught in schools back in the 70's).

Ms. Norton also said the Civil War assignments were difficult & boring, but David Harper "brought that era to life. Even as a little kid, he knew more than our teacher".
 
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I don't know if it's true or how much of one he is but I read somewhere that Donald Trump knows a little about the Civil War.
You might be recalling that several years ago he had an historical marker placed on one of his golf courses that he claimed was the site of a Civil War engagement called "The River of Blood."
 
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Depending on your definition of "famous"...

Dave Alvin (The Blasters, X, and a bunch of solo stuff - about 30 albums in total) wrote and performed a song about his ancestor's experience at Andersonville

Jon Schaffer, guitarist/songwriter/founder of the metal band Iced Earth, (and I hear he's been in the news this year for other reasons) wrote a trilogy of songs about Gettysburg because of his interest in history. He later wrote "Clear The Way" about the Irish Brigade at Fredericksburg.
 
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