Have Gun -- Will
Travel, with Richard Boone in the title role as gunslinger for hire
Paladin, was one of the most popular westerns of the late 1950s and is
typically held in high regard as a thinking man's western, as is Boone's
portrayal of the lead character. The show shot up to #4 in the ratings in its
debut season of 1957-58 and peaked at #3 the next three years in a row. But the
show was not originally conceived as a western: co-creator Sam Rolfe brought
CBS the idea of a show based on a Manhattan private detective who consults
out-of-town newspapers for possible cases. CBS was not interested in a private
detective series at the time--they wanted a western. So Rolfe rewrote the
series to base it in 1870s San Francisco, with Paladin being a gun for hire who
consults out-of-town newspapers for possible jobs. Only by calendar year 1960,
the series had pretty much exhausted the newspaper gimmick, and Paladin gets
his assignments via letters or telegrams brought to him by Chinese servants Hey
Boy (Kam Tong) and Hey Girl (Lisa Lu) at the Hotel Carlton where he lives. Or
just as often someone shows up in the hotel lobby looking for Paladin,
interrupting a game of chess, sumptuous meal, or romantic tryst with their
urgent request for his services.
But Paladin is not your run-of-the-mill gunfighter. He is a
man of refinement, dressing foppishly in a ruffled shirt and smoking jacket
when lounging in his boudoir or in top hat and cape when escorting an
attractive lady out on the town. He appreciates fine wine, art, literature (he
is forever quoting Shakespeare), and is a master at chess, even befuddling
traveling chess expert Professor Zimmerman in "Sanctuary" (December
31, 1960). In short, he is a dandy, much like Gene Barry's portrayal of Bat
Masterson, who uses his gun only as a last resort, when other methods fail to
resolve a crisis. But whereas Barry's Masterson comes off as a quick-witted
lady's man in search of a good time and a fast buck, Boone's Paladin sees
himself as something of a philosopher soldiering on in the name of justice. He
turns down assassination assignments and will occasionally perform his duties
for free when the principal is a lofty one. But in his crusade, he comes off as
a bit of a snob, largely due to Boone's overacting, in which he feels compelled
to register a response to everything he hears with some sort of facial
expression--furrowed brows, sighs, rolling of the eyes, and so on, as if he is
forever thinking, "Lord, what fools these mortals be." Boone was a
devotee of the Method style of acting taught by Lee Strasberg and Sanford
Meisner and fancied himself an expert in the craft, even leading an acting
workshop for other actors while starring on Have
Gun -- Will Travel, and after his turn at Paladin, for one season he hosted
The Richard Boone Show, a drama
anthology series with a different production and cast of characters every week
but which used a limited stable of actors in each episode, like a theatrical
repertory company. Boone was crushed when the series was canceled after its
first year and moved with his wife to Hawaii to get away from Hollywood. But
his performances on Have Gun -- Will Travel, at least in 1960, show an actor
trying too hard to give serious weight to a character that probably would have
benefited more from a Steve McQueen minimalist treatment.
By 1960, Boone was already looking forward to moving beyond
the series, though it was at the peak of its popularity and making him a
wealthy man. In the February 6, 1960 cover story of TV Guide, Boone is already counting down the days remaining on his
contract, which still had another 18 months on it, so that he can move on to
"real" dramatic pursuits, like directing (he directed 9 episodes of Have Gun in 1960) and acting on the
stage. He says in the article that money is not his primary concern, but when his
5-year contract on Have Gun finally did
expire, he was coaxed into a sixth year because the money was just too good. In
hindsight, it was probably a good decision, as the short lifespan of The Richard Boone Show demonstrated that
Boone the director and repertory leader had aspirations above his abilities.
Likewise, his directorial efforts on Have
Gun were hardly the best episodes in the series. In "Fight at Adobe
Wells" (March 12, 1960), Paladin is hired by the wealthy Jonathan Guilder
to protect him from half-Indian renegade Quanah Parker, whom Guilder thinks is
trying to kill him, though Parker's motive isn't entirely clear--Guilder
forecloses on poor farmers' lands, while Parker leads Indian attacks on the
same farmers. In the end, Guilder dies by his own gun, followed by Parker
giving a muddled speech about the white men one day owning all the Indian lands
but the Indians remaining there in spirit. Then two prospective white settlers
who want to rescue the harsh, arid Indian lands from their savage owners thank
Paladin for helping them make the trip out west, to which he sarcastically
replies, "You're welcome." Though perhaps the episode can be credited
for a message ahead of its time--that Native Americans were more entitled to
their land than greedy, paranoid white settlers--the heavy-handed way the
message is delivered in a speech, along with Paladin's superior attitude toward
members from both sides, comes of more like a sermon that a piece of dramatic
art.
Boone's next directorial effort, "Ambush" (April
23, 1960), is likewise flawed. In this episode, Paladin is transporting a man
named Blandings accused of theft. At a ferry waystation, they are taken
prisoner by a man named Devereaux, who has also captured three other travelers.
Devereaux is awaiting the arrival of his master Gunder, an old blind man
traveling with his son in search of the killer of his prize worker Willie. For
some unexplained reason, he apparently believes that anyone trying to travel on
the ferry across the Strada River is a suspect. When Gunder asks his son Daniel
to point out Willie's killer, Blandings panics and runs for the door, only to
be shot dead by Devereaux. Gunder then accuses each of the other captives but
when Daniel hesitates to identify any of them as the killer, it is clear that
he is the one who killed Willie. After Paladin forces Daniel to confess,
another captive tries to go for Gunder's gun, Devereaux shoots him as well,
prompting Paladin to overturn a table and club Devereaux unconscious with a
table leg. Gunder and Daniel are
immediately reconciled, presumably because Daniel says that Willie was stealing
from them and coveted his mother, but travelers Carl the gambler and runaway
wife Sarah Tinsley decide not to continue their journey together because Sarah takes
it as a sign that they were not able to cross the Strada on their first try, as
if this were some kind of omen. This decision doesn't make much sense, nor does
the fact that Daniel never told his father about Willie's crimes but instead
just killed him and led his father on a mad pursuit of a nonexistent criminal
that resulted in the killing of innocent people. Of course, Boone didn't write
the teleplay for this episode, but he exercised a fair amount of control over
the series even when not directing, so it is possible that he could have had
these flaws corrected if he had viewed them as such.
"Black Sheep" (April 30, 1960), another episode
Boone directed, has more curious character motivations. Paladin is hired to
find Ben Huttner, illegitimate son and sole heir of a $5 million estate. Though
Huttner's Mexican girlfriend Chita does not want him to go back to Waco to
stand trial for killing a man who spoke ill of his mother, a condition he must
agree to in order to inherit the estate, Chita takes Paladin directly to where
Huttner is hiding. Huttner at first believes the 2-3 years' jail time is a fair
trade for $5 million, but after he is nearly hung when he turns himself in due
to the machinations of his corrupt step-father, he is against the idea. Then Chita
is accidentally shot dead by her brother, who is trying to kill Paladin, and
afterwards Huttner flip-flops again and is ready to accompany Paladin back to
Waco without any explanation of his sudden change of heart. Again, if Boone
were such a devotee of the Method style of acting, realistic character
motivation would seem to be an important goal of his productions. But this
episode and others he directed seem rather unrealistic.
However, a few episodes avoid Boone's over-acting and
unrealistic character behavior. Perhaps the best is "The Ledge"
(February 13, 1960), which begins when Paladin comes up on a camping group of
men pursuing a band of raiders and is asked to join them, when suddenly a man
signals to them from a rocky cliff across a ravine, then is swept away by an
avalanche. The rest of the episode deals with their attempts to determine
whether the man is dead or can be rescued by rappelling down the ravine to haul
him out. One of the men in the group is terrified of heights and does not want
to rappel down the ravine but is eventually able to calm his fear by wearing a
blindfold, while another member is quick to criticize others but is not willing
to be a part of the rappelling effort himself if it means going down into the
ravine. The episode also deals with the topic of mercy-killing, as one wealthy
member of the group, Stebbins, offers
Paladin $1000 to shoot the fallen man, reasoning that if he is dead, the shot
will do no harm, and if he is alive, he is probably so badly hurt that killing
him would be doing him a favor. Stebbins also reasons that Paladin should have
no qualms about shooting the man since he is a hired gun, but Paladin refuses
and also refuses to leave the man lying there without first proving whether he
is dead or alive. The episode demonstrates how easily men can take a callous
attitude when someone else's life is at stake but often sing a different tune
when it is theirs that is in jeopardy. Sadly, episodes with meaty topics like
this one are few and far between.
The opening musical theme and title sequence is one of the
least compelling in 1960s television. The halting, highly dramatic instrumental
theme was composed by long-time Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann (see
the post for The Twilight Zone) and
sounds more appropriate for the Manhattan private detective originally
conceived as the show's protagonist than for a western gunslinger. Coupled with
the music is a shot of Boone in profile silhouette, who then wheels and draws
his gun without revealing his face, still immersed in shadow. The camera then
zooms in on the pawn chess piece that constitutes his logo emblazoned on his
holster. The camera remains focused on the pointed gun and then the holster
logo for what seems an interminable amount of time while the instrumental piece
fizzles out, an odd waste of 45 seconds with very little to show for it. Some
episodes have a snippet of dialogue from the upcoming episode while the camera
stays focused on the Paladin logo. At the end of each episode is "The
Ballad of Paladin" written and sung by actor Johnny Western, who wrote the
song after hanging out on the set for the show and being intrigued by the
character of Paladin. The song wasn't included in the closing credits until
about half way through the first season. The version of the song included up
through Season 3 was plaintive, slowly rolling, and sparsely arranged. But for
Season 4, the producers obviously felt they needed to take things up a notch.
Western re-recorded the song with a faster, galloping beat and a fuller
arrangement. Other aspects of the show were likewise spruced up for Season 4,
with Jerry Goldsmith being brought in to score a couple of episodes and Fred
Steiner and Leith Stevens brought in for an episode each.
The first five seasons have been released on DVD by
CBS/Paramount, with the sixth and final season planned for a May 7, 2013
release.
The Actors
Richard Boone
Richard Boone was born in Los Angeles, the son of a wealthy
oil industry attorney and a direct descendent of Daniel Boone's brother, Squire
Boone. Boone showed an interest in acting, as well as athletics, in high
school, but even though he was accepted into Stanford University, he was thrown
out when he and some fraternity brothers played a prank by putting a dummy in
the road and then acting like one of their frat brothers had been killed when
the first car came by and ran over the dummy. Unfortunately, Mrs. Herbert
Hoover was in the car and was so distraught that she twisted her ankle, which
led to Boone's expulsion. While still in college he won the light heavyweight
intercollegiate boxing title. After being expelled from Stanford, Boone decided
to give up on college and went to work in the oil fields before deciding he
wanted to be a painter and joining a bohemian community, where he met his first
wife. He served as an aerial gunner in the Navy during World War II and was
even shot down over a remote Pacific Island, where he was forced to fight in
hand-to-hand combat and kill Japanese enemies. After the war he moved to New
York and studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse as well as the Actors Studio. He
had a few appearances on Broadway and lots of early television work before
finally landing a movie contract with Twentieth Century-Fox after appearing in Halls of Montezuma, a movie that also
included Jack Webb in its cast. From there, Webb occasionally asked Boone to
appear on his radio version of Dragnet
and after playing a doctor in one episode he was cast in the lead role for the
TV show Medic, which ran from
1954-56.
The role of Paladin on Have
Gun -- Will Travel was originally offered to veteran western actor Randolph
Scott, who was then working on a movie called The Tall T with Boone also in the cast. Scott discussed the
proposed role with Boone but decided not to accept it, yet recommended Boone
for it. At first the producers couldn't get past seeing Boone as a doctor due
to his recent performance on Medic,
but after he tested for the part and showed his horse-riding skills, he was
cast as the show's star.
As mentioned above, Boone played Paladin for six seasons,
finishing up in the spring of 1963. In the fall of that year, he got his wish
to lead a drama anthology series with an established repertory of actors he
liked, including a young Robert Blake, but the show was canceled after only one
season, and Boone became disgusted with Hollywood and moved to Hawaii. He did
occasional movie roles, such as in Hombre
and The Kremlin Letter before
returning to a regular TV role as craggy former gun-fighter and now sheriff Hec Ramsey from 1972-74. That would be
his last TV role. He had a few more movie roles in the late 1970s, including
John Wayne's The Shootist and the Robert Mitchum-led remake of The Big Sleep in 1978. He died of throat cancer at the age of 63 on
January 10, 1981.
Kam Tong
Tong was a Chinese-American actor from San Francisco about
whom not much is known, other than his role as Hey Boy on Have Gun and his many appearances, typically uncredited, playing
various minor oriental characters in many movies and television shows,
beginning with The General Died at Dawn
in 1936 up until an appearance on The Big
Valley in 1969, the year of his death at age 62. His biggest roles in the
movies were in the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical The Flower Drum Song and the Jack Palance-Fernando Lamas karate
exploitation flick Kill a Dragon. He
appeared in his role as Hey Boy in 109 episodes of Have Gun, though he did little other than deliver messages to or
act as a comic foil for Paladin.
Lisa Lu
Lu, born in Beijing, China in 1927, played the female
counterpart to Kam Tong as Hey Girl in 21 episodes of Have Gun. Though her career also began with a series of forgettable,
small stereotypical Asian roles, mostly on television beginning in 1958, she
also appeared in four episodes as Miss Mandarin on the western series Yancy Derringer in 1958-59. Her career
since Have Gun has included one-off
appearances on TV shows like Hawaiian Eye,
The Big Valley, and Mission: Impossible! as well as movies
both in the States and in China, including Terror
in the Wax Museum, The Last Emperor,
The Joy Luck Club, and I Love Trouble. She most recently
appeared in a Chinese version of Dangerous
Liaisons in 2012.
Notable Guest Stars
Season 3, Episode 16, "The Prophet": Barney
Phillips (Sgt. Ed Jacobs on the original Dragnet,
Lt. Sam Geller on Johnny Midnight,
Lt. Avery on The Brothers Brannagan,
Doc Kaiser on 12 O'Clock High, Mike
Golden on Dan August, and Fletcher
Huff on The Betty White Show) plays government
agent Major Leonard Ferber. Lorna Thayer (starred in The Beast With a Million Eyes and played the waitress in Five Easy Pieces) plays Serafina, Apache
wife of an Army deserter.
Season 3, Episode 17, "The Day of the Badman": Eleanor
Audley (Mother Eunice Douglas on Green
Acres and Mrs. Vincent on My ThreeSons) plays Cynthia Palmer, mother of a tenderfoot school teacher. Ollie
O'Toole (Harvey the telegrapher on Gunsmoke)
plays an unnamed hotel clerk. Sue Randall (shown on the left, played Miss Landers on Leave It to Beaver) plays school teacher Miss Ruth.
Season 3, Episode 18, "The Pledge": Robert Gist (appeared
in The Stratton Story, Angel Face, Strangers on a Train, and Operation
Petticoat and directed episodes of Peter
Gunn, Naked City, and The Richard
Boone Show) plays gun-runner Ike Brennan. Cyril Delevanti (Lucious Coin on Jefferson Drum) plays a messenger from
the Speedy Messenger Service. Charles H. Gray (Officer Edwards on Highway Patrol, Pico McGuire on Gunslinger, and Clay Forrester on Rawhide) plays a cavalry lieutenant.
Season 3, Episode 19, "Jenny": Peter Leeds (shown on the right, played Tenner
Smith on Trackdown) plays Wilson, a
government agent pursuing Jenny. Phil Chambers (Sgt. Myles Magruder on The Gray Ghost and Jed Ransom on Lassie) plays another government agent
named Matlock. Olan Soule (Aristotle "Tut" Jones on Captain Midnight, Ray Pinker on Dragnet (1952-59), and Fred Springer on Arnie) plays a hotel clerk. Bud Osborne
(played stagecoach drivers in dozens of westerns and in episodes of The Cisco Kid, Annie Oakley, The Range Rider,
Hopalong Cassidy, The Lone Ranger, The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, Rescue
8, Zorro, Bronco, Law of the Plainsman,
Johnny Ringo, Cheyenne, The Texan, Maverick, and Rawhide) plays a stagecoach driver. Trevor Bardette (starred in The Secret Code, Red River Valley, and Three
Faces West and played Old Man Clanton on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays counterfeiter Carruthers.
Quintin Sondergaard (Deputy Quint on Tombstone
Territory) plays gunman Billy Wheeler.
Season 3, Episode 20, "Return
to Fort Benjamin": Robert J. Wilke (Capt. Mendoza on Zorro) plays Fort Benjamin commander Major Blake. Charles Aidman (narrator
on the 1985-87 version of The Twilight
Zone) plays seemingly sympathetic Lt. Graham.
Season 3, Episode 21, "The Night the Town Died": Vic
Perrin (shown on the left, narrator on Sergeant Preston of
the Yukon, was the control voice
on The Outer Limits, and did
voicework on Jonny Quest, Star Trek, Scooby Doo, Where Are You?,
and Mission:Impossible!) plays Lime
Creek store owner Mr. Frazier. Sally Singer (starred in Fanny Hill Meets Lady Chatterly) plays his daughter Penelope.
Barney Phillips (see "The Prophet" above) plays Lime Creek resident
Mr. Warren. Barry Cahill (Buck Vernon on The
Waltons) plays returning convict Aaron Bell. Robert Stevenson (bartender
Big Ed on Richard Drum and Marshall
Hugh Strickland on Stagecoach West)
plays Lime Creek Sheriff Howard. Mary Gregory (starred in Sleeper and Coming Home
and played Dr. Stanwich on Knots Landing
and Judge Pendelton on L.A. Law)
plays his wife Frieda. Arthur Space (appeared in Black Beauty, The Cockeyed
Miracle, and Target Earth and
played Herbert Brown on National Velvet
and Dr. Frank Weaver on Lassie) plays
town blow-hard Sayer.
Season 3, Episode 22, "The Ledge": John Hoyt (starred
in My Favorite Brunette, The Lady Gambles, and Blackboard Jungle and who played Grandpa
Stanley Kanisky on Gimme a Break!) plays
medical man Doc Stark. Richard Rust (Hank Tabor on Sam Benedict) plays Corey, a young man afraid of heights.
Season 3, Episode 23, "The Lady on the Wall": Howard
Petrie (Hugh Blaine on Bat Masterson)
plays Bonanza bartender Jack Foster. Hank Patterson (shown on the right, played Fred Ziffel on Green Acres and Petticoat Junction and Hank on Gunsmoke)
plays bar customer Rafe Adams. Ralph Moody (Doc Burrage on The Rifleman) plays bar customer Elmer Jansen.
Season 3, Episode 24, "The Misguided Father": Harry
Carey, Jr. (shown on the left, starred in Red River, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Mister Roberts, and The Searchers and played Bill Burnett on The Adventures of Spin and Marty) plays out-of-town Sheriff Stander.
Douglas Kennedy (starred in Adventures of
Don Juan, I Was an American Spy,
and Jack McCall, Desperado and played
Marshal Steve Donovan on Steve Donovan,
Western Marshal and Sheriff Fred
Madden on The Big Valley) plays timber
mogul Wynn Loring. Hampton Fancher (Deputy Lon Gillis on Black Saddle and co-wrote the screenplay and was executive producer
on Blade Runner) plays his son Keith.
Season 3, Episode 25, "The Hatchet Man": Nolan
Leary (Judge Baxter on Lassie) plays police
Det. Insp. Clarence Magruder. Benson Fong (Ray Wong on My Three Sons) plays police collaborator Joe Tsin. Philip Ahn
(Master Kan on Kung Fu) plays his
father Hoo Yee. Lisa Lu (see biography above) plays his fiancee Li Hwa. Beal
Wong (Grandpa Ling on Bachelor Father)
plays a Chinese henchman out to kill Joe.
Season 3, Episode 26, "Fight at Adobe Wells": Ken
Lynch (shown on the right, appeared in I Married a Monster
From Outer Space, Anatomy of a Murder,
and Dead Ringer and played Lt. Thomas
Brand on Checkmate, Det. Lt. Tom
Handley on Arrest and Trial, Lt.
Barney Keller on Honey West, and
Police Sgt. Grover on McCloud) plays wealthy
Commodore Jonathan Guilder. Sandy Kenyon (Des Smith on Crunch and Des, Shep Baggott on The
Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, and Reverend Kathrun on Knots Landing) plays Indian hunter Rio Jones.
Season 3, Episode 27, "The Gladiators": Dolores
Donlon (Playboy Playmate of the month August 1957) plays southern belle Allison
Windrom. Paul Cavanagh (starred in Tarzan
and His Mate, Goin' to Town, The Scarlet Claw, and Humoresque and played Commissioner
Morrison on Jungle Jim) plays her
father. George N. Neise (Capitan Felipe Arrellanos on Zorro, Dr. Nat Wyndham on Wichita
Town, and Colonel Thornton on McKeever
& the Colonel) plays her former boyfriend Graham Beckley. James Coburn
(shown on the left, starred in The Magnificent Seven, Charade, Our Man Flint, and In Like
Flint and who played Jeff Durain on Klondike and Gregg Miles on Acapulco) plays hired gunslinger Bill
Sledge.
Season 3, Episode 28, "Love of a Bad Woman": Lawrence
Dobkin (Dutch Schultz on The Untouchables,
the narrator on Naked City, Judge
Saul Edelstein on L.A. Law, and Judge
Stanely Pittman on Melrose Place)
plays jilted husband Haskell Sommers. Geraldine Brooks (Angela Dumpling on The Dumplings) plays his wife Tamsen. Edwin
Mills (the voice of Dr. Cornelius on the animated TV series Return to the Planet of the Apes) plays one
of her suitors. Harry Landers (Dr. Ted Hoffman on Ben Casey) plays another suitor. Lillian Adams (Mrs. Pepperman on The Suite Life on Deck) plays the
Sommers' maid.
Season 3, Episode 29, "An International Affair": Henry
Corden (shown on the right, played Carlo on The Count of Monte
Cristo, Waxey Gordon on The Lawless
Years, and Babbitt on The Monkees
and did voicework on The Flintstones,
Jonny Quest, The Atom Ant Show, The Banana
Splits Adventure Hour and Return to
the Planet of the Apes) plays Russian prince Alexei Romanov. Ziva Rodann (Queen
Nefertiti on Batman) plays Hawaiian
princess Mapuana. Oscar Beregi, Jr. (Joe Kulak on The Untouchables) plays ring-seeking Professor Jorgen Von Hengst.
Season 3, Episode 30, "Lady With a Gun": Jack
Weston (shown on the left, played Wilbur "Wormsey" Wormser on Red Brown of the Rocket Rangers, Chick Adams on My Sister Eileen, Walter Hathaway on The Hathaways, and Danny Zimmer on The Four Seasons) plays pursued husband
Rudy Rossback. Ron Soble (Jim Fisk on Days
of Our Lives and Dirty Jim on The
Monroes) plays a sadistic hired gunman.
Season 3, Episode 31, "Never Help the Devil": Jack
Lambert (starred in The Harvey Girls,
The Killers, and Kiss Me Deadly and who played Joshua Walcek on Riverboat) plays victorious duelist Doggie Kramer. Kelton Garwood (Beauregard
O'Hanlon on Bourbon Street Beat and
Percy Crump on Gunsmoke) plays a
meddling townsman.
Season 3, Episode 32, "Ambush": Ed Nelson (Michael
Rossi on Peyton Place and Ward Fuller
on The Silent Force) plays runaway
gambler Carl. Hal Needham (Hollywood's highest-paid stuntman who invented
numerous stunt devices, was a double for Richard Boone and Burt Reynolds, and
directed Smokey and the Bandit, Hooper, and Cannonball Run) plays army trooper Morgan. George Macready (Martin
Peyton on Peyton Place) plays vengeful
blind rancher Gunder. Dan Barton (Det. Sgt. Burke on Dan Raven) plays his son Daniel. Alan Dexter (Frank Ferguson on Days of Our Lives) plays Gunder's
henchman Devereaux.
Season 3, Episode 33, "Black Sheep": Patrick Wayne
(shown on the right, son of John Wayne, starred in Mister
Roberts, The Searchers, The Alamo, and McLintock! and played Howdy Lewis on Rounders and Lew Armitage on Shirley)
plays illegitimate heir and fugitive Ben Huttner. Suzanne Lloyd (Raquel
Toledano on Zorro) plays his girlfriend
Chita Martinez. June Vincent (starred in Here
Come the Co-Eds, The Creeper, and
The WAC From Walla Walla) plays his
step-mother Mrs. Duvoisin. 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 his step-father Major McNab.
Season 3, Episode 34, "Full Circle": Raymond
Hatton (starred in Oliver Twist (1916),
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Lord Jim, played Marshal Sandy Hopkins
in 28 westerns and Rusty Joslin in 7 other westerns, and played The Mole on Dick Tracy) plays scheming old farmer
Eph Trager. Hal Needham (see "Ambush" above) plays his son Emmet. Adam
Williams (starred in Without Warning!,
North by Northwest, and The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit) plays
wrongly accused Simon Quill.
Season 3, Episode 35, "The Twins": Brian G. Hutton
(directed Kelly's Heroes, Where Eagles Dare, and Sol Madrid) plays good twin Adam
Marakian. Lane Chandler (Tom Pike on Lawman)
plays the sheriff in Marakian's hometown.
Season 3, Episode 36, "The Campaign of Billy Banjo":
James Aubuchon (starred in The Silver
Chalice, The Big Boodle, and The Love God? and played Urulu on McHale's Navy) plays Paladin's old
friend Billy "Banjo" Jones. Rita Lynn (Ella Russo on The Detectives and Miss Kelly on Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) plays his
wife Elise. Charles Davis (Tennyson on The
Wild, Wild West) plays Jones' political rival Jansen. Hal Needham (see
"Ambush" above) plays a wild cow hand.
Season 3, Episode 37, "Ransom": Denver Pyle (shown on the left, played Ben
Thompson on The Life and Legend of Wyatt
Earp, Gradnpa Tarleton on Tammy,
Briscoe Darlingon 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 former Mexican ruler Celine. Robert H. Harris (Jake
Goldberg on Molly and Raymond
Schindler on The Court of Last Resort)
plays Schermer, a man seeking Celine's treasure. Tom Palmer (Doc Stewart on Lawman) plays his partner Sutton.
Season 3, Episode 38, "The Trial": Robert F. Simon
(Dave Tabak on Saints and Sinners,
Gen. Alfred Terry on Custer, Frank
Stephens on Bewitched, Uncle Everett
McPherson on Nancy, Capt. Rudy Olsen
on The Streets of San Francisco, and
J. Jonah Jameson on The Amazing Spiderman)
plays Morgan Gibbs, father of a wanted man. Raymond Hatton (see "Full
Circle" above) plays bounty hunter Perce Weber. Hal Smith (shown on the right, played 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 a Santa Ynez hotel clerk. Harry Antrim (Judge Hooker on The Great Gildesleeve) plays a general
store owner. Thomas E. Jackson (starred in Broadway,
Little Caesar, and The Woman in the Window) plays Santa
Ynez Doc RIchardson.
Season 3, Episode 39, "The Search": Wright King (played
Ernest P. Duckweather on Johnny Jupiter
and Jason Nichols on Wanted -- Dead orAlive) plays Lane Kilmer, brother of missing Martin Kilmer. Charles Aidman
(Jeremy Pike on The Wild Wild West
and was the narrator on the resurrected Twilight
Zone from 1985-87) plays Harper City strongman Fred Harper. Perry Cook (Barney
Udall on Hunter) plays preacher Fred
Mosely. Peggy Rea (Rose Burton on The
Waltons, Lulu Hogg on The Dukes of
Hazzard, Ivy Baker on Step by Step,
and Jean Kelly on Grace Under Fire)
plays his wife.
Season 4, Episode 1, "The Fatalist": Robert Blake
(shown on the left, played Mickey in over 30 Our Gang shorts and Little Beaver in 23 westerns,
starred in Black Rose, Pork Chop Hill, The Purple Gang, In Cold Blood, Tell
Them Willie Boy Is Here, and Electra
Glide in Blue, and played Det. Tony Baretta on Baretta and Father Noah Rivers on Hell Town) plays two-bit gangster Smollet. Martin Gabel (starred in
The Thief, Marnie, and Lady in Cement)
plays Russian immigrant Nathan Shotness.
Season 4, Episode 2, "Love's Young Dream": Ken
Curtis (shown on the right, starred in Mister Roberts, The Searchers, and The Alamo and who played Festus on Gunsmoke, Jim Buckley on Ripcord,
and Hoyt Coryell on The Yellow Rose) plays
love-struck pelt scavenger Monk. Lorna Thayer (see "The Prophet"
above) plays Baldelli's restaurant proprietor Augusta. Mike Mazurki (starred in
Murder My Sweet, Dick Tracy (1945), and It's a
Mad Mad Mad Mad World and played Clon on It's About Time) plays restaurant bouncer Power. Cosmo Sardo (the
unnamed bartender over 50 times on Bonanza)
plays an unnamed barber. George Barrows (played gorillas on The Red Skelton Hour, The Addams Family, The Lucy Show, and The Jackie
Gleason Show) plays a restaurant waiter.
Season 4, Episode 3, "A Head of Hair": George
Kennedy (shown on the left, 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 army fort commander Lt. John Bryson. Ben Johnson (starred in Shane, The Wild Bunch, Chisum,
and The Getaway and played Sleeve on The Monroes) plays scout and former
Sioux John Anderson. Olan Soule (see "Jenny" above) plays the Hotel
Carlton manager. Trevor Bardette (see "Jenny" above) plays a Sioux
chief.
Season 4, Episode 4, "Out at the Old Ballpark": 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 Whiskey
Slide baseball captain McNagle. J. Pat O'Malley (Judge Caleb Marsh on Black Saddle, Duffy on Frontier Circus, Harry Burns on My Favorite Martian, Mr. Bundy on Wendy and Me, Herbert Morrison on A Touch of Grace, and Bert Beasley on Maude) plays traveling baseball club
manager Marcus Goodbaby. Jack Albertson (shown on the right, starred in Days of Wine and Roses, Kissin'
Cousins, The Flim-Flam Man, and Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
and played Lt. Harry Evans on The Thin
Man, Walter Burton on Room for One
More, Lt. Cmdr. Virgil Stoner on Ensign
O'Toole, Paul Fenton on Mister Ed,
and Ed Brown on Chico and the Man) plays
Whiskey Slide Mayor Whiteside.
Season 4, Episode 5, "Saturday Night": Martin
Balsam (starred in 12 Angry Men, Psycho, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Catch-22
and played Dr. Milton Orliff on Doctor
Kildare and Murray Klein on Archie
Bunker's Place) plays small-town Marshal Jim Brock. Wesley Lau (shown on the left, played Lt. Andy
Anderson on Perry Mason and Master
Sgt. Jiggs on The Time Tunnel) plays sheep
stealer Stub. Rudy Solari (Frank Martinez on Redigo and Casino on Garrison's
Gorillas) plays sheep-herder Ramon Bagaras. Denny Miller (Duke Shannon on Wagon Train and Mike McCluskey on Mona McCluskey) plays Swedish
sheep-worker Svenska. Terence de Marney (Case Thomas on Johnny Ringo and Counsellor Doone on Lorna Doone) plays incarcerated townsman Kip.
Season 4, Episode 6, "The Calf": Denver Pyle (see
"Ransom" above) plays belligerent
landowner Advent. Parker Fennelly (Mr. Purdy on Headmaster) plays his neighbor Abraham Lee. Don Grady (shown on the right, played Robbie
Douglas on My Three Sons) plays Lee's
adopted son Lawson.
Season 4, Episode 7, "The Tender Gun": Jeannette
Nolan (starred in Macbeth (1948), The Big Heat, Tribute to a Bad Man, and The
Reluctant Astronaut, did voicework for Psycho,
The Rescuers, and The Fox and the Hound, and played
Annette Devereaux on Hotel de Paree
and Holly Grainger on The Virginian)
plays rambunctious widow Maude Smuggly. Tom Reese (starred in Taggart, The Money Trap, and Murderers'
Row and played Sgt. Thomas Velie on Ellery
Queen) plays land-grabber Yates. Don Keefer (starred in Death of a Salesman, Hellcats of the Navy, and Sleeper and played George on Angel) plays gun salesman Corcoran. Lou
Antonio (Barney on The Snoop Sisters,
Det. Sgt. Jack Ramsey on Dog and Cat,
and Joseph Manucci on Makin' It and
directed episodes of The Partridge Family,
The Rockford Files, Chicago Hope, and Boston Legal) plays Yates henchman Ted Grieve.
Season 4, Episode 8, "Killing of Jessie May": Robert
Blake (see "The Fatalist" above) plays wanted killer Jessie May
Turnbow. Barney Phillips (see "The Prophet" above) plays Joseph Ergo,
trying to hire someone to kill Turnbow. Rayford Barnes (Ike Clanton on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays
Ergo henchman Sim Lenzer. John Milford (Ike Clanton on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Corporal Kagey on The Lieutenant, Lt. Paul Hewitt on The Bold Ones: The Lawyers, and Capt.
Dempsey on Enos) plays Abraham
Sinclair, Turnbow's father's killer. William Talman (shown on the left, played Hamilton Burger on Perry Mason) plays former bronco rider George Jondill. Hari
Rhodes (Mike Makula on Daktari, D.A.
William Washburn on The Bold Ones: The
Protectors, and Mayor Dan Stoddard on Most
Wanted) plays Jondill's partner Ansel James.
Season 4, Episode 9, "Poker Fiend": Jack Weston (see
"Lady With a Gun" above) plays poker addict John Paul Neal. Brett
Somers (Blanche Somers-Madison on The Odd
Couple and Gertrude Lade on The New
Perry Mason) plays Sarah, a woman in love with Neal. Peter Falk (shown on the right, starred in
Robin and the 7 Hoods, Murder by Death, and The Cheap Detective and played Daniel
O'Brien on The Trials of O'Brien and
Columbo on Columbo) plays poker pimp
Waller. Warren Oates (starred in In the
Heat of the Night, The Wild Bunch,
and Stripes and played Ves Painter on
Stoney Burke) plays poker player
Harrison.
Season 4, Episode 10, "Crowbait": Russell Collins
(starred in Niagra, Miss Sadie Thompson, Bad Day at Black Rock, and Fail-Safe) plays silver hunter Crowbait.
Jacqueline Scott (starred in House of
Women, Empire of the Ants, and Telefon and played Donna Kimble Taft on The Fugitive) plays his daughter Amanda.
Season 4, Episode 11, "Marshal's Boy": Ken Lynch (see
"Fight at Adobe Wells" above) plays Hobbs, NM Marshal Guy Lamport. Andrew
Prine (shown on the left, starred in The Miracle Worker,
The Devil's Brigade, Bandolero!, and Chisum and played Andy Guthrie on The Wide Country, Dr. Roger Helvick on Dr. Kildare, Timothy Pride on The
Road West, Dan Costello on W.E.B.,
and Wayne/Wyatt Donnelly on Weird Science)
plays his son Billy. Harry Carey, Jr. (see "The Misguided Father"
above) plays Frank Gulley, whose son Billy shot. Sandra Warner (Pat Smith on Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) plays
Paladin's dance partner.
Season 4, Episode 12, "Fogg Bound": Patric Knowles
(starred in The Adventures of Robin Hood,
How Green Was My Valley, and The Wolf Man) plays world traveler
Phileas Fogg. Peter Whitney (Sergeant Buck Sinclair on The Rough Riders and Lafe Crick on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays his nemesis Major Proctor. Arlene
McQuade (Rosalie Goldberg on The
Buick-Berle Show and The Goldbergs)
plays Princess Aouda, whom Fogg rescued.
Season 4, Episode 13, "The Legacy": Roy Barcroft (Col.
Logan on The Adventures of Spin and Marty
and Roy on Gunsmoke) plays posse
member Judge Carter. Harry Carey, Jr. (see "The Misguided Father"
above) plays banker Burton. Harry Lauter (Ranger Clay Morgan on Tales of the Texas Rangers, Atlasande on
Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, and Jim
Herrick on Waterfront) plays posse
member Crawford. George Kennedy (see "A Head of Hair" above) plays
accused killer Sam Tarnitzer.
Season 4, Episode 14, "The Prisoner": Liam
Sullivan (Major Mapoy on The Monroes,
Dr. Joseph Lerner on The Young and the
Restless, and Mr. Willis on Knots
Landing) plays traveling New England Judge Bradford. Barry Kelley (starred
in The Asphalt Jungle, The Manchurian Candidate, and The Love Bug and played Mr. Slocum on Pete and Gladys and Mr. Hergesheimer on Mister Ed) plays local Sheriff Carlton.
Season 4, Episode 15, "The Montebank": Crahan
Denton (starred in The Young Ones, The Parent Trap, and Birdman of Alcatraz and played Det. Tom
Cleary on Brenner) plays traveling
puppeteer Jack Burnaby. Denver Pyle (see "Ransom" above) plays renowned Indian fighter Pawnee
Croft. Peter Boone (son of Richard Boone) plays a young boy at Croft's fort.
