Bamboo Harvester

"Hello, I'm Mister Ed

A horse is a horse, of course of course,
and no one can talk to a horse of course,
that is of course, unless the horse,
Is the famous Mister Ed!

Go right to the source and ask the horse.
He'll give you the answer that you'll endorse.
He's always on a steady course.
Talk to Mister Ed.

People yak-it-ti-yak a streak
and waste your time of day,
but Mister Ed will never speak,
unless he has something to say...

A horse is a horse, of course of course,
And this one will talk 'til his voice is hoarse.
You never heard of a talking horse?
Well, listen to this...

I am Mister Ed"

Bamboo Harvester (Mister Ed) was a Palomino horse was born in 1949 in El Monte, California. His parents were The Harvester (Sire), a Saddlebred owned by Edna and Jim Fagan; and Zetna, (Dam) who was sired by Antez, an Arabian imported from Poland.



Bamboo Harvester was trained by Lester Hilton. Lester "Les" Hilton had been apprenticed under Will Rogers, and also worked with the mules in the "Francis the Talking Mule" movies.

Prior to landing the title role of Mister Ed, he became trained as a show and parade horse by Lester Hilton, a Will Rogers protege.



He was only 12 years old when he became known to the world as Mister Ed, a role for which he was clearly typecast. He neither played, nor did he audition for any other role during his 19-year life. He never appeared on any commercials. He was introduced to the world in his peak role of Mister Ed.



Mister Ed (1949-1970) was voiced by ex-B-movie cowboy star Allan "Rocky" Lane (speaking) and Sheldon Allman (singing).




There are conflicting stories involving of the death of Bamboo Harvester, the horse that played Mr. Ed.

One version is by 1968 the horse was suffering from a variety of health problems. In 1970 he was euthanized with no publicity, and buried at Snodgrass Farm in Oklahoma.

Another version is quoted by Alan Young in his book "Mr. Ed and Me." Young wrote in his book that he'd frequently visit his former "co-star" in retirement. He states that Mr. Ed died from an inadvertent tranquilizer administered while he was "in retirement" in a stable in Burbank, California where he lived with his trainer Lester Hilton.