Hes excited to so, and not just because the event is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Im going to be up there co-emceeing with my good friend, four-time Academy Award nominee Mr. Ed Harris, Linn said, who appeared with Viggo Mortensen and Renée Zellweger in the Harris-directed Appaloosa in 2008. Its gonna be awesome.
But the most important part, he said, comes the night before. Thats when Linns late father, James Paul Linn, will be honored in a hanging of the hat ceremony. He said his dad was a board member of the museum back when it was still known as Cowboy Hall of Fame and once helped save it from bankruptcy. Those contributions will be recognized by hanging one of the elder Linns cowboy hats on the wall.
Thats really gonna be something, Linn said. Oklahoma City is near and dear to my heart.
The annual awards honor outstanding talents whose works depict the American West. Among this years inductees is Oscar-nominated actor Stuart Whitman (The Comancheros, TVs Cimarron Strip) and late actor Andy Devine (Stagecoach, TVs Wild Bill Hickock). Whitman is scheduled to appear, as are Barry Corbin (TVs Northern Exposure) and Academy Award winner Ernest Borgnine, recently seen in the Golden Globe-nominated action film Red.
After that, its a well-deserved break for Linn, who today just completed his work for the finale of CSI: Miamis ninth season.
They done me good, he said. They didnt kill me, and Im in it big.
Named the Worlds Most Popular TV Show, Linn noted, the hit CBS series returns in the fall for its 10th year. Rod Lott