Another of the westerns from the class of 1959, which also
included Bonanza, Rawhide, and The Deputy, Laramie
centered around the relationship between two men who were not related, Slim
Sherman, played by John Smith, and Jess Harper, played by Robert Fuller.
Initially the cast also included Hoagy Carmichael as Jonesy, cook and caretaker
at Sherman's 1870 Wyoming ranch and stagecoach relay station, and Sherman's
14-year-old brother Andy, played by Robert Crawford, Jr., who along with Slim
had inherited the ranch after their father was murdered by someone trying to
grab his land. Smith commented in an April 23 TV Guide cover story that it was this ensemble that helped the show
appeal to viewers of all ages: "Laramie
is different from any other western that's ever been on the air. It appeals
on all levels. Now you take Hoagy. He gets 'em at all ages. Bob [Robert Fuller]
and I are--well, I guess you might say for the younger set. And Bobby gets the
kids and mothers." Though popular, the show failed to crack the top 30 in
viewership for its initial season (however, Fuller more recently remarked that
the show was immensely popular in Germany and Japan) and Carmichael's contract
was not renewed for the second season. Crawford's character was also eased out
of the series--sent off to school in St. Louis with Jonesy accompanying him,
though Andy does appear in a few episodes in Season 2, the last being
"Duel at Parkison Town" on December 13, 1960. That left just Slim and
Jess as the primary characters for the bulk of Season 2, though temporary ranch
hand Ben appears for a couple of episodes beginning with ".45
Calibre" (November 15, 1960). In Season 3 the characters of housekeeper
Daisy Cooper and youngster Mike Williams were introduced to once again make the
ensemble a quartet.
But even with these later additions, the show's foundation
was the relationship between young upstanding Sherman and his right-hand man
Harper. Harper's character has a shady past, however, that is highlighted in
many of the series' 1959 episodes. He is a drifter just passing through when he
first happens upon the Sherman ranch and is only persuaded to accept Sherman's
offer of a permanent job when he strikes up a friendship with the younger Andy
Sherman. Slim and Jess have their differences and even a few fights early on
but over time develop a tight-knit bond running the ranch and relay station and
supporting law and order in the town of Laramie. Ironically, Smith was
initially cast to play the role of Jess Harper, and Fuller was sought out for
the role of Sherman, but after Fuller read a sample script, he insisted that he
could play Harper or no one, and the producers finally agreed and got Smith to
accept the less complex role of Sherman. Fuller was drawn to the role of Harper
because of his checkered past, but his portrayal of the part often comes across
as an ornery, hot-headed complainer. His temper can easily get him into trouble
and requires Slim to cool him down or poke fun at him to make him see how
ridiculous he looks.
With Jonesy out of the way and no one else to tend house,
Slim and Jess begin taking on more domestic duties. In "Drifter's
Gold" (November 29, 1960), Jess parades around in an apron and chides Slim
for taking so long to procure supplies from the general store in town, not
knowing that Slim barely escaped death at the hands of bank robber Tom Bedloe.
Jess complains that the bread he was baking has been ruined because Slim failed
to return with the yeast in time. Jess comes in for more humiliation while
wearing an apron in "Queen of Diamonds" (September 20, 1960) when
members of the Reeves gang taunt him and call him a woman after finding him
washing dishes when they show up at the Sherman Ranch looking for ex-lawman Jim
Dark and his wife June Brown. Slim also takes on domestic duties, identifying
himself as the cook for the relay station when Kem Backer's henchmen show up
and pretend to be interested in a meal in "No Second Chance"
(December 6, 1960).
Many of the other early Season 2 episodes have Slim or Jess
away from the ranch and running into trouble while the other stays home and
appears only at the beginning and end of the episode. In both "The Track
of the Jackal" (September 27, 1960) and ".45 Calibre," the
episode begins with Slim dressed up to head out of town via stagecoach on
business, leaving Jess to fend for himself against a money-hungry bounty hunter
looking to bring in one of Laramie's best-loved citizens and against the
notorious Torrey gang. But Slim runs into his own share of trouble when he
leaves the ranch, as in the aforementioned "Drifter's Gold" and in
"Three Rode West" (October 4, 1960), when he rides shotgun on a
stagecoach to deliver $10,000 to a stage company representative in another town
only to be accused of conspiring to help the stagecoach driver steal the money
and kill the company representative. However, there are also plenty of episodes
in which the two stick together to protect the ranch, as in the
Christmas-themed "A Sound of Bells" (December 27, 1960), and in
"License to Kill" (November 22, 1960), where Slim insists on
accompanying greedy Colorado sheriff Sam Jarrad when he takes Jess back to his
town to stand trial for murder.
One interesting, though certainly not unique, trend in the
series is the number of characters who are basically villains, or begin that
way, but in the end display some redeeming qualities. In "Saddle and
Spur" (March 29, 1960) Agate mayor Ed Durban starts out the episode in
cahoots with corrupt townspeople who are trying to run female rancher Terry
Blake off her property, but after Durban hires Slim to back his interests and
Slim learns that Blake is the injured party, he gets Durban to change
allegiances and fight with him against the villainous townspeople. In
"Ride the Wild Wind" (October 11, 1960) bank robber Boone Caudle
takes Andy in as a kind of hostage after he runs away from home but defends him
against soulless gang member Pike, who attempts to kill him, and shows a softer
side in courting widow Hannah Moore, hoping to settle down with her after one
more heist. Caudle ends up saving Andy by shooting Pike, who tries to shoot
Andy during the botched robbery. Andy
befriends another outlaw, Luke Gregg, in "The Long Riders" (October 25,
1960), taken in by his charm, though Jess maintains his suspicions. Gregg is an
undercover hired gun sent to find Slim so that convicted killer Ed McKeever can
pay Slim back for sending him to prison. When McKeever also plans to kill Andy
and Jess, Gregg intervenes and saves them, though he is fatally wounded in the
process. And in "A Sound of Bells" gun-runner Slate not only develops
a fondness for traveling orphan Neil Hunter but gives his life to save all
those at the Sherman Ranch under attack by Sioux Indians, to whom Slate had
previously sold guns. Like many other western series, there are also a raft of
falsely accused or imprisoned innocents in various episodes, suggesting that
people are rarely what they seem, and it is unwise to pass hasty judgment
before getting to know a person's true character.
The instrumental theme music, which changed dramatically
from Season 1 to Season 2, was composed by British film veteran Cyril
Mockridge. Mockridge worked on dozens of movies, most of them uncredited, from
the mid-30s until the mid-40s, when he began receiving lead musical credit for
films such as Miracle on 34th Street,
Nightmare Alley, and I Was a Male War Bride. In the 1950s, he
worked on How to Marry a Millionaire,
Woman's World, Bus Stop, Desk Set, and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? before
making the transition to television. Laramie
was his first regular assignment in TV, and though many of the later Season 1
scores were farmed out to composers such as Albert Sendrey, Leigh Harline, and
Harry Sukman, Mockridge contributed a larger share of the scores in the early
episodes of Season 2. With a noted songwriter like Carmichael on board, one may
be surprised at how little he contributed to the show musically, though he does
get a chance to rattle off his song "Marry Me in Laramie" in the
episode "The Legend of Lily" (January 26, 1960).
All four seasons have been released on DVD by Timeless MediaGroup.
The Actors
John Smith
The actor with the most common name in the English language
was actually born Robert Van Orden in Los Angeles, California. As a boy, Smith
sang in the choir of his local Catholic church and was recruited by Bob
Mitchell to be in his boys choir, which resulted in screen time in the Bing
Crosby films Going My Way and The Bells of St. Mary's. After high
school he attended UCLA for a year, studying aeronautic engineering, but
dropped out and found work as a messenger boy at MGM Studios. There he was
spotted by a casting director and given the part of Jimmy Stewart's younger
brother in the 1952 film Carbine Williams.
But Smith then left MGM and went on to sell china and silverware until a chance
meeting with well-known agent Henry Willson while visiting old MGM friends led
to a contract. Willson had a history of renaming young actors, including Rock
Hudson, Tab Hunter, and Lana Turner, and was the one who suggested the name
John Smith, since there were already many others with the name Van in Hollywood
but no one with the most common name of all.
Smith's next big break came when acting in John Wayne's 1954
film The High and the Mighty. Wayne
took a liking to Smith and signed him to a personal services contract. That
same year he also began appearing in a recurring role on TV in That's My Boy. He had steady film work
throughout the 1950s, including in We're
No Angels with Humphrey Bogart, Hot
Rod Girl, and Island of Lost Women.
In 1958 he was cast as Deputy Lane Temple in the western series Cimarron City, along with George
Montgomery and a pre-Bonanza Dan
Blocker. He met actress Luana Patten when she was a guest on one episode and
the two were married in 1960 and divorced four years later. Cimarron City lasted only a single
season, but the popular Smith was immediately thereafter cast as Slim Sherman
for Laramie.
After the show ended its four-year run, Smith was cast in
another Wayne film Circus World,
which proved his career's undoing because director Henry Hathaway did not like
Smith and reportedly told him he would never work in Hollywood again. Though
Smith's career did not end abruptly at that point, his opportunities decidedly declined.
He appeared in only three more feature-length films in the 60s and had
occasional TV work, including three stints on Hondo and two each on The
Virginian, Emergency!, and Marcus Welby, M.D., the last being in
1975. He died at age 63 twenty years later on January 25 from cirrhosis of the
liver.
Robert Fuller
Born Buddy Lee in Troy, NY to a pair of dance instructors
(his father was also a Naval Academy officer), Fuller's family moved to Key
West, FL where his parents ran a dance school. He graduated from the Miami
Military Academy in 1952, then traveled with his family to Hollywood where he
found work as a stuntman and the head of the usherettes at Grauman's Chinese
Theatre. He also appeared in his first film that year, Above and Beyond, and had a number of other uncredited appearances
over the next few years, though his career was interrupted for three years when
he was drafted into the Army during the Korean War. His first credited role
came in 1957 in the teenage exploitation flick Teenage Thunder, thanks to an assist from actor friend Chuck
Courtney. That year he also appeared in the sci-fi B-movie The Brain From Planet Arous while also beginning a string of TV
guest appearances. In 1959 he was offered the role of Ray Milland's side-kick
in the detective series Markham but
turned it down because he wanted to play in a western. As mentioned above, he
was then offered the role of Slim Sherman on Laramie but held out until he was given the role he really
wanted--Jess Harper. His success as Harper made him a huge star in Japan, where
in 1961 he received the Best Actor Award, the first American to do so, and was
also given the Japanese Golden Order of Merit by the empress herself. In
Germany, he received five Otto awards (the Emmy equivalent) and recorded an
album of vocal numbers, many sung in German.
After Laramie was
canceled, Fuller was immediately cast as Cooper Smith on Wagon Train and stayed with the series until its cancelation in
1965. He had sporadic film and TV work over the next several years, including a
leading role in Return of the Seven,
a sequel of sorts to The Magnificent
Seven, and playing a returning Vietnam vet and biker in the 1971 film The Hard Ride, which caught the eye of
Jack Webb, then casting parts for his upcoming production Emergency! At first Fuller did not want to play a doctor, but Webb
insisted that the days of the western were over and finally won over Fuller for
the role as head physician Dr. Kelly Brackett, reuniting him with long-time
friends Julie London and Bobby Troup who had guest starred on the first episode
of Season 2 on Laramie. After staying
with Emergency! for its entire six-year run, Fuller continued
making occasional appearances, mostly on TV shows like The Love Boat, The Fall Guy,
and Diagnosis Murder through the end
of the 1990s. His last recurring role was as the character of Jess Harper's
great-great-grandson Wade Harper on Walker,
Texas Ranger, after which he retired from acting and took up ranching in
Texas with his second wife, former St.
Elsewhere actress Jennifer Savidge. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of
Fame at 6608 Hollywood Blvd.
Hoagy Carmichael
Born in Bloomington, Indiana, Howard Hoagland Carmichael
received his unusual middle name from a traveling circus group that stayed at
the Carmichael house during his mother's pregnancy. Carmichael learned piano
from his mother, who provided accompaniment at silent movies, but also studied
law and received his law degree from Indiana University in 1926. While
traveling around the state with the Collegians, playing piano to earn money for
his studies, he met and befriended legendary jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke,
who was the first to record a Carmichael composition with "Riverboat
Shuffle." After a failed attempt to join a law firm in Miami, Carmichael
returned to Indiana in 1927 and passed the bar there, the same year he finished
and first recorded an instrumental version of his most famous composition,
"Stardust" (lyrics would be added by Mitchell Parish two years
later). His first big hit was "Rockin' Chair" recorded by Louis
Armstrong and Mildred Bailey in 1930, followed by "Up a Lazy River"
that same year. In 1932 he became a Brill Building songwriter, writing
"Lazybones" with Johnny Mercer the next year, and in 1935 he moved
over to writing for a division of Warner Brothers, which helped him make the
connection to Hollywood. He made his first film appearance as an uncredited
piano player in Cary Grant's Topper
in 1937 and had a total of 14 movie appearances, most notable in To Have and Have Not with Humphrey
Bogart and Lauren Bacall, The Best Years
of Our Lives, and the Beiderbecke biopic Young Man With a Horn with Kirk Douglas in the title role. He also
won an Oscar in 1952 with Mercer for Best Song "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of
the Evening." That same year he had his first television role on The Gulf Playhouse and had a couple more
roles in drama anthology series before being cast as Jonesy on Laramie.
For undetermined reasons, Carmichael's contract was not
renewed by NBC for Season 2, and other than occasional appearances on Burke's Law, The Farmer's Daughter, and The
Name of the Game, Carmichael's career sputtered out. His last role was in
an episode of Owen Marshall: Counselor at
Law in 1972. Likewise his musical career dwindled in the age of rock n roll
and other than occasional tribute shows and appearances, he pretty much
vanished from the music scene after sharing in Ray Charles' Grammy for
"Georgia on My Mind" in 1960. He was elected to the Songwriters' Hall
of Fame in 1971. Ten years later he died from heart failure at the age of 82 on
December 27, 1981 in Rancho Mirage, California.
Robert Crawford, Jr.
Robert Lawrence Crawford, Jr., born in Quantico, Virginia,
came from a family steeped in television. His father, Robert Crawford, Sr., was
an Emmy-nominated film editor and played the role of Det. Phil Burns on the
1960-61 TV series Manhunt. His
younger brother, Johnny Crawford, played Chuck Connors' son Mark McCain on The Rifleman. Both boys were
"discovered" and signed as clients by their Sunday school teacher,
Jeanne Haliburton. Robert Crawford, Jr. began appearing on TV series at age 13
in 1957 in shows such as The Court of
Last Resort and Whirlybirds. He
also made three appearances each on Zorro
and The Rifleman before being cast as
Andy Sherman on Laramie. He was
nominated for an Emmy for his performance on the "Child of Our Time"
episode of Playhouse 90 but lost out
to Fred Astaire.
After his character was written out of Laramie, Crawford had sporadic guest appearances on shows like Combat!, Gunsmoke, and My Three Sons
before turning, like his father, to the production side of the business. He was
associate producer for the films The Sting,
The Great Waldo Pepper, and Slap Shot and produced The World According to Garp, Funny Farm, and The Little Drummer Girl. He also worked as a dialogue coach on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and
as a production assistant on Slaughterhouse-Five.
Besides his acting career, Crawford was an avid fencer and competed as a member
of the UCLA team when he attended college there. Like brother Johnny, he was also
a recording artist, cutting two singles for Del-Fi Records ("Mrs. Smith
Please Wake Up Joan"/"Little Ole' Lovemaker Me" and "I Want
to Be a Good Guy") as well as a duet single with Johnny called "Good
Buddies." A fan site with many photos can be found at robertcrawfordjr.com.
Notable Guest Stars
Season 1, Episode 17, "Trail
Drive": Jim Davis (Matt Clark on Stories
of the Century, Wes Cameron on Rescue
8, Marshal Bill Winter on The Cowboys,
and Jock Ewing on Dallas) plays trail
boss Hake Ballard. Willis Bouchey (shown on the right, played Mayor Terwilliger on The Great Gildersleeve, Springer on Pete and Gladys, and the judge 23 times on Perry Mason) plays stagecoach company man Frazer. Russ Conway (Fenton
Hardy on The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of
the Applegate Treasure, Gen. Devon on MenInto Space, and Lt. Pete Kile on Richard
Diamond, Private Detective) plays posse leader Jake Tyler. Don C. Harvey (Collins
on Rawhide) plays drover Martin.
Season 1, Episode 18, "Day of Vengeance": John
Larch (starred in The Wrecking Crew, Play Misty for Me, and Dirty Harry and played Deputy District
Attorney Jerry Miller on Arrest and Trial,
Gerald Wilson on Dynasty, and Arlen
& Atticus Ward on Dallas) plays murder
suspect Gabe Reynolds. Vinton Hayworth (Magistrado Carlos Galindo on Zorro, Oren Slauson on Lawman, Mr. Sutherland on Hazel, Dr. Faber on Green Acres, and Gen. Winfield Schaeffer on I Dream of Jeannie) plays Judge Joshua Meeker. Adele Mara (starred
in Alias Boston Blackie, Sands of Iwo Jima, and The Avengers (1950)) plays stage traveler
Alice Goren.
Season 1, Episode 19, "The Legend of Lily": Constance
Moore (Chris Logan on Window on Main Street)
plays declining songstress Lily Langford. Kent Taylor (Carlos Murietta on Zorro and Capt. Jim Flagg on The Rough Riders) plays her husband and
manager Ben Carson. Patsy Kelly (Brigid Murphy on The Cop and the Kid) plays her assistant Bea. George Tobias (shown on the left, starred
in Sergeant York, This Is the Army, and Yankee Doodle Dandy and played Pierre
Falcon on Hudson's Bay, Trader
Penrose on Adventures in Paradise,
and Abner Kravitz on Bewitched) plays
renegade Shanghai Pierce. Harry Lauter (Ranger Clay Morgan on Tales of the Texas Rangers, Atlasande on
Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, and Jim
Herrick on Waterfront) plays his gang
member Alamo. Hal Smith (Charlie Henderson on I Married Joan, Hickey on Jefferson
Drum, Otis Campbell on The Andy Griffith Show, Engineer Taurus on Space
Angel, and did voicework on The Flintstones, Scooby Doo, Where Are
You?, The Fantastic Four, The Dukes, and The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh) plays Laramie barber Charlie.
Roy Barcroft (Col. Logan on The
Adventures of Spin and Marty and Roy on Gunsmoke)
plays the Platte County sheriff.
Season 1, Episode 20, " Death Wind": Claude Akins
(shown on the right, played Sonny Pruett on Movin' On and
Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo on B.J and the Bear
and on Lobo) plays escaped Army
prisoner Sgt. Maj. Tom Cole. Nancy Gates (starred in The Great Gildersleeve, The
Atomic City, The Member of the
Wedding, and Some Came Running)
plays his wife Angela. Stacy Harris (Det. Vic Beaujac on N.O.P.D., John P. Clum on The
Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, and Leslie Harrington on Return to Peyton Place) plays bank
official Bradley Teague. William Fawcett (Clayton on Duffy's Tavern, Marshal George Higgins on The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, and Pete Wilkey on Fury) plays stagecoach driver Ben. Jon
Locke (Officer Garvey on Highway Patrol
and Sleestack Leader on Land of the Lost)
plays an unnamed hired gun.
Season 1, Episode 21, " Company Man": John Dehner
(Duke Williams on The Roaring '20's,
Commodore Cecil Wyntoon on The Baileys of
Balboa, Morgan Starr on The Virginian,
Cyril Bennett on The Doris Day Show,
Dr. Charles Cleveland Claver on The New
Temperatures Rising Show, Barrett Fears on Big Hawaii, Marshal Edge Troy on Young Maverick, Lt. Joseph Broggi on Enos, Hadden Marshall on Bare
Essence, and Billy Joe Erskine on The
Colbys) plays stagecoach company supervisor Jack Slade. James Best (Sheriff
Roscoe P. Coltrane on The Dukes of
Hazzard) plays head horse thief Ben Leach. James Westmoreland (Ruel Jaxon
on The Monroes) plays his brother
Johnny. William Bryant (McCall on Combat!,
President Ulysses S. Grant on Branded,
Col. Crook on Hondo, Lt. Shilton on Switch, and the Director on The Fall Guy) plays horse thief Skinny. Bing
Russell (Deputy Clem Foster on Bonanza)
plays horse thief Tex. Eddy Waller (Deputy Marshal Rusty Lee on Steve Donovan, Western Marshal, Red Rock
Smith on Casey Jones, and Matt Krebbs
on Lassie) plays stagecoach driver
Mose. Olive Sturgess (Carol Henning on The
Bob Cummings Show) plays Johnny's girlfriend Caroline Clark. Ellen Corby (Henrietta
Porter on Trackdown and Esther Walton
on The Waltons) plays her mother.
Dabbs Greer (Mr. Jonas on Gunsmoke,
Coach Ossie Weiss on Hank, Norrie
Coolidge on The Ghost and Mrs. Muir,
Reverend Robert Alden on Little House on
the Prairie, Rev. Henry Novotny on Picket
Fences, and Grandpa Fred Stage on Maybe
It's Me) plays upcoming author Samuel Clemens.
Season 1, Episode 22, "Rope of Steel": Mari
Blanchard (shown on the left, starred in Abbott and Costello
Go to Mars, Destry, Son of Sinbad, and She Devil and played Kathy O'Hara on Klondike) plays blackjack dealer Sally. Tom Fadden (Duffield on Broken Arrow, Silas Perry on Cimarron City, and Ben Miller on Green Acres and Petticoat Junction) plays rancher Dell Layton. Bartlett Robinson (Frank
Caldwell on Mona McCluskey) plays the
sheriff.
Season 1, Episode 23, "Duel at Alta Mesa": Douglas
Dumbrille (starred in Crime and Punishment,
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, The Three Musketeers (1939), Du Barry Was a Lady, and Road to Utopia and played Inspector
Hobson on China Smith, Grant on The Grand Jury, and Mr. Osborne on The New Phil Silvers Show) plays stagecoach
owner T.J. Patterson. Fay Spain (starred in Dragstrip
Girl, Al Capone, and The Gentle Rain) plays his daughter
Gloria. Jon Lormer (Harry Tate on Lawman,
various autopsy surgeons and medical examiners in 12 episodes of Perry Mason, and Judge Irwin A. Chester
on Peyton Place) plays farmer Wally. George
Kennedy (shown on the right, starred in Charade, The Sons of Katie Elder, The Dirty Dozen, Cool Hand Luke, and The Naked
Gun and played MP Sgt. Kennedy on The
Phil Silvers Show, Father Samuel Cavanuagh on Sarge, Bumper Morgan on The
Blue Knight, and Carter McKay on Dallas)
plays henchman Gene. Ron Hayes (Wyatt Earp on Bat Masterson, Lincoln Vail on Everglades,
Ben Jones on The Rounders, and Hank
Johnson on Dallas) plays henchman Ray.
Season 1, Episode 24, "Street of Hate": Charles
Bronson (shown on the left, starred in The Magnificent Seven,
The Dirty Dozen, Once Upon a Time in the West, The
Valachi Papers, and four Death Wish
movies and played Mike Kovac on Man With a Camera, Paul Moreno on Empire,
and Linc Murdock on The Travels of Jamie
McPheeters) plays ex-convict Frank Buckley. Kathleen Crowley (Terry Van
Buren on Waterfront and Sophia Starr
on Batman) plays his girlfriend
Laurie Allen. Herbert Lytton (Admiral Reynolds on McHale's Navy) plays a prison warden. Barton MacLane (starred in The Prince and the Pauper, High Sierra, The Maltese Falcon, and Treasure
of the Sierra Madre and played Marshal Frank Crane on Outlaws and Gen. Peterson on I
Dream of Jeannie) plays ranch owner Cameron Gault. Dean Fredericks (Kaseem
in Jungle Jim, Komawi on The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, and Lt.
Col. Steve Canyon on Steve Canyon)
plays his foreman Chad Morgan. Richard Farnsworth (starred in The Grey Fox, The Natural, Misery, and The Straight Story) plays an unnamed
ranch hand.
Season 1, Episode 25, "Ride or Die": Simon Oakland
(starred in Psycho, West Side Story,
and Follow That Dream and played Tony
Vincenzo on Kolchak: The Night Stalker,
Brig. Gen. Thomas Moore on Black Sheep
Squadron, and Sgt. Abrams on David
Cassidy - Man Undercover) plays bank robber Vernon Kane. Dennis Moore (Deputy
Lee on Tombstone Territory) plays an
unnamed doctor.
Season 1, Episode 26, "Hour After Dawn": Ben
Johnson (starred in Shane, The Wild Bunch, Chisum, and The Getaway
and played Sleeve on The Monroes)
plays outlaw Billy Pardee. Russell Thorson (Det. Lt. Otto Lindstrom on The Detectives and William Kennerly on Peyton Place) plays an unnamed Laramie
citizen. Gloria Talbott (shown on the right, starred in The
Cyclops, Daughter of Dr. Jekyll, and I
Married a Monster From Outer Space and played Moneta on Zorro) plays restaurant owner Maud. S.
John Launer (Marshall Houts on The Court
of Last Resort and the judge 33 times on Perry Mason) plays circuit judge Oliver.
Season 1, Episode 28, "Saddle and Spur": Beverly
Garland (shown on the left, played Casey Jones on Decoy, Ellis
Collins on The Bing Crosby Show,
Barbara Harper Douglas on My Three Sons,
Dorothy "Dotty" West on Scarecrow
and Mrs. King, Ellen Lane on Lois
& Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and Ginger on 7th Heaven) plays ranch owner Terry
Blake. Edgar Buchanan (shown on the right, played Uncle Joe Carson on The
Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres,
and Petticoat Junction, Red Connors on
Hopalong Cassidy, Judge Roy Bean on Judge Roy Bean, and J.J. Jackson on Cade's County) plays her foreman Calico.
Sam Buffington (John Richards on Whispering
Smith) plays town council member Franklin. Walter Coy (Zoravac on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger and the
narrator on Frontier) plays rancher
Emmett Bishop.
Season 1, Episode 29, "Midnight Rebellion": Michael
Pate (starred in Face to Face, Julius Caesar, Hondo, and Tower of London
and played Chief Vittoro on Hondo and
Det. Sgt. Vic Maddern on Matlock Police)
plays renegade Canadian governor Loren Corteen. Bruce Gordon (shown on the left, played Commander Matson
on Behind Closed Doors, Frank Nitti
on The Untouchables, and Gus Chernak
on Peyton Place) plays former
Confederate Maj. Owen Cantrell. Ed Kemmer (Commander Buzz Corry on Space Patrol) plays Corteen associate
Capt. Vernon Jamieson. Norman Leavitt (Ralph on Trackdown) plays the Laramie newspaper publisher. Roy Barcroft (see
"The Legend of Lily" above) plays an unnamed marshal. Frank Ferguson
(Gus Broeberg on My Friend Flicka,
Eli Carson on Peyton Place, and Dr.
Barton Stuart on Petticoat Junction) plays
Canadian storekeeper Paul Durand.
Season 1, Episode 30, "Cemetery Road": R.G.
Armstrong (Police Capt. McAllister on T.H.E.
Cat and Lewis Vendredi on Friday the
13th) plays wagonmaster Matthews. Dennis Patrick (Paul Stoddard on Dark Shadows and Vaughn Leland on Dallas) plays his assistant Ross. Read
Morgan (Sgt. Hapgood Tasker on The Deputy)
plays irascible wagon traveler Glen Bentley. Rachel Ames (Audrey March/Hardy on
General Hospital) plays his wife
Helen. King Donovan (Roger on The George
Burns and Gracie Allen Show and Harvey Helm on The Bob Cummings Show) plays drunk doctor Matthew Hansen. Barney
Biro (played the judge 5 times on Perry Mason) plays an unnamed bartender. Kenneth MacDonald (played the judge 32
times on Perry Mason, played Col. Parker on Colt .45, and appeared in several Three
Stooges shorts) plays the sheriff.
Season 1, Episode 31, "Men of Defiance": Don
Megowan (shown on the right, played Captain Huckabee on The
Beachcomber) plays Defiance, NM fort leader Clint Gentry. Bing Russell (see
"Company Man" above) plays fort scout Reb. Edgar Buchanan (see
"Saddle and Spur" above) plays fort doctor Doc. Norman Leavitt (see
"Midnight Rebellion" above) plays fort cook Smoky. Mort Mills (Marshal
Frank Tallman on Man Without a Gun,
Sgt. Ben Landro on Perry Mason, and
Sheriff Fred Madden on The Big Valley)
plays an unnamed U.S. marshal. John Anderson (Virgil Earp on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Dr.
Herbert Styles on Dallas, and Harry
Jackson on MacGyver) plays escaped
convict Frank Bannister. Ed Nelson (Michael Rossi on Peyton Place and Ward Fuller on The
Silent Force) plays one of Bannister's gang. Rayford Barnes (Ike Clanton on
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp)
plays another gang member. Denny Miller (Duke Shannon on Wagon Train, Mike McCluskey on Mona
McCluskey, and Max Flowers on Dallas)
plays ex-convict Toby.
Season 2, Episode 1, "Queen of Diamonds": Julie
London (shown on the left, popular singer, starred in Nabonga,
The Fat Man, and The George Raft Story, played nurse Dixie McCall on Emergency!) plays card dealer June Brown.
Claude Akins (see "Death Wind" above) plays her husband Jim Dark. Maurice
Manson (Mr. Timberlake on Dennis the
Menace and Josh Egan on Hazel)
plays saloon owner Stoner. James Chandler (Lt. Girard on Bourbon Street Beat) plays an unnamed card player. Eddy Waller (see
"Company Man" above) returns as stagecoach driver Mose. Tony Young (Cord
on Gunslinger) plays a member of the
Reeves gang.
Season 2, Episode 2, "Track of the Jackal": Stephen
McNally (starred in Johnny Belinda, Criss Cross, and Winchester '73 and played Paul Marino on Target: The Corrupters) plays bounty hunter Luke Riley. Robert J.
Wilke (Capt. Mendoza on Zorro) plays ex-convict
Sumner Campbell. Jeanne Bates (Nurse Wills on Ben Casey) plays his wife Sarah. Dabbs Greer (see "Company
Man" above) plays citizen Mr. Colby. Steven Terrell (Tom on Pride of the Family) plays young hothead
Jimmy Foster. Stacy Harris (see "Death Wind" above) plays citizen
Firth.
Season 2, Episode 3, "Three Rode West": Myron
Healey (Doc Holliday on The Life and
Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays stagecoach driver Frank Skinner. Vera Miles (shown on the right, starred
in Wichita, The Searchers, The Wrong Man,
and Psycho) plays his girlfriend Anne.
Jan Merlin (Roger Manning on Tom Corbett,
Space Cadet and Lt. Colin Kirby on The
Rough Riders) plays his brother Chris. Denver Pyle (Ben Thompson on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Grandpa
Tarleton on Tammy, Briscoe Darling on
The Andy Griffith Show, Buck Webb on The Doris Day Show, Mad Jack on The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, and
Uncle Jesse on The Dukes of Hazzard)
plays a sheriff. Ross Elliott (Freddie the director on The Jack Benny Show and Sheriff Abbott on The Virginian) plays stagecoach company agent Jack Adams.
Season 2, Episode 4, "Ride the Wild Wind": Ernest
Borgnine (shown on the left, starred in From Here to
Eternity, Bad Day at Black Rock, Marty, The Dirty Dozen, and The
Poseidon Adventure and played Lt. Commander Quinton McHale on McHale's Navy, Joe Cleaver on Future Cop, Dominic Santini on Airwolf, and Manny Cordoba on The Single Guy) plays bank robber Boone
Caudle. John Kellogg (Jack Chandler on Peyton
Place) plays his accomplice Pike. Vivi Janiss (Myrtle Davis on Father Knows Best) plays his love
interest Hannah Moore. Robert Stevenson (bartender Big Ed on Jefferson Drum and Marshal Hugh
Strickland on Stagecoach West) plays the
sheriff of Caspar, Wyoming.
Season 2, Episode 5, "Ride Into Darkness": Charles
Drake (starred in Winchester '73, Harvey, Bonzo Goes to College, and To
Hell and Back and played John Burden on Rendezvous)
plays Danvers Pass kingpin Matt Jessup. Leo Gordon (Big Mike McComb on Maverick) plays his henchman Rafe. Kevin
Hagen (John Colton on Yancy Derringer,
Inspector Dobbs Kobick on Land of the
Giants, and Dr. Hiram Baker on Little
House on the Prairie) plays henchman Pete. Phyllis Avery (Peggy McNulty on The Ray Milland Show: Meet Mr. McNulty)
plays his girlfriend Mae. Stafford Repp (shown on the right, played Chief O'Hara on Batman) plays the Danvers Pass bartender. Stuart Randall (Sheriff
Art Sampson on Cimarron City, Al
Livermore on Lassie, and later played
Sheriff Mort Corey on Laramie) plays Jessup
accuser Patterson.
Season 2, Episode 6, "The Long Riders": Dan Duryea
(shown on the left, starred in The Little Foxes, The Pride of the Yankees, Scarlet Street, and Winchester '73 and played China Smith in China Smith and The New
Adventures of China Smith and Eddie Jacks on Peyton Place) plays hired gun Luke Gregg. John Anderson (see
"Men of Defiance" above) plays outlaw Ed McKeever.
Season 2, Episode 7, "The Dark Trail": Harold J.
Stone (John Kennedy on The Grand Jury,
Hamilton Greeley on My World and Welcome
to It, and Sam Steinberg on Bridget
Loves Bernie) plays horse rancher Sam Bronson. Gigi Perreau (starred in Family Honeymoon, Never a Dull Moment, Bonzo
Goes to College, and Girls Town
and played Pat Strickland on The Betty
Hutton Show and Kathy Richards on Follow
the Sun) plays his daughter Celie. Robert Vaughn (shown on the right, starred in Teenage Cave Man, The Magnificent Seven, The
Towering Inferno, and Bullitt and
played Capt. Ray Rambridge on The
Lieutenant, Napoleon Solo on The Man
From U.N.C.L.E., Harry Rule on The
Protectors, Harlan Adams on Emerald
Point N.A.S., Gen. Hunt Stockwell on The
A-Team, and Albert Stroller on Hustle)
plays fired ranch hand Sandy Kayle. Vinton Hayworth (see "Day of
Vengeance" above) plays horse buyer Mr. Creighton. L.Q. Jones (Beldon on The Virginian, Sheriff Lew Wallace on The Yellow Rose, and Nathan Wayne on Renegade) plays horse thief Betts.
Season 2, Episode 8, ".45 Calibre": George Nader (shown on the left, starred
in Robot Monster and played Dr. Glenn
Barton on The Man and the Challenge
and Joe Shannon on Shannon) plays new
Laramie sheriff Wells Clark. Anna-Lisa (Nora Travers on Black Saddle) plays his wife Louisa. Lee Van Cleef (starred in For a Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly) plays
outlaw Wes Torrey. John Mitchum (starred in Dirty
Harry, Magnum Force, and The Enforcer and played Pickalong on Riverboat, Trooper Hoffenmueller on F Troop, and the bartender on The Virginian) plays an unnamed barfly.
William Fawcett (see "Death Wind" above) plays Sherman ranch hand
Ben. Katherine Warren (starred in The
Lady Pays Off, The Glenn Miller Story,
and The Caine Mutiny) plays Sherman
neighbor Mrs. Byrd. Roy Engel (Doc Martin on Bonanza, the police chief on My
Favorite Martian, and President Ulysses S. Grant on The Wild, Wild West) plays the Laramie bartender. John Pickard (Capt.
Shank Adams on Boots and Saddles and
Sgt. Maj. Murdock on Gunslinger) plays
townsman Sloane.
Season 2, Episode 9, "License to Kill": R.G.
Armstrong (see "Cemetery Road" above) plays Willow, Colorado sheriff
Sam Jarrad. Roy Barcroft (see "The Legend of Lily" above) plays the
Laramie sheriff. William Fawcett (see "Death Wind" above) returns as
Sherman ranch hand Ben. Denny Miller (see "Men of Defiance" above) plays
Willow kingpin Wilkie.
Season 2, Episode 10, "Drifter's Gold": Rod
Cameron (shown on the right, played Det, Lt. Bart Grant on City
Detective, Lt. Rod Blake on State
Trooper, and Dan Adams on Coronado 9)
plays ex-convict Tom Bedloe. Gregory Walcott (starred in Badman's Country and Plan 9
From Outer Space and played Det. Roger Havilland on 87th Precinct) plays his henchman Duke. Don Kennedy (the voice of
Tansut on Space Ghost Coast to Coast)
plays henchman Nick. Judi Meredith (Bonnie Sue McAfee on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show and The George Burns Show and Monique Devereaux on Hotel de Paree) plays storekeeper Marcie Benson.
Season 2, Episode 11, "No Second Chance": Jeff
Richards (starred in Crest of the Wave,
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and It's a Dog's Life and played Jefferson
Drum on Jefferson Drum) plays stagecoach
owner Kem Backer. Fay Spain (see "Duel at Alta Mesa" above) plays vengeful
daughter Fran Ericson. Dub Taylor (shown on the left, starred in You Can't Take It With You, Bonnie
& Clyde, and The Wild Bunch,
played the character Cannonball in 53 western films, and played Wallie Simms on
Casey Jones, Mitch Brady on Hazel, and Ed Hewley on Please Don't Eat the Daisies) plays log
hauler Smudge. William Bryant (see "Company Man" above) plays hired
gun Tracy. Richard Coogan (Marshal Matthew Wayne on The Californians) plays Laramie sheriff Lon Matthews. Frank Wilcox
(Mr. Brewster on The Beverly Hillbillies and
Petticoat Junction) plays the Laramie
doctor.
Season 2, Episode 12, "Duel
at Parkison Town": Henry Hull (starred in Little Women, Werewolf in
London, Great Expectations, High Sierra, and The Fountainhead) plays feuding patriarch Ben Parkison. Ron Harper
(Det. Bert Kling on 87th Precinct,
Jeff Conway on Wendy and Me, Paul
Marshall on The Jean Arthur Show, Lt.
Craig Garrison on Garrison's Gorillas,
Alan Virdon on Planet of the Apes,
and Uncle Jack on Land of the Lost)
plays his son Lee. Howard McNear (shown on the right, played Floyd Lawson on The Andy Griffith Show and Jansen the Plumber on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show)
plays newspaper editor Waldo. Bartlett Robinson (see "Rope of Steel"
above) plays the Laramie sheriff. Murray Matheson (Felix Mulholland on Banacek) plays British news reporter
Alexander. Kenneth MacDonald (see "Cemetery Road" above) plays
stagecoach driver Duggan. 
Season 2, Episode 13, "A
Sound of Bells": Ross Martin (shown on the left, Andamo on Mr. Lucky, Artemus Gordon on The
Wild Wild West, and Tony Alika on Hawaii
5-O) plays Mexican bandido Angel. Dick Foran (Fire Chief Ed Washburne on Lassie and Slim on O.K., Crackerby!) plays nearly ruined businessman Tom. Mara Corday
(starred in Tarantula, The Giant Claw, and Girls on the Loose) plays his wife Rose. Robert J. Wilke (see
"The Track of the Jackal" above) plays gun-runner Slate. Rachel Ames
(see "Cemetery Road" above) plays Army widow Miss Lewbelle. Ben
Johnson (see "Hour After Dawn" above) plays stagecoach driver Jim.