15 January 2012
There are folks who, no matter how hard they try in life, can't seem to get a break. Then there are those such as Troy Landry who, without asking, just fall into good fortune.
For four decades, Landry churned out a meager existence in the hot Louisiana sun, catching crawfish and alligators. Then came that pesky call from the History Channel a few years ago.
Landry, the lovable alligator hunter with the syrup-thick Cajun accent on the hit TV show "Swamp People," was in Dallas County near Selma, deer hunting with his son Jacob this past week. Over a full plate of fried and boiled shrimp from Alabama's Gulf, Landry recounted his incredible rise to stardom.
Being a household name and having merchandise with his name, face and his everyday sayings in almost every major retail outlet in America is more than he ever could have imagined, he says. It just kind of happened.
The 50-year-old Landry said he got a call from a game warden several years back, telling him he had given Landry's phone number to some outfit in New York. That group was considering doing a TV documentary on alligator hunting in Louisiana. Landry called the producers out of courtesy to his friend.
The producers said they wanted to follow him around for an entire season of catching alligators. Landry told them no way. The alligator season in Louisiana is just one month long and he was way too busy during that month to fool with them, he said. He eventually caved in and agreed on two days.
The group followed him around, shot its footage and returned home. Landry figured that was probably the end of that.
Many Yankees tend to find parts of Southern lifestyles incredulous. The producers of the documentary showed the terrifying footage around and everyone agreed it would be better suited for a weekly series than a documentary.
"They called back and said they wanted to come see me," Landry said. "They told me they wanted to follow me around for a whole season and make a weekly show out of it. They said they'd pay all my expenses and pay my help. I still wasn't interested. I couldn't imagine anybody but a few hunters and maybe a few fishermen being interested in a show like that."
It was about that time that the bottom fell out of the Asian stock market, Landry said. While most of the alligator meat was sold in the U.S., most of the hides were sold in Asia where they were used in fashion. The price of hides fell from $45 each to $12.
Landry's wife, Bernita, told him the offer from the TV producers might be heaven-sent. If nothing else, they would pay his expenses in these tough times. Landry agreed.
The History Channel filmed the first season in 2009 and the show debuted in August 2010. The premiere drew 3.1 million viewers. Word of the TV show with the crazy Cajun alligator wranglers spread across America. It didn't hurt that the likes of Regis and Kelly, who are big fans, talked about "Swamp People" on their show, which attracted an audience no one really expected.
It didn't take long before Landry's popular phrase "Choot 'em" (shoot him) had become one of those phrases like "Git-R-Done" and "Where's the beef?" that caught on in the U.S.
Landry trademarked the phrase along with others. A clothing company bought the rights to his image and his trademarked sayings. Hats and T-shirts bearing Landry's likeness and sayings are sold by retail outlets across the U.S. including Academy in Birmingham.
"I don't do nothing," Landry said. "They just send me money. The History Channel don't get none of dat."
The final episode of season two recently aired and it drew 5.5 million viewers. It was the No. 1 show on cable TV that night and the No. 2 show in all of television. Season three was filmed in September and will debut in February.
Landry says he knows it will all eventually come to an end, but meanwhile he's dealing with his new-found fame. People somehow find his new home in Pierre Part, La., he said, and knock on his door from daylight to dark. He was recently chosen Louisiana's Man of the Year and he says he can't possibly make all the personal appearances he is being asked to attend.
"It's pretty overwhelming," he said. "That's why I love getting off with my son and going hunting with all these kids. I enjoy dat."
