Benny Thomasson was an American fiddler in the Texas style of fiddling.
Background
Thomasson was born in Winters, Texas, and raised in Gatesville, one of 10 children in a family where music was not only encouraged, it was a key ingredient of life. His father wrote the well-known fiddle tune titled "Midnight on the Water".
Career
Thomasson began fiddling at age five. Thomasson entered his first fiddle contest in the late 1920s, at age 19, thinking he was pretty good. He and was disappointed that he placed near 60th place.
After that, he decided that the tunes needed to be "rounded out, and smoothed up".
Thomasson worked hard and took home many trophies. He improved and improvised on many simple traditional tunes.
He practiced and developed controlled improvisation, keeping the tune true to its melody while embellishing and expanding that melody. Benny had a brief brush with Hollywood when he was cast in the 1976 film "Stay Hungry".
In the film, a bodybuilder (Arnold Schwarzenegger) wants to learn to play the fiddle, and seeks lessons from an old master (Thomasson).
Jeff Bridges, Sally Field, Joanna Cassidy, Editor Begley Junior., and Robert Englund are also in the cast. Fiddling legend Byron Berline (then living in Los Angeles) was engaged by the producers to provide music for the film, and was considered for the part as the fiddle mentor. However, Berline was too youthful and athletic (he played for the University of Oklahoma football team) to fit the part, and he suggested Thomasson.
In 1928, Thomasson married Beatrice "Bea" Hollander, in Taos, New Mexico.
They had four children. Thomasson died in 1984 in Ellis County, Texas.