His father, Doyle Teaster, was one of the original famed gunfighters of
"Ghost Town in the Sky" Wild West Show in Maggie Valley, North
Carolina, from 1961 through 1967. He played the first "Digger the
Undertaker," with
Dan Blocker,
Clu Gulager,
Paul Fix,
Burt Reynolds,
Tony Dow,
Gig Young,
Frank McGrath,
Donald May, and
Peter Brown. Doyle also acted with a local named 'Herbert
"Cowboy' Coward' who played "Grandpappy" in the same Wild West Show. In
1967, Dean (West) Teaster moved to Michigan with his family and
immediately met and became friends with
James O'Barr, who later
created the
El Cuervo (1994).
Dean Teaster's Ghost Town the Movie was made as a tribute to his father and his association with Ghost Town in the Sky in the early '60s. The movie is somewhat based on the legendary Smoky Mountain settler "Harmon Teaster", who is Dean's great,great, grandfather.
