During World War I, he served as an artillery officer in the US Army in France.
Hosted local TV (Los Angeles) with "The Tim McCoy Show" (1952) for children on weekday afternoons and Saturdays in which he provided authentic history lessons on the Old West. He won a local Emmy but wasn't there to pick it up. He was competing against "Webster Webfoot" in the "Best Children's Show" category and refused to show up saying, "I'll be damned if I'm going to sit there and get beaten by a talking duck!"
In addition to making his home in Los Angeles, McCoy maintained a ranch in Wyoming for many years during his career.
In real life McCoy was a sharpshooter and famed for his fast draw. A film editor once timed it on 35mm film with 24 frames per second. It took exactly six frames from the blur of his hand to the smoke issuing from the end of his gun.
Inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1974.
Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1973.
Not only an expert on the Old West, but an authority on Indian folklore. One of the few white men still alive who could converse in Indian sign language.
Rode several horses with different names during his long career. In his earlier films he rode a snow-white horse named "Pal". In the "Rough Riders" series he mounted a black stallion called "Baron" and (later) "Ace".
The Arapahoe Indians adopted Tim as a brother and called him "High Eagle."