He’s excited to so, and not just because the event is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

“I’m 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. “It’s gonna be awesome.”

But the most important part, he said, comes the night before. That’s when Linn’s 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 Linn’s cowboy hats on the wall.

“That’s 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 year’s inductees is Oscar-nominated actor Stuart Whitman (“The Comancheros,” TV’s “Cimarron Strip”) and late actor Andy Devine (“Stagecoach,” TV’s “Wild Bill Hickock”). Whitman is scheduled to appear, as are Barry Corbin (TV’s “Northern Exposure”) and Academy Award winner Ernest Borgnine, recently seen in the Golden Globe-nominated action film “Red.”

After that, it’s a well-deserved break for Linn, who today just completed his work for the finale of “CSI: Miami”’s ninth season.

“They done me good,” he said. “They didn’t kill me, and I’m in it big.”

Named the World’s Most Popular TV Show, Linn noted, the hit CBS series returns in the fall for its 10th year. —Rod Lott

  • or