THREE POINTS, AZ — Longtime Western movie actor Ivan Wolverton and his wife Margery narrowly escaped a fire that destroyed their Three Points home on Wednesday.
Ivan — also known as “Red” or “Red Cloud” Wolverton — is known for pulling stagecoaches at Old Tucson and in western films like “Tombstone” from the 1980s through the mid-2000s. He often worked at the Mescal film set. Margery also worked in Western films during her career.
The Wolverton family says a neighbor knocked on the door Wednesday morning, saving the couple inside.
“He says, ‘You got, your house is on fire,’” Ivan told KGUN. “Flames were already coming across the bottom of the ceiling up above the fireplace and into the house.”
The exact cause of the fire is still unclear.
While Ivan and Margery survived, the fire destroyed a lifetime of mementos and memorabilia. Thousands of props, books, and decades of artwork burned.
“It just feels like you’re left without anything,” said Margery.
Ivan said he had trouble sleeping Wednesday night.
“Wake up thinking about this was gone, that was gone and the other thing was gone,” he recalled. “And took us 80 years to get all of that together.”
“It was photos, just books, and books of photo albums of their life and the movies we’ve worked on,” said Ivan and Margery’s daughter, Wendy.
The couple’s kids came in from all over the Southwest to help their parents clean up the site and plan for the future.
On Thursday, they were able to recover some small pieces of the past, like a charred journal and a jewelry box.
The family is shaken, but thankful for neighbors and firefighters, as well as for Ivan and Margery to be alive. Both are in their early 90s and have been married for 68 years.
“Life is short, we’ve gotta be nice to people and be nice to each other,” said Wendy. “And pay it forward. So thank you everybody who’s helped us.”
Margery reflected on the past couple of days.
“Lost a lot of stuff, but still have quite a bit left.”
