Larry Mahan was born on November 21, 1943, in Salem, Oregon. Mahan began competing in professional rodeo at the age of 14. He competed in the Rodeo Cowboys Association, which later changed its name to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, beginning in 1963. He won the title of World All-Around Champion for five consecutive years from 1966 to 1970, and a sixth time in 1973. His 1973 comeback and competition with Phil Lyne was the subject of the documentary The Great American Cowboy, which won the 1973 Academy Award for Documentary Feature. In the RCA, he competed and regularly won in saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, and bull riding; he was the first to contest three NFR events in one year. He was the high money winner in bull riding in 1965, and in 1967 won more than $50,000, the first to achieve that level in a single season. In the 1970 season he earned more than $280,000. He had a tough decade in the 1970s, winning an all-around title in 1973 but with injuries sidelining him some of the time. Mahan earned six all-around titles, but the last one was not consecutive. His consecutive all-around record of five titles was not surpassed until 1979 when Tom Ferguson won his sixth consecutive title. In 1994, Ty Murray broke Mahan's and Ferguson's record of six titles.and tied Ferguson's record of having won six titles consecutively. In 1998, Murray won his seventh title, surpassing both of them and holding the record for all-around titles at seven titles. That's when they started calling Murray "King of the Cowboys." In 2010, Trevor Brazile won his eighth all-around title, surpassing them all. In 2018, Brazile won his 14th all-around title. Mahan was also the World Bull Riding Champion in 1965 and 1967.
Mahan entered the rodeo school market by running a few schools himself. He even had his own brand of Western clothing. After he retired from rodeo in 1977, he bought a ranch near Phoenix, Arizona.
Western wear entrepreneur
Mahan established the Larry Mahan Boot Collection, as well as a clothing line. He also licensed his name to various entities including Tony Lama, Gensco and others. Larry Mahan's Hat Collection has been available from the Milano Hat Company since 1984.
Music
Larry Mahan is one of the title characters in the song Ramblin' Jack and Mahan by Guy Clark. In 1976, he released an album on Warner Brothers entitled Larry Mahan, King of the Rodeo. The songs on the album are:
In 1972, Mahan had a small part in the Cliff Robertson movie, J.W. Coop. In 1975, he appeared in Six Pack Annie. In the 2007 movie No Country for Old Men, Josh Brolin's character buys and wears a pair of "Larrys". He also played in a movie called "The Honkers" with James Coburn and Slim Pickens.
TV Host
Larry Mahan hosted RFD-TV's Equestrian Nation up until 2009.
