Red West

Robert Gene "Red" West (March 20, 1936 – July 18, 2017) was an American actor, movie stuntman and songwriter. He was probably best known to American movie audiences for his role as Red in Road House, alongside Patrick Swayze. Recently, he appeared as Roger in the 2013 drama movie Safe Haven.

Red West
Born	Robert Gene West (1936-03-20)March 20, 1936 Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	July 20, 2017(2017-07-20) (aged 81) Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actor, stunt performer, songwriter
Years active	1959-2015
Spouse	Pat Boyd (1961-2017)
Children	2

West was born in Memphis, Tennessee.^[1] His cousin was Sonny West, the bodyguard of Elvis Presley.^[2] He studied at Jones County Junior College. In 1961, he married Pat Boyd. West and Presley were very close friends and worked with Presley during his tours.^[3]

West was fired by Presley and later helped write the book Elvis: What Happened?, which was published weeks before Presley's death.^[4] The book, according to West in the book, was an attempt to help Presley, but believed by some to be an attempt to retaliate and earn an income after being fired. Presley offered the publisher of the book $1,000,000 ($1million) to stop printing the book.^[5]

Wets died of an aortic aneurysm in Memphis, Tennessee on July 18, 2017, aged 81.^[6]