Alva Review-Courier -

As we have noted previously, Oklahoma has a rich and diverse cultural heritage. Numerous creative people (singers, actors, writers, and others) have called the Sooner State home.

Among them are Rance and Jean Howard, both of whom were born and grew up together in the small town of Duncan. They then moved to California and became active in the motion picture industry.

Rance was born Harold Rance Beckenholdt and changed his name when he got into acting. He was born in November 1928, nearly two years after Jean Speegle’s birth in January 1927.

The two married in 1949. By that time, Rance had atte...