<P> In 1966, at the age of 27, he obtained one of his most memorable parts, as Billy Blue Cannon, the blond - haired, blue - eyed son of the ranch patriarch, John Cannon (Leif Erickson) on The High Chaparral, set in the Arizona Territory . The series aired for four seasons . He went on to play Taylor Reed in the 1973 film Salty and reprised his role in the syndicated adventure series Salty (1974 - 1975). </P> <P> Slade's acting career continued into the early 1990s . He made more than 300 appearances on stage, screen, and television . Slade won international recognition and numerous awards for his efforts: the Belgian Viewers Award, the Bambi, the Bravo Golden Otto, and the Western Heritage Award . </P> <P> As an artist, Slade's illustrations, political cartoons, caricatures, and comic strips have run in numerous newspapers, magazines, and prominent publications around the world . His collaboration with producer / writer Danny Arnold (Barney Miller television series) resulted in the long - running comic strip, "Howard and Friends". </P> <P> A number of his later works done in oils and graphite, as well as his hand - pulled prints, are held in private collections . </P>

What happened to blue boy on high chaparral