The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1961)

Today it is usually lumped in with the also-ran westerns of the 1950s and 1960s, behind such ratings leaders as Gunsmoke, Bonanza, and Have Gun--Will Travel, but as we touched on in our post about the 1960 episodes, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp was perhaps the more innovative series in its use of historical events and characters and its experimentation with story arc continuity. As we mentioned in our last post on this program, dramatic television series employed a strictly episodic structure in which each show was a self-contained narrative that rarely ever referred to events from earlier shows. But the producers of Wyatt Earp obviously had a more continuous structure in mind by setting the series' first four episodes in Ellsworth, Kansas before having Earp move on to his next stop in his law enforcement career in Wichita for the remainder of Season 1 and the first episode of Season 2. Starting with the second episode of Season 2 he advances to his next destination of Dodge City for three seasons and then finishes the series in Tombstone, Arizona over the final two seasons. While most of the episodes prior to Season 6 were unrelated, the overall progression of the series followed the geographical sequence of the real-life Earp's travels.

But the way the producers chose to end the series over the last half of Season 6 was perhaps the first instance of a continuous story arc in dramatic television history. To see how revolutionary this technique was, consider that authors David Marc & Robert J. Thompson in their book Prime Time Prime Movers credit producer Stephen J. Cannell with originating the concept of the story arc for prime-time dramas (as opposed to the drawn-out, glacially paced narrative arcs used in daytime soap operas) in his series Wiseguy 26 years after Wyatt Earp:

The obvious innovation of Wiseguy [in 1987] was Cannell's introduction of the "arc" structure to prime-time series television. This is a formatting hybrid that introduces elements of nighttime soap opera (e.g., Dallas, Hill Street Blues) into the content of the traditional action/adventure series. A Wiseguy story might extend for eight or ten weeks by making use of direct episode-to-episode narrative continuity. This "arc" would then come to a narrative climax.

Though his life had many twists and turns afterward, Earp is probably best remembered for his shoot-out with Clanton-gang-affiliated outlaws at the O.K. Corral in 1881. The series begins to hint that this will also be the defining event of the final season as a new opening credits sequence is used in most of the 1961 episodes featuring Wyatt stopping to pose with a sign for the O.K. Corral featured prominently in the background. Then in "Doc Holliday Faces Death" (February 28, 1961) we are introduced to the trope that Earp's staunchest supporter (though he often scoffs at his friend's upright defense of the law at his own peril) is in ill health and that he has a strong dislike for Frank and Tom McLowery, feared gunmen working for Old Man Clanton. In this episode, Holliday is literally drinking himself to death and Earp tries to intervene by conspiring with all the bartenders in town to serve Holliday only a watered-down version of his favorite brand of whiskey. Holliday's failing health is referred to several more times in the remaining episodes, and in the climactic penultimate episode "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" (June 20, 1961), he exits his hotel walking with a cane and is given a shotgun to use in the great gunfight because Earp's brother Virgil assumes that his aim is no longer what it once was due to his debilitated condition.

After several more unrelated episodes, the thread of the story is picked up again in "Until Proven Guilty" (April 11, 1961) where we first see the fissures beginning to form in the Clanton gang when Curly Bill Brocious and Johnny Ringo object to patriarch Old Man Clanton that their bought-and-paid-for sheriff Johnny Behan has taxed them for cattle stolen during a job in which Behan himself participated. Though they want to do him harm, Clanton tells them to leave him alone because he is too valuable to the organization due to his connections to the corrupt political hierarchy in Tucson. Knowing that Holliday hates Behan and will resort to tactics that Earp would reject, Brocious and Ringo persuade Holliday to help them frame Behan for a stage robbery their men commit by having an actress that Behan is courting (and over whom Holliday has leverage concerning her past) plant some of the stolen money on him. Earp sniffs out the frame-up but is almost hung by Brocious before Clanton is also tipped off and stops the hanging to avoid having the federal government on his neck, but the bad blood between Brocious and Ringo against Clanton and Earp has not abated.

After two more unrelated episodes, the plot picks up again in "The Law Must Be Fair" (May 2, 1961), which centers around the McLowerys, who wind up moving into Tombstone into a house owned by Clanton next to the O.K. Corral, which he also owns, to placate Tom McLowery's wife Aithra, a city girl from Chicago who can't stand living on a ranch. But Brocious and Ringo, in their quest to take over the Clanton gang operations, see this as an opportunity to get rid of Clanton's two best gunmen by planting a dead corpse in the corral's stable so that the McLowerys will be suspected of murder. Wyatt doesn't think the McLowerys killed the dead man because he was hanged and their modus operandi is typically shooting, but he is forced to arrest them until he can prove who the real killer was. The hanging looks like the typical fate out-of-town rancher Captain Roland reserves for cattle rustlers, so Earp sends Holliday out to Roland's ranch to see if he has hung anybody recently, while Clanton rounds up his gang, including Brocious, to try to break the McLowerys out of jail. Holliday gets back into town just in time to stop Clanton's gang from overpowering Earp and Shotgun Gibbs and brings news that Roland confirmed he gave the body of the dead rustler to Brocious and Ringo, who claimed the deceased was a friend of his that he wanted to give a proper burial. While they are talking Brocious sneaks off to his horse and rides off with Clanton cursing after him, but it won't be Brocious' last attempt against Clanton.

This episode is immediately followed by a rarity in early 1960s television--a well-orchestrated send-off for a long-time primary character in "A Papa for Butch and Ginger" (May 9, 1961). More common for the era was the disappearance of recurring characters with no explanation for their departure or a brief reference to where they went after they have already departed. But in the run-up to the fateful "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral," the producers began clearing the decks of characters who weren't around for the final melee. Earp's trusted deputy Shotgun Gibbs, a fictional creation rather than a historical figure, was the first to go. In this episode Gibbs meets a widow with two young children trying to make a wagon trip to Colorado while being taken advantage of by unscrupulous ruffians she has hired to accompany her. Her two young children, Butch and Ginger, take an immediate liking to Gibbs, who runs off one of her antagonists, and though he won't admit it at first, Gibbs takes a liking to the widow Byfield as well. Holliday is the first to sense Gibbs' attraction and knowing that Gibbs feels beholden to Earp and his duty as a deputy, Holliday begins working on Earp to convince him that it would be in Gibbs' best interests to marry the widow and accompany her to Colorado. Holliday even tells Earp that Gibbs will one day meet his death from a faster and heavier armed gunslinger since Gibbs only uses a double-barreled shotgun and has to reload after two shots. So Earp finds a flimsy excuse to fire Gibbs for not following orders but can't face him as he tells him he is dismissed. The final scene shows Gibbs driving the widow's wagon with her by his side trying to convince him that Earp fired him out of love not animosity, while Butch and Ginger ride behind the wagon on Gibbs' beloved mule Roscoe. This sort of farewell is today standard practice but in 1961 it was quite extraordinary.

However, finding a replacement for Gibbs proves to be a challenge for Earp as the next episode, "Hiding Behind a Star" (May 23, 1961), shows Earp hiring a deputy who proves to be a sadistic psychopath as well as a bigamist who is finally exposed and arrested. Gibbs' departure is also the driving force two episodes later in Mayor Clum summoning Earp's brothers Virgil and Morgan from Prescott, Arizona to help support Wyatt against an increasingly fractious Clanton gang, which is thrown into disarray by the next major character send-off depicted in "Requiem for Old Man Clanton" (May 30, 1961). Though Brocious and Ringo have attempted to undermine Clanton at least twice in previous episodes and he is aware of their machinations, he still does not take seriously enough the warning that they may try to ambush him when he goes below the Mexican border to bring back a herd of stolen cattle because the warning comes from Earp. He also reasons that Brocious and Ringo won't attack him because some of the cattle he is bringing back belong to them, but he doesn't realize that they have paid off a long-time nemesis of his, the Mexican bandit king Don Pedro, to ambush him. Though Earp and Holliday try to find Don Pedro and stop the attack, they are too late, and Clanton and his helpers are gunned down by the bandits. Clanton's killing is remarkably violent even for an era that loved The Untouchables and had seen some of Sam Peckinpaugh's early work on The Rifleman and The Westerner. But what makes Clanton's death more striking is that he is a major figure in the series, not some rent-a-thug who is brought in for a single episode for the express purpose of being cannon fodder. Major characters simply did not get killed off in early 1960s TV dramas, which is yet another reason why the final season of Wyatt Earp seems more akin to The Sopranos than it does to its contemporaries.

The next two episodes depict the ratcheting of tensions between the Clantons, Brocious and Ringo, and Earp, which will lead to the great gunfight. In "Wyatt's Brothers Join Up" (June 6, 1961), we see Clum secretly convince Earp's brothers to leave Prescott to come to his aid, but before they get to Tombstone, Holliday intercepts them and cajoles them into a conspiracy to kidnap corrupt sheriff Johnny Behan and hold him in a remote location in order to stoke animosity between the Clantons and Brocious and Ringo, each of whom considers Behan an essential ally due to his connections to the Tucson political machine. Holliday's plan is to incite the rival outlaw factions to kill each other off, but eventually Wyatt uncovers Holliday's conspiracy and releases Behan even though doing so allows one of his principal enemies to still work against him. Wyatt is the ultimate by-the-book lawman, and kidnapping another law officer is illegal, no matter how villainous that law officer may be. In "Just Before the Battle" (June 13, 1961) we are shown how a stage robbery perpetrated by Brocious and Ringo sets the stage for the gunfight because it raises the ire of Ike Clanton that the two gunmen who had previously worked for his father have cut him and his other two brothers out of the take from the robbery. Feeling that he has been disrespected and his authority challenged, Ike is willing to sell out Brocious and Ringo to Wyatt and pick up some reward money in the bargain. But Ringo figures out that someone must have tipped Wyatt off when he almost catches the robbers at their camp outside town, and Ringo's suspicions are confirmed when a telegraph boy working for him tells him he saw Holliday and Ike talking at the Alhambra saloon. Ringo then jokingly tells the McLowerys that he heard that Ike had ratted out the robbers to Earp, and despite his denials, Ike is given the assignment to kill Wyatt in order to prove that he isn't in cahoots with him. Since he also believes that Wyatt must have been the one to tell Ringo about his perfidy, Ike has even more incentive to carry out Frank McLowery's ultimatum. Being a coward, he has to get liquored up in Tombstone that evening to shout out to Earp as he rides into town that he is going to kill him tomorrow.

The footage of Ike threatening Wyatt at the end of "Just Before the Battle" is replayed at the beginning of "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" (June 20, 1961), a technique usually only reserved for 2-part episodes given the same title. But the technique is used again to stitch together the last two episodes--"Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" and the series finale "The Outlaws Cry Murder" (June 27, 1961) where a scene in the Earp brothers' hotel room in which Wyatt asks Holliday to go across the street to negotiate with Brocious and Ringo is replayed. These replays have the same effect as the technique employed by many story-arc-driven series today in which each successive episode begins with a "Previously on [insert series name here]" followed by a montage of short clips that set up the narrative about to unfold in this week's episode. But that type of linkage was virtually unheard of in 1961, except for the aforementioned 2-part episodes that were treated as long self-contained stories. The last two episodes of Wyatt Earp remain true to history in the characters killed during the great 30-second gunfight and in the Earps and Holliday being charged with murder despite, in this telling, acting in self-defense. But the series does not tie things up neatly at the end of the final episode--the Earps and Holliday still face charges, though they have managed to avoid spending the weekend in jail or being sent to Tucson as the result of a change of venue request orchestrated by Behan, and have therefore avoided being bushwhacked, as Behan intends, while in custody. The final episode ends with Wyatt telling his compatriots that they are not out of the woods yet, but that he would tell any inquiring newspaper reporter that he ain't dead yet. Wyatt himself would live many more years, though far away from Arizona; his brother Morgan would not be so lucky. But the series producers decided to end the story on a high note--the victory at the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. What would come afterward would be harder to render in such a positive light.

The complete series has been released on DVD by SFM Entertainment. It is also still in rotation on the Encore Westerns cable channel.

The Actors

For the biographies of Hugh O'Brian, Morgan Woodward, Douglas Fowley, Trevor Bardette, Stacy Harris, James Seay, Damian O'Flynn, Carol Thurston, Steve Rowland, William Phipps, Steve Brodie, Steve Pendleton, Rayford Barnes, Ralph Reed, John Anderson, Ray Boyle, and William Mims, see the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.

George Wallace

George Dewey Wallace was  born in New York City on June 8, 1917, the great-great grandson of legendary U.S. Navy Admiral George Dewey, after whom he was named. When he was 13,his family moved to West Virginia, and Wallace worked in the coal mines there while still a teenager. He joined the Navy in 1936, was discharged in 1940, but rejoined during World War II, serving a total of 8 years, after which he worked a number of odd jobs from meat packer to lumberjack until he was spotted as a singing bartender in a Hollywood bar by gossip columnist Jimmy Fidler. After Fidler made some introductions into the film business, Wallace began attending drama school at night and working as a groundskeeper at MGM. He finally made his movie debut in 1950 in an uncredited part in The Sun Sets at Dawn and had his first credited part a year later in Submarine Command. But his big break came in 1952 when he was cast in the leading role as Commando Cody in the science fiction serial Radar Men From the Moon. He also broke into television that same year, appearing in episodes of Hopalong Cassidy, Dangerous Assignment, and Chevron Theatre. He would work steadily for the rest of his life. While acting in a supporting role in Forbidden Planet in 1955, he was introduced to the great composer Richard Rodgers by Walter Pidgeon and soon would add theatre work to his resume, debuting opposite opera soprano Helen Traubel in the 1955 production of Rodger and Hammerstein's Pipe Dream that same year. In 1957 he was nominated for a New York Drama Critics Circle Award for his work in New Girl in Town playing opposite Gwen Verdon. He was chosen to replace John Raitt in the Broadway production of The Pajama Game and starred with Mary Martin in the 1963 box office flop Jennie in 1963. 

He appeared four times as Frank McLowery on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp in 1961 but did not land a recurring role until being cast as Dr. Leo Gault on the daytime soap The Edge of Night in 1980. After four appearances as Judge Milton Cole on Hill Street Blues in 1983 and three turns as Arthur Nicholls on The Young and the Restless in 1986, he finally landed another recurring role as Grandpa Hank Hammersmith on Sons and Daughters in 1991. But he also continued to get dozens of guest spots on a variety of programs as well as occasional feature film parts such as in Postcards From the Edge. His last credits were episodes of The King of Queens in 2003 and Joan of Arcadia in 2004, but in the latter year he suffered a fall while vacationing in Pisa, Italy and died from complications after returning home on July 22, 2005 at the age of 88.

Gregg Palmer

Born Palmer Lee on January 25, 1927 in San Francisco, both of Palmer's parents had emigrated from Norway. He joined the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, serving as a cryptographer, and was discharged in 1946, after which he worked as a radio DJ, bouncer, truck driver, and construction worker. His deep voice reading the news on radio led to his first film role as an uncredited ambulance attendant in the Martin & Lewis comedy My Friend Irma Goes West in 1950. In 1951 he was signed to a 5-year contract with Universal and was billed under his birth name until 1954 when he appeared in Taza, Son of Cochise, Playgirl, and Magnificent Obsession. His work in TV began the same year with a guest appearance on The Lone Ranger. He auditioned for a TV version of Li'l Abner opposite Marilyn Monroe as Daisey Mae, but neither actor got the part. But Palmer's work continued to be steady and voluminous, particularly in western TV series such as The Restless Gun, 26 Men, and Gunsmoke, on which he guest starred 21 times between 1958 and 1975. He also appeared in 18 episodes of Death Valley Days between 1956 and 1969.

His four appearances as Tom McLowery on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp came the same year he appeared in the first of six John Wayne movies, The Comancheros. Though he never landed a recurring role lasting more than 4 episodes, he logged some 166 credits in a career spanning until 1982, at which point he retired from acting after a painful knee injury while working on The Blue and the Gray mini-series and settled in Encino, California to play golf and make appearances for charitable causes. He died October 31, 2015 at age 88.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 6, Episode 14, "Billy Buckett, Incorporated": Andy Clyde (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Real McCoys) plays prospector Billy Buckett. 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 saloon owner Lou Rickabaugh. Bartlett Robinson (Frank Caldwell on Mona McCluskey) plays banker Paul Scott. Dan Sheridan (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Lawman) plays investor Jack Morrow. Ann Robinson (starred in The War of the Worlds, Dragnet, and Midnight Movie Massacre and played Queen Juliandra on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger and Helen Watkins on Fury) plays widow Hetty Doane.

Season 6, Episode 15, "Horse Thief": Robert Bice (appeared in  Thirty Seconds over Tokyo, The Snow Creature, and It! The Terror From Beyond Space and played Police Capt. Jim Johnson on The Untouchables) plays Charleston roadhouse bartender J.B. Ayres. Herbert Rudley (shown on the right, played Sam Brennan on The Californians, Lt. Will Gentry on Michael Shayne, General Crone on Mona McCluskey, and Herb Hubbard on The Mothers-in-Law) plays Old Man Clanton's lawyer Sanders.

Season 6, Episode 16, "Terror in the Desert": Richard Crane (shown on the left, played Rocky Jones on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, Dick Preston on Commando Cody, Sky Marshal of the Universe, and Lt. Gene Plehn on Surfside 6) plays freight operation owner Tom Grover. Jacqueline Scott (starred in House of Women, Empire of the Ants, and Telefon and played Donna Kimble Taft on The Fugitive) plays his wife Beth. Richard Reeves (Mr. Murphy on Date With the Angels) plays prison wagon driver Bucko. Stanley Clements (played Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie in 6 Bowery Boys feature films) plays his partner Dugan. David Fresco (Albert Wysong on Murder One) plays prisoner Moody. Peter Mamakos (Jean Lafitte on The Adventures of Jim Bowie) plays prisoner Baxter. Sam Flint (Mr. Armstead on Father Knows Best and earlier had played Judge Jewett on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays a transport company worker.

Season 6, Episode 17, "Old Slanders": Tyler McVey (Gen. Maj. Norgath on Men Into Space) plays a corrupt Tuscon politician. Charles Watts (Judge Harvey Blandon on Bachelor Father) plays newspaper publisher Dameron. Anne Bellamy (Aunt Polly on The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) plays saloon girl Audrey Johnson.

Season 6, Episode 18, "Loyalty": William Fawcett (Clayton on Duffy's Tavern, Marshal George Higgins on The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, and Pete Wilkey on Fury) plays an old prospector. Jan Arvan (shown on the far right, played Nacho Torres on Zorro and Paw Kadiddlehopper on The Red Skelton Hour) plays maitre 'd Emile. Paula Winslowe (shown on the near right, played Martha Conklin on Our Miss Brooks) plays housekeeper Ella Mae Stoney. Michael Hinn (George Haig on Johnny Ringo) plays cowhand Van Horn. Dennis Moore (Deputy Lee on Tombstone Territory) plays cowhand Dusty Claypool. Richard Benedict (appeared in A Walk in the Sun, Crossfire, and Ace in the Hole and directed multiple episodes of Hawaiian Eye, Run for Your Life, Ironside, Medical Center, Police Story, and Hawaii Five-O) plays crook Briscoe.

Season 6, Episode 19, "Johnny Behan Falls in Love": Andy Albin (Andy Gosden on Julia) plays Clanton man Limpy Davis.

Season 6, Episode 20, "Casey and the Clowns": L.Q. Jones (Beldon on The Virginian, Sheriff Lew Wallace on The Yellow Rose, and Nathan Wayne on Renegade) plays bank-robbing gang leader Tex. Ken Drake (Bragan on Not for Hire) plays gang member Tim Murdock. Kenneth MacDonald (shown on the left, played the judge 32 times on Perry Mason, played Col. Parker on Colt .45, and appeared in several Three Stooges shorts) plays Tombstone Bank manager Howard Stacey. Sam Flint (see "Terror in the Desert" above) plays Arizona Bank manager Mr. Borden.

Season 6, Episode 21, "Doc Holliday Faces Death": Dub Taylor (shown on the right, starred in You Can't Take It With You, Bonnie & Clyde, and The Wild Bunch, played 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 bartender Hogan. 

Season 6, Episode 22, "Apache Gold": Robert Cabal (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on Rawhide) plays Apache brave Nulah.

Season 6, Episode 23, "The Good Mule and the Bad Mule": Stephen Wootton (Soapie Weaver on This Is Alice) plays young liar Ollie Burton. Clancy Cooper (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Lawman) plays mine foreman Morgan. Norman Leavitt (Ralph on Trackdown) plays livery man Phillips. 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 one of Dameron's printers.

Season 6, Episode 24, "Clanton and Cupid": Harlan Warde (shown on the right, played John Hamilton on The Rifleman and Sheriff John Brannan on The Virginian) plays lawyer Tom Ware.

Season 6, Episode 25, "Wyatt Takes the Primrose Path": William Thourlby (the original Marlboro man, a friend of Jim Thorpe, and author of the best-selling book Passport to Power) plays Apache chief Nachez. X Brands (Pahoo-Ke-Ta-Wah on Yancy Derringer) plays one of his braves.

Season 6, Episode 26, "The Convict's Revenge": Robert Carson (Mr. Maddis on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show) plays ranch owner Sam Davies. Robert Harland (shown on the left, played Deputy Billy Lordan on Law of the Plainsman, Jack Flood on Target: The Corruptors, and Sgt. Older on The Rookies) plays his son Phil. Ken Mayer (Maj. Robbie Robertson on Space Patrol) plays gambler Dapper Courtney.

Season 6, Episode 27, "Until Proven Guilty": Britt Lomond (Captain Monastario on Zorro) plays gunman Johnny Ringo. Kasey Rogers (shown on the right, played Julie Anderson on Peyton Place and Louise Tate on Bewitched) plays actress Dora Madison. Jimmy Lydon (starred in Tom Brown's School Days, Little Men, Joan of Arc, and 9 Henry Aldrich features and played Biff Cardoza on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, Andy Boone on So This Is Hollywood, and Richard on Love That Jill) plays prosecuting attorney Tom Fitch. Robert Bice (see "Horse Thief" above) returns as Charleston roadhouse owner J.B. Ayres.

Season 6, Episode 28, "The Shooting Starts": Barney Phillips (see "Billy Buckett, Incorporated" above) returns as saloon owner Lou Rickabaugh. Diane Jergens (shown on the left, appeared in Teenage Rebel, Desk Set, High School Confidential!, and Island of Lost Women and played Francine Williams on The Bob Cummings Show and Susie Jackson on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet) plays his niece Edith. Leo Gordon (Dr. Big Mike McComb on Maverick) plays rival saloon owner Miggles Hannegan. Steve Raines (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Rawhide) plays saloon owner Big Dora's henchman.

Season 6, Episode 29, "Wyatt Earp's Baby": Marie Windsor (shown on the right, starred in Outpost in Morocco, Dakota Lil, Cat-Women of the Moon, Swamp Women, and The Day Mars Invaded Earth) plays saloon owner Lily Henry. Sean McClory (Jack McGivern on The Californians and Myles Delaney on Bring 'Em Back Alive) plays blacksmith and freighter Edgar Boles. Frank Ferguson (Gus Broeberg on My Friend Flicka, Eli Carson on Peyton Place, and Dr. Barton Stuart on Petticoat Junction) plays Pima County Sheriff Slim Lydell.

Season 6, Episode 30, "The Law Must Be Fair": Louise Fletcher (shown on the left, starred in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Exorcist II, and The Cheap Detective and played Nora Bloom on VR.5 and Kai Winn on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) plays Tom McLowery's wife Aithra.

Season 6, Episode 31, "A Papa for Butch and Ginger": Dorothy Green (Lavinia Tate on Tammy) plays traveling widow Amy Byfield. Kevin Brodie (son of Steve Brodie, wrote and directed A Dog of Flanders) plays her young son Butch. Debbie Megowan (Dorine Peters on My Three Sons) plays her young daughter Ginger.

Season 6, Episode 32, "Hiding Behind a Star": James Griffith (Deputy Tom Ferguson on U.S. Marshal) plays Earp's new deputy Tim Connell. 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 his wife Martha. Roy Engel (Doc Martin on Bonanza, the police chief on My Favorite Martian, and President Ulysses S. Grant on The Wild, Wild West) plays rancher Zack Herrick. Paul McGuire (Phillip on The Living Bible) plays gunman Jack Renfro. Charles Wagenheim (Halligan on Gunsmoke) plays gunsmith Spangenberg.

Season 6, Episode 33, "Requiem for Old Man Clanton": Don Haggerty (shown on the left, played Jeffrey Jones on The Files of Jeffrey Jones, Eddie Drake on The Cases of Eddie Drake, Sheriff Dan Elder on State Trooper, and Marsh Murdock earlier on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays cattle drover Mort Herrick. Norman Alden (Grundy on Not for Hire, Captain Horton on Rango, Tom Williams on My Three Sons, Coach Leroy Fedders on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, and Al Cassidy on Fay) plays gunman Johnny Ringo. Robert Bice (see "Horse Thief" above) returns as Charleston roadhouse owner J.B. Ayres.

Season 6, Episode 34, "Wyatt's Brothers Join Up": Adele Mara (wife of Maverick producer Roy Huggins who appeared in Wake of the Red Witch, Sands of Iwo Jima, and The Big Circus) plays Behan's love interest Thelma Callum.

Season 6, Episode 35, "Just Before the Battle": Harry Harvey (Sheriff Tom Blodgett on The Roy Rogers Show and Mayor George Dixon on Man Without a Gun) plays the Tombstone telegrapher. Gene Collins (shown on the right, appeared in The Pride of the Yankees, The People's Choice, and Kelly's Heroes and played Willy Quill on Yancy Derringer) plays his young assistant.

Season 6, Episode 36, "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral": Terry Frost (Sgt. Moore/Morse/Morris on Highway Patrol) plays messenger Coleman.

Season 6, Episode 37, "The Outlaws Cry Murder": Jimmy Lydon (shown on the left, see "Until Proven Guilty" above) returns as lawyer Tom Fitch. Charles Watts (see "Old Slanders" above) returns as newspaper editor Dameron.

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1960)

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp is considered to be one of the first adult-oriented TV westerns, along with Gunsmoke and Cheyenne, which also debuted in 1955. But unlike the others, Earp was based, at least partially, on actual historical events and thus could be considered the forerunner of later series such as Bat Masterson, Johnny Ringo, and The Tall Man. The title for Earp hints at its mixing of fact and fantasy. The series is said to be based on the 1931 Earp biography Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal by Stuart Lake, which portrayed the gunslinger as a supreme hero. Other published accounts of his life portray him as a nefarious villain. The truth, no doubt, lies somewhere in between. The TV version of Earp is a bolt-upright champion of justice, whether it benefits him or not. He is incorruptible and demands that even the most heinous criminal be given a fair trial rather than subjected to "frontier justice." He is also chaste as the driven snow, as compared to other winking, slightly lecherous western heroes such as Gene Barry's Bat Masterson or Richard Boone's Paladin. However, the historical Earp was arrested three times in Peoria, Illinois for "Keeping and being in a house of ill-fame," that is, a brothel. Contemporary historians believe that Earp was likely an enforcer for the brothel rather than its owner or pimp. He later had a common-law marriage with a former prostitute, whom he abandoned when he met up with a traveling actress. He was also once arrested for taking part in a horse-stealing heist and broke out of jail. So Earp's real-life character was anything but straitlaced.

 

The television series, which ran for 6 seasons, followed his exploits from Ellsworth to Wichita to Dodge City, Kansas and then to Tombstone, Arizona, culminating in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, which did much to cement his reputation. The Tombstone years are depicted in Seasons 5 and 6, which ran from 1959-61. Earp is shown on the TV show as the resident marshal for the Arizona Territory, but in real life his brother Virgil was Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Tombstone Mining District. In 1880 Wyatt was appointed Deputy Sheriff of Eastern Pima County but served for only 3 months and resigned when the candidate he supported for County Sheriff was defeated in an election. Johnny Behan was then appointed as Sheriff of East Pima County. When Pima was split to form Cochise County, Wyatt ran against Behan for the new sheriff's position but lost. He claimed that he and Behan had worked out a deal that if he withdrew from the race, Behan would appoint him undersheriff, but after Behan won the election, he denied any such deal had been made. So Wyatt's tenure as a lawman in Tombstone was remarkably brief until Virgil appointed him as a temporary assistant in preparation for the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. After that iconic shoot-out, the Clantons were bent on revenge and Virgil was ambushed and maimed by shotgun blasts. Wyatt convinced Arizona Marshal Crawley Dake to appoint him a Deputy U.S. Marshal so that he could go after the attempted assassins. After his brother Morgan was assassinated, presumably by the Clanton gang,Wyatt rounded up a posse that included Doc Holliday and went after who believed were the killers. He and his posse tracked down and killed four men, including Curly Bill Brocius and Frank Stillwell, before being pursued by Behan's posse and crossing over into New Mexico and then Colorado. Earp continued to live a life of restlessness thereafter, including a time prospecting in Alaska, before settling down in San Francisco in his final years. During the last years of his life, his reputation continued to be a subject of debate and has continued decades thereafter. The television series depiction, however, allows no room for such debate--Earp is portrayed as the ultimate old west hero.

But while Earp's character is the stuff of legend in the series, it nevertheless depicts some events from his life with remarkable accuracy. In the episodes from calendar year 1960, "Let's Hang Curly Bill" (January 26, 1960) is perhaps the best example. This episode depicts the real-life events of October 28, 1880 when a drunk Curly Bill Brocius was accosted by town marshal Fred White, who attempted to take away Brocius' pistol. In the process of grabbing the gun, it went off, fatally wounding White in the groin. But before he died White signed a statement saying that he thought the shooting was accidental. Brocius also seemed not to know what he had done at the time. Virgil and Wyatt escorted Brocius out of Tombstone to Tucson for his trial, probably saving him from a lynching by doing so. At the trial Wyatt testified on Brocius' behalf that the shooting appeared to be accidental, and it was demonstrated that Brocius' gun could be fired when only half-cocked. Though he would later kill Brocius, Wyatt was instrumental in his being found not guilty and released. Most of these details are reflected accurately in the TV episode, though it is Wyatt who testifies at great length at Brocius' trial about his unusual gun and his peculiar way of holding it that it would make it easy for the gun to go off if someone were to try to pull it out of Brocius' hand. The episode plays out much like one for Perry Mason with Wyatt re-enacting what may have happened at the shooting and using presiding Judge Spicer in the role of White.

The series also depicts Earp's ongoing feuds with the Clanton gang and Sheriff Johnny Behan, who are depicted as working in cahoots, with Behan setting free any Clanton henchmen whom Wyatt happens to arrest. In real life, Earp and Behan feuded over the attentions of actress Josephine Sarah Marcus, whom Earp eventually married and remained with until the end of his life, though in the TV series there is no such character.

The television series is also remarkable for the exceptionally large cast of recurring characters. Assisting Earp in most episodes are the fictional deputy Shotgun Gibbs and the real-life character of Doc Holliday, who is portrayed as an ambiguous figure, fond of drinking and gambling and being a bad influence on younger brother Morgan Earp in "Big Brother" (November 1, 1960), but also a useful resource for Earp because he has many "hoodlum" acquaintances who often prove a valuable source of inside information. Newspaper editor John Clum appears in several episodes, most notably "John Clum, Fighting Editor" (April 12, 1960), sometimes serving as an assistant and confidant when Gibbs and Holliday are not about. Besides Sheriff Behan, Earp is opposed most often by Old Man Clanton, an outlaw kingpin with inept sons Ike, Phin, and Billy. Clanton's empire and vast army of gunmen, including Brocius and Johnny Ringo, are too powerful for Earp to bring down by himself, the most he can ever do is foil a robbery or murder here or there, but Earp has enough support from the citizens of Tombstone to keep Clanton from taking over his home turf, being relegated to the outlying, more lawless areas of the Arizona Territory. 

Some of the characters changed actors between or even within seasons. As explained in the actor biographies below, Douglas Fowley began playing the role of Doc Holliday in Season 2 and into Season 3 before being replaced by Myron Healey through the end of Season 4, but then returned to the role of Holliday for the series' final two seasons. Lash LaRue played corrupt Sheriff Johnny Behan in Season 5 but was replaced by Steve Brodie in Season 6. Former child actor Gary Gray played the youngest of the Clanton clan, Billy, in "The Buntline Special Stolen" (March 8, 1960) and in two other episodes prior, but the role was given to Ralph Reed in the series' final season. Virgil Earp was played by Ross Elliott in 4 episodes spanning from Season 3 to Season 5, but John Anderson took over the role during the final season. John Milford played Ike Clanton in Season 5 and was replaced by Rayford Barnes in Season 6. Four different actors played outlaw Johnny Ringo. 

For Season 5, the producers also brought in a regular female character in hotel proprietor Nellie Cashman, initially intended as a love interest for Wyatt. But after the first dozen or so episodes, that idea was jettisoned, and the Nellie character made fewer and less important appearances before being written out entirely in the show's final season. She does get one star turn in 1960, however, in the episode "The Big Fight at Total Wreck" (January 12, 1960), in which she attempts to reconcile two groups of Irish and Welsh miners who have been feuding for generations. Wyatt serves as a mere accessory in the negotiations, which appear to reach a final resolution until the episode's final scene.

Like its 1955 classmate Gunsmoke, Earp's use of a large recurring cast of characters necessitated few guest stars. But unlike the prevailing episodic nature of TV shows during the era, Earp, with its foundation in historical events, would sometimes refer back to events from previous episodes. This trend is most evident in the back-to-back episodes "His Life in His Hands" (March 22, 1960) and "Behan's Double Game" (March 29, 1960). In the first episode we see that saloon owner B.J. Ayres is working undercover for Earp, pretending to be a part of Clanton's operation. Clanton becomes suspicious when certain planned robberies begin to be tipped off and he suspects Ayres. Earp has to concoct an elaborate scheme to convince Clanton that Ayres is not a double-crosser. In the second episode, Earp and Ayres meet secretly outside of town and Ayres alludes to the way that Earp saved his neck in the previous episode. This is perhaps one of the rare instances in which consecutive episodes employ this kind of sequencing, other than multi-part episodes that are part of a single narrative.

In short, though Earp has not been as well remembered over the years as some of its contemporaries, particularly Gunsmoke and Bonanza, it paved the way for westerns that came along later in its rich set of characters, its historical basis, and its occasional, if rare and brief, story arcs.

The theme song for The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp is only slightly better than the worst TV theme song ever, for Bat Masterson. The music for the Earp theme was written by prolific veteran Hollywood songwriter Harry Warren, who was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won 3 for "Lullaby of Broadway" with lyricist Al Dubin, "You'll Never Know" with lyricist Mack Gordon, and "On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe" with lyricist Johnny Mercer. Warren made the Hit Parade more often than even Irving Berlin and also wrote "Chattanooga Choo-Choo," the first Golden Record in history, "The Way You Look Tonight," one of the most recorded songs in history, "Jeepers Creepers," and "That's Amore." He collaborated on 18 Busby Berkeley musicals and had his songs appear in over 300 films. Warren died on September 22, 1981 in Los Angeles.

But the blame for the Earp  theme's awfulness goes to lyricist Harold Adamson and the performance by the Ken Darby Singers. Adamson, like Warren, is a member of the Songtwriters Hall of Fame. He grew up in New York City and attended the University of Kansas and Harvard before pursuing a songwriting career on Broadway. In 1933 he signed a contract with MGM and moved to California, where he spent the rest of his career. He wrote for films such as The Great Ziegfield, Top of the Town, Higher and Higher, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Later in his career he wrote for the films Around the World in 80 Days, An Affair to Remember, and The Incredible Mr. Limpet. He also provided the lyrics to the theme song for I Love Lucy. Adamson died August 17, 1980.

Kenneth Lorin Darby was not only a vocal performer but also a composer, arranger, and lyricist. He provided the singing voice for the Munchkin mayor in The Wizard of Oz and contributed to the 1940 first studio cast album for the film, which did not use the film's original performances. His group backed up Bing Crosby on his recording of "White Christmas" and Darby was Marilyn Monroe's vocal coach for the films Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and There's No Business Like Show Business. He also co-wrote Elvis Presley's hit "Love Me Tender" but signed over the rights to his wife, who is listed as co-composer with Presley. Darby won 3 Academy Awards for helping to write the scores for The King and I, Porgy and Bess, and Camelot. He also won a Grammy for his work on Porgy and Bess. Darby died January 24, 1992 at the age of 82.

At this time, the first two seasons are available on DVD from Inception Media Group. The entire series is in rotation on the Encore Westerns cable channel.

The Actors

Hugh O'Brian

Born Hugh Charles Krampe in Rochester, NY, O'Brian's father was a business executive who moved often until finally settling in Chicago when O'Brian was 5. O'Brian was a 4-sport athlete in high school and studied law for a semester at the University of Cincinnati before enlisting in the Marines in 1943. He became a drill instructor at age 17, the youngest in Marine Corps history, and served four years, during which he received an appointment to the Naval Academy, which he declined. He planned to resume his law studies at Yale and moved to Los Angeles to earn some money for his education but instead met actresses Ruth Roman and Linda Christian, who urged him to join a small theatre group. His success on the stage led to a change in plans and he enrolled at UCLA. In 1948 he was discovered by actress and director Ida Lupino during one of his performances and was cast in her film "Never Fear." From there he signed a contract with Universal Pictures, but his roles tended to be supporting ones or in B-grade fare like Rocketship X-M, Son of Ali Baba, and Seminole. However, he did score a role in There's No Business Like Show Business in 1954 before securing the role of Wyatt Earp the following year.

During his tenure on Earp, O'Brian spent over a week visiting renowned humanitarian Dr. Albert Schweitzer in Africa and was struck by Schweitzer's belief that the key to education was teaching students to think for themselves. With this inspiration he founded the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership foundation, which recruits high school sophomores for seminars in which they interact with distinguished leaders from a variety of professions. For his philanthropic work O'Brian has been awarded 8 honoray doctorates and numerous citations and other awards. Besides his philanthropic work, O'Brian continued acting after Earp's 6-year run, eventually landing another lead role as Hugh Lockwood in the single-season (1972-73) adventures series Search. He appeared in 5 episodes, including the pilot, of Fantasy Island, and reprised his role as Wyatt Earp in the series Guns of Paradise, the TV movie The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw, and the 1994 feature Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone. A lifelong bachelor until the age of 81, O'Brian finally married Virginia Barber, his girlfriend of 18 years, in 2006. The couple was serenaded by Debbie Reynolds at their wedding ceremony. The couple currently resides in Benedict Canyon, California, overlooking Beverly Hills.

Morgan Woodward

Thomas Morgan Woodward was born in Fort Worth, Texas and grew up in nearby Arlington, graduating from high school in 1944. He enlisted in the Air Force and had been flying planes since the age of 16. After the war he attended Arlington State College and performed with the Margo Jones Repertory Theatre in Dallas, hoping for an eventual career in opera, which he eventually abandoned. In 1948 he transferred to the University of Texas, earned a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, and then entered law school before being recalled to the Air Force during the Korean War. After returning to the States, Woodward was recruited by Walt Disney for his first live-action feature film The Great Locomotive Chase, released in 1956. The following year he was brought on to Earp to serve as Hugh O'Brian's sidekick and eventual deputy, appearing in 81 episodes for the reaminder of the series. He garnered a number of guest appearances, particularly westerns, after Earp's cancellation, including 19 appearances on Gunsmoke, 12 on Wagon Train, and 8 on Bonanza. He also received occasional film work, most notably his role as the silent, sunglass-wearing walking boss in Cool Hand Luke. In 1980 he was cast in the supporting role of Marvin "Punk" Anderson on the show Dallas and made 55 appearances over the next seven years. He also appeared 5 times as the character John Renko on Hill Street Blues in 1982. His last two television appearances came in The X-Files in 1995 and Millenniumin 1997. He has been an avid collector, restorer, and pilot of vintage airplanes and currently spends time between his ranch in Paso Robles, California and his home in Hollywood.

Douglas Fowley

Douglas Vincent Fowley was born in the Bronx, NY, and had a long string of jobs before taking up acting. These included a singing waiter, copy boy for the New York Times, Wall Street runner, Postal Service employee, and professional football player. His first exposure to acting was while attending the St. Francis Xavier Military Academy, and he landed his first film role, uncredited, in the Spencer Tracy & Claire Trevor feature The Mad Game in 1933. This was the first of over 240 film roles, many as villains and heavies, but perhaps his most memorable role was as film director Roscoe Dexter in Singin' in the Rain given the unenviable task of helping silent film star Lina Lamont make the transition to talking pictures despite her heavy Brooklyn accent. In the early 1950's he also began a string of occasional guest spots on TV programs such as The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickock, and City Detective. Though he is best known for playing the morally ambiguous Doc Holliday on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, he was not the only actor to play the character on the series, nor was it the only role he played on the series. He first appeared as the character Dr. Andrew Fabrique in 11 episodes during the show's first season. He made his first appearance as Holliday toward the end of Season 2, continuing in this role for 4 more episodes that season. He returned as Dr. Fabrique in the second episode of Season 3, then played Holliday in 6 more episodes in 1957. But then Myron Healey was brought in to play Holliday for the remainder of Season 3 and into Season 4. After playing Grandpa Logan in one episode late in Season 4, Fowley returned as Dr. Fabrique again a couple of episodes later before resuming his role as Holliday in the third episode of Season 5 after Healey had played the character in the first two episodes. From that point forward Fowley played Holliday exclusively for the duration of the series.

After Earp's cancelation, Fowley continued his film and occasional TV work, though at a much sparser pace than earlier in his career, until he landed the role of family patriarch Grandpa Hanks in the old west spoof Pistols 'n' Petticoats during the 1966-67 season. Sporadic work continued thereafter throughout the 1970s, but he landed another regular role at the end of his career playing a character named Robert Redford in the P.I. parody Detective School in 1979. His last television appearance came in 1982 on an episode of Merlin Olsen's Father Murphy. Fowley was married seven times and was the father of record producer and songwriter Kim Fowley, the impresario of the all-girl punk band The Runaways. Douglas Fowley died in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 86 on May 21, 1998.

Randy Stuart

Born Elizabeth Jane Shaubell in Iola, Kansas to a husband-wife traveling vaudeville team, Stuart made her stage debut at age 3, which she later said was a failure and an embarrassment to her mother. The family later moved to California, where Stuart attended college, and a screen test with 20th Century Fox landed her a contract with the studio. She made her film debut in an uncredited role in 1947, but by the following year she was getting credited roles in films such as Sitting Pretty, I Was a Male War Bride, and All About Eve. Perhaps her most memorable role from the 1950s was as the wife of the title character in the 1957 science fiction classic The Incredible Shrinking Man. She also found work in television, playing the wife of Alan Hale, Jr.'s secret agent in Biff Baker, U.S.A. She was added to the cast of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp as hotel proprietor Nellie Cashman during the show's fifth season in 1959-60 but was not retained for the following final season.

Afterward she continued to get occasional guest spots on shows like Bonanza, Maverick, Peter Gunn, and Hawaiian Eye. She played the wife of Harry Morgan's Bill Gannon in two episodes of Dragnet in 1967 and 1968 and had her final TV appearance in a 1975 episode of Marcus Welby, M.D. She was married and divorced three times, all to non-entertainers. She died of lung cancer at the age of 71 on July 20, 1996.

Trevor Bardette

Born in 1902 in Nashville, Arkansas, Terva Gaston Hubbard originally planned a career in mechanical engineering after graduating from Oregon State University and even penned a short story under his given name that was published in the August 1927 edition of Weird Tales before turning to acting a few years later under his new name Trevor Bardette. He enjoyed a lengthy and prolific career, beginning with the Hopalong Cassidy feature Borderland in 1937, usually in smaller villainous roles. Many of his early uncredited appearances were in major films, such as Jezebel, Marie Antoinette, Gone With the Wind, and The Grapes of Wrath. But he found meatier roles in serials such as Overland With Kit Carson, Winners of the West, and The Secret Code in the late 1930s and early 1940s. He began appearing in TV series in 1953, including memorable turns as the title character in "The Human Bomb" episode of The Adventures of Superman and as a criminal impersonating Julius Caesar in "Great Caesar's Ghost" two years later. His TV appearances outnumbered feature film work from that point forward, but he still found time for notable roles in the 1957 sci-fi thriller The Monolith Monsters, the Robert Mitchum bootlegging exploitation flick Thunder Road, and the Debbie Reynolds-Tony Randall sex comedy The Mating Game. He appeared in six episodes of Lassie, playing two different characters in three episodes each. He appeared as different characters in four different episodes of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp between 1956-58 before being cast as criminal patriarch Newman Haynes Clanton when the series progressed to Earp's time in Tombstone, Arizona. He would appear in 34 episodes as Clanton through the remainder of the series.

He continued working primarily in television through the remainder of the 1960s on shows like Cheyenne, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, and Flipper before retiring to his ranch in Green Valley, Arizona in 1970. He died there at the age of 75 on November 28, 1977.

Stacy Harris

Stanley Harris was born in Big Timber, Quebec, Canada and broke into acting on radio, playing FBI agent Jim Taylor in 409 episodes of ABC Radio's This Is Your FBI, which ran from 1945-53. His film debut came in the 1951 Alan Ladd thriller Appointment With Danger, which also starred Jack Webb with whom Harris became good friends. Webb would name his daughter Stacey after Harris, and Harris would go on to appear in several of Webb's later television productions, including both television versions of Dragnet and the feature film of the same name. His work on Webb's TV program soon led to appearances on scores of other shows, including the lead role as Det. Vic Beaujac in the short-lived crime drama N.O.P.D. in 1956, a role he reprised in the 1958 feature film New Orleans After Dark. Steady TV work continued until he was cast as Tombstone mayor and newspaper publisher John P. Clum in the fifth season of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, and he would go on to make 21 appearances in that role over the show's final two seasons.

The steady TV work continued after Earp on shows like Wagon Train, Bonanza, and 77 Sunset Strip. He appeared 8 times on the second version of Dragnet, 3 times on Adam-12, and 3 times on another Webb production as Agent Ben Hazard on the 1971 series O'Hara, U.S. Treasury. His last appearance on film was in the feature Noon Sunday in 1975, two years after his death at age 54 on March 13, 1973.

James Seay

Prolific character actor James Seay was born in Pasadena, California, his father at various times working for the railroad, ship builders, and in construction. His parents divorced by the time James was 6, and he lived with his mother, who supported them by doing housework for others. Seay was signed to a contract with Paramount in 1939, the year of his first uncredited role. He was quite active in the years leading up to the war, appearing in a dozen films in both 1941 and 1942 before joining the Army Air Corps in late 1942. He resumed his acting career after the war, still in supporting roles, as often as not uncredited. Most notable during this era was his uncredited appearance as Dr. Pierce in The Miracle on 34th Street. In the 1950s he appeared in many westerns and science fiction classics such as The Day the Earth Stood Still, When World Collide, Killers From Space, and The Amazing Colossal Man. He added television work to his resume in the early 1950s, with multiple appearances on Cowboy G-Men, The Cisco Kid, and Perry Mason. His first recurring role was as Sheriff Davis with 8 appearances between 1956-59 on the series Fury, typical of his frequent casting as an authority figure. But his longest-running role was as Circuit Judge Spicer on 22 episodes of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp during the show's final two seasons.

His television work, plus occasional movie appearances (a policeman in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?), continued after Earp, though the pace slowed down considerably. Still, he played Doc Porter in 3 episodes of Lassie and had multiple spots on The Andy Griffith Show, Death Valley Days, and The F.B.I., which included his last appearance in 1971. He died in Capistrano Beach, California at the age of 78 on October 10, 1992.

Damian O'Flynn

Not much has been published about prolific Irish-American supporting actor Damian O'Flynn, born in Boston in 1907. He broke into films in 1937, playing Ralph Krawford in the Bette Davis-Humphrey Bogart drama Marked Woman. An article that appeared in the December 12, 1938 edition of the Spokane, Washington newspaper The Spokesman-Review notes that an actor named Damian O'Flynn had married stage actress Eve March the previous day in New York. The article mentions that March was from Los Angeles but says that O'Flynn was a native of O'Neill, Nebraska and had been in "several" films, though imdb.com credits him only with the aforementioned Marked Woman by that point in his career.

 O'Flynn played the lead role of Eddie Delaney in the war-time private eye caper X Marks the Spot in 1942. And while serving in World War II, he played the uncredited part of Col. Ross in Winged Victory, released the same year. After the war he had parts in A Foreign Affair, Young Daniel Boone, and uncredited roles in The Pride of St. Louis and The Glenn Miller Story. He began appearing in TV series in 1951 with multiple credits on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Adventures of Superman, and Mr. Adams and Eve. But his longest running roles were on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, on which he had two recurring parts. When the series was based in Dodge City from 1956-59, he played Judge Tobin in 36 episodes. When the series shifted to Tombstone in the third episode of Season 5, he was recast as the town physician Dr. Goodfellow, a role he continued until the end of the series in 1961.

After Earp O'Flynn kept acting for another 8 years, with multiple appearances on Arrest and Trial and Green Acres, his last appearance in 1969. He passed away in Los Angeles at age 75 on August 8, 1982.

Carol Thurston

Elizabeth Thurston was born in North Dakota in 1923. By 1930 her family had moved to Forsyth, Montana and by age 12 she was performing in her father's repertory company. The family then moved to Billings, where Carol graduated from high school and was active in local civic theatre. The family then relocated to Hollywood when her father landed a job with Lockheed. Thurston broke into films when she was selected by Cecil B. De Mille over several other notable actresses (including Yvonne De Carlo) to play the role of Indonesian girl Three Martini in the Gary Cooper drama The Story of Dr. Wassell in 1944. The role was the first of many exotic parts she would play over the years, including in China Sky, Rogues' Regiment, Arctic Manhunt, and Apache Chief. She began appearing in television series in 1949, beginning with The Lone Ranger and later 6 appearances on The Adventures of Kit Carson. She appeared in four different roles on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp between 1956-59 before being cast as the fictitious daughter Emma of Old Man Clanton beginning in 1959. She would appear in only two more film roles after her work on Earp.

But her private life was more dramatic than the roles she played on screen. Besides being hand-picked by the legendary De Mille to start her film career, Thurston was seen dating Lew Ayres and Freddie Bartholomew before eloping to marry former University of Texas football player Col. David Thayer in 1945.Thurston temporarily retired from acting and the couple settled down in Texas City in 1947 until a disaster destroyed their home. Thurston gave birth to a daughter the next year but returned to acting only three months later and divorced Thayer the next year. By July 1950 gossip columnist Louella Parsons reported that Thurston was engaged to actor Ross Elliott, but the couple called off the wedding in December. By June 1953 she was helping her mother run a shopping bazaar in Hollywood. In January 1954 her ex-husband Thayer, then operating an oil company, crashed an oil tanker plane into a residential section of Burbank, California, causing serious burns to one of the residents there, who later died. She later married actor Barry Russo but they were headed for divorce by February 1959. In February 1962 she married writer Robert Creighton Williams in Los Angeles. Seven years later she committed suicide, first lapsing into a coma and finally dying on December 31, 1969 at the age of 47.

John Milford

Born in Johnstown, New York, Milford originally studied to be a civil engineer, which would prove useful later in life when he was credited with helping design the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But after completing a Bachelor's in engineering from Union College, he switched to acting and received a Master's Degree in Drama from Yale University. His film career began in earnest in 1955 with an uncredited role in the film Marty and another uncredited part in The Ten Commandments the following year. But the bulk of his 45-year career was spent in television, usually one-off guest spots on just about any series on the air, beginning with The Millionaire in 1958 and running through Chicken Soup for the Soul in 2000. He had 11 appearances on The Rifleman, another 7 on Gunsmoke, and 6 more on The Virginian playing various characters. On The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Milford had a small part in one episode in the middle of Season 4 and then was cast as Old Man Clanton's son Phin in the episode "Arizona comes to Dodge" late that same season. But for Season 5 he was cast as Phin's brother Ike and appeared in that role 12 times over the course of the season but was replaced by Rayford Barnes for the series' final season.

Out in the real world, Milford founded the Chamber Theatre in Los Angeles, which proved instrumental in the acting careers of Richard Chamberlain and Vic Morrow. After his work on Earp ended, he found occasional supporting roles on a few other series during his career, playing Corporal Kagey on The Lieutenant in 1963-64, Cole Younger on The Legend of Jesse James in 1965-66, Det. Lt. Paul Hewitt on The Bold Ones: The Lawyers in 1971-72, and Captain Dempsey on the Dukes of Hazzard spin-off Enos in 1980-81. He was also a member of The Carson Players on The Tonight Show, once playing Leonid Brezhnev to Johnny Carson's Ronald Reagan. His wife Susan Graw runs the TV production and talent agency Susan Graw & Associates, and their son Robert is the agency's manager. John Milford died of skin cancer August 14, 2000.

Steve Rowland

Stephen Jacob Rowland was born in Hollywood, the son of director Roy Rowland and script-writer Ruth Rowland, who was the niece of Louis B. Mayer. His first appearance on film was at age 11 in the feature Boys Ranch in which he sang "Dear Clementine" in a campfire scene, a premonition of a future career in music. By age 20 he began regular film roles, mostly uncredited at first, but eventually getting meatier work in films such as Crime in the Streets and Gun Glory (directed by his father). With his father directing 39 episodes in Season 5 and moving over to the producer's role in Season 6, he won a regular role on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp as Old Man Clanton's son Phin over those final two seasons, making 13 appearances in the role. He returned to films after Earp through the mid-1960s in features such as Wild Youth, the original version of The Thin Red Line, and The Battle of the Bulge.

But during the 1960s he made the switch to a music career, first while working on films in Spain he enjoyed European chart success as a member of the group Los Flaps. As the British Invasion took hold, he moved to London and produced records for the group Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick, and Tich, including their biggest hits "Bend It," "Hold TighLt," "Zabadak," and "The Legend of Xanadu." He also produced records for P.J. Proby, The Pretty Things, and then obscure singer-songwriter Rodriguez, the subject of the recent Academy Award-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man. He collaborated with Albert Hammond as a member of the band The Family Dogg, which had a #6 U.K. hit with "Way of Life." He also discovered and signed Peter Frampton with his band The Herd, as well as The Cure and The Thompson Twins. He has more recently published the memoir Hollywood Heat: Untold Stories of 1950s Hollywood. His late partner Judy Lewis was the illegitimate daughter of Clark Gable and Loretta Young. He now lives in Palm Springs, California.

William Phipps

William Edward Phipps was born in Vincennes, Indiana, grew up in St. Francisville, Illinois, and knew from an early age that he wanted to be an actor, appearing in plays while in grade school. After completing high school, he attended Eastern Illinois University for two years, where he studied accounting, was elected class president as a freshman, and was head cheerleader, but abandoned school and hitch-hiked his way to Hollywood in 1941. When the U.S. entered World War II, Phipps enlisted in the Navy and served as a radio operator on ships in the Pacific Ocean, then returned to California at war's end and enrolled in the Actors Lab, where he was a classmate of Russell Johnson. It was during a performance at the Actors Lab that he was spotted by Charles Laughton, who recruited him to appear in a play he was directing. From there he transitioned into film with his first appearance coming in 1947 in Crossfire. His career really took off the next decade as he voiced the character of Prince Charming in Disney's animated Cinderella (1950) and starred in a series of cult science fiction classics including Five, Invaders From Mars, The War of the Worlds, and Cat-Women of the Moon. He also began appearing in occasional TV roles at this time, though his feature film work dominated his resume until the mid 1950s. Toward the end of the 1950s he was making multiple appearances on shows like State Trooper, Sugarfoot, and Wanted: Dead or Alive and began the first of 16 appearances as the outlaw Curly Bill Brocius on Earp in 1956.

He resumed the occasional guest TV roles after Earp throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s on shows like Gunsmoke, The Virginian, and The Waltons. In the 1980s he won some recurring roles as Uncle Link on Boone and as Jake Dodge on the series Santa Barbara. He also narrated David Lynch's TV adaption of Dune in 1984 and played the character Quentin in the feature film Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey. His last appearance was in the feature Sordid Lives in 2000. He currently resides in Malibu, California.

Lash LaRue

Alfred Wilson LaRue was born to a traveling salesman in either Watervliet, Michigan or Gretna, Louisiana. According to his death certificate filed in the state of California, his father's last name was Wilson. Whether born in Michigan or Louisiana, LaRue grew up in the New Orleans area before his family moved to Los Angeles when he was a teenager. He attended a military school there and then the Univesity of the Pacific where he intended to study law until he enrolled in an acting class to help him overcome a speech impediment. He initially worked as a salesman, real estate agent, and hairdresser after college but managed to make a pair of small appearances in films for Universal in 1945. Realizing that he was not on the path to stardom at a major studio, he auditioned for the part of a bullwhip-wielding cowboy for low-budget producer Robert Emmett Tansey even though he did not know how to use a bullwhip. He nevertheless claimed to have used one since childhood and was selected for the part, after which he purchased one and tried unsuccessfully to teach himself how to use it. He finally confessed, bloodied and bowed, to Tansey but was retained for the part anyway because of his acting ability, and Tansey arranged for him to receive instruction in the whip's proper usage. His first three films for the lowly PRC studio paired him with singing cowboy Eddie Dean. Thereafter he was cast in the lead role after he received volumes of fan mail and adopted the moniker "Lash" to match his identity as a bullwhip master. Beginning with Law of the Lash in 1947, he appeared in over 20 features over the next 5 years, first as Marshal Cheyenne Davis and then under his own name. Other cowboy stars, such as Roy Rogers, began adding a bullwhip into their act as well, and LaRue would appear at many promotional events, giving bullwhip demonstrations and signing autographs. He also had a very successful series of comic books that ran for over 100 monthly issues, many selling over a million copies worldwide. Some of them teamed LaRue with his godson J.P. Sloan when LaRue was married to actress Barbara Fuller. LaRue was married and divorced at least 10 times. He also was an accomplished guitar player, often sitting in and jamming at the Dew Drop Inn in New Orleans when he would return to visit.

After his popularity in B-grade westerns faded, he turned to television, appearing mostly in westerns, such as 7 appearances in Judge Roy Bean in 1956 and several appearances on 26 Men. When The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp moved its storyline to the Tombstone, Arizona years of Earp's career, LaRue was cast as his nemesis, corrupt Tombstone sheriff Johnny Behan during the show's fifth season. But after 8 appearances in the role, it was handed to veteran character actor Steve Brodie for the show's final season. LaRue himself developed problems with alcohol, stooping to appearing at carnivals and circuses for years until he returned to film in the pornographic western Hard on the Trail in 1972. LaRue was not aware of the film's lurid content when he filmed his scenes and later was so mortified that he became a born-again Christian and evangelist, performing his whip-cracking tricks at faith-based events. He is also credited with teaching Harrison Ford to use a bullwhip for the Indiana Jones movies. In later life he toured the western film memorabilia circuit and died from emphysema in Burbank, California on May 21, 1996 at the age of 78.

Steve Pendleton

Gaylord "Steve" Pendleton was born in New York City, the younger brother of comic actor Nat Pendleton, a one-time olympic and professional wrestler. Not much has been published about the Pendletons background, but Steve broke into films at age 15 in the silent Mary Astor feature Success. His film career began in earnest 7 years later and included over 150 roles, many of them uncredited, over the next 40 years. Among his more memorable roles were in the films The Informer (1935), Road to Singapore (1940), The Return of Rin Tin Tin (1947), Rio Grande (1950), and Killers From Space (1954). He also appeared in Sergeant York, The Glenn Miller Story, The Caine Mutiny, Ocean's Eleven, and Tora! Tora! Tora! His television work began in 1951 with The Cisco Kid and included 6 appearances on Adventures of Wild Bill Hickock and 8 more on The Roy Rogers Show. On The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp he was cast as Wells Fargo Agent Thacker and appeared in 12 episodes over the show's final two seasons. Thereafter he had rare occasional appearances on shows such as The Beverly Hillbillies, Perry Mason, Get Smart, and The Virginian before being cast in the recurring role of Mr. Bennett on the Diahann Carroll series Julia in 1967. He had only a handful of appearances after that, the last being a 1976 episode of Cannon. He died in Pasadena, California on October 3, 1984 at the age of 76.

Ray Boyle

Not much has been published about actor and production designer Raymond C. Boyle, other than his filmography and the fact that he has been married since 1954 to actress Jan Shepard, who played Elvis Presley's sister in King Creole and was a one-time roommate of Amanda Blake. Boyle, who often was credited as Dirk London, was born in 1925 and began appearing in films in 1952, beginning with the science fiction cult classic Zombies of the Stratosphere (which also included a young Leonard Nimoy). He also began occasional TV work that same year, including appearances on Captain Video and His Video Rangers and Gang Busters. But none of the TV appearances led to a regular role until he was cast as Wyatt Earp's brother Morgan on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp beginning in 1956. He made 15 appearances in the role over the show's 6-year run, then had only a couple more TV appearances in the 1960s on Perry Mason and The Lawbreakers. He tried his hand at production design in the 1970s, working on the films The Brotherhood of Satan and A Boy and His Dog. He returned to acting in the 1990s with appearances on ER and Beverly Hills 90210. Boyle and Shepard currently live in North Hollywood.

Rayford Barnes

Rayford K. Barnes was born in Whitesboro, Texas in 1920. A World War II veteran, Barnes began his acting career by training with Stella Adler's Neighborhood Playhouse in New York before moving to San Francisco to open his own theatre. He later moved to Los Angeles and began appearing in films and television in 1952. The following year he appeared in John Wayne's Hondo and thereafter a considerable number of his more than 150 roles were in westerns, though he also occasionally was seen in other fare, such as 1955's Bowery to Bagdad, The Beginning of the End, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter, and The Three Stooges in Orbit. But his most memorable film roles were in westerns such as The Desperado, Young Guns, The Wild Bunch, Breakheart Pass, and Cahill, U.S. Marshal. His work in television also ran more to westerns with multiple appearances on shows like 26 Men, Maverick, Laramie, Gunsmoke, Have Gun -- Will Travel, and The Big Valley. On The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, he replaced John Milford in the role of Ike Clanton for the show's final season, making 8 appearances in all. He continued making appearances on TV programs into the 1990s, including Walker, Texas Ranger and ER. His younger brother Lou Warren/Dupont was a Las Vegas-based ventriloquist. Barnes died at the age of 80 on November 11, 2000 in Santa Monica, California.

Ralph Reed

Ralph Reed Freeto was born in Wichita, Kansas in 1931. His family relocated to California at least by the time he was 8 because he began appearing in films in the Bing Crosby feature The Star Maker in 1939. Steady work followed, often in uncredited roles, from 1944-47. During this time he also attended the Mar-Ken Schools for child actors. His profile as a high school senior in the school's 1949 yearbook notes his interest in acting. He was also a member of the National Honor Society and Senior Class President. After high school, Reed served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, then returned to acting in 1951. He continued to get cast as a youngster in films such as High Noon, Not of This Earth, and Reform School Girl even though he was 26 when these last two films were released. His television career began in 1951 with an appearance on The Stu Erwin Show and though sparse in comparison to his film work through the 1950s began picking up steam toward the end of the decade with multiple appearances on Wagon Train and The Rebel. After two appearances in two different roles on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp in the late 1950s, he was cast in the role of the youngest Clanton boy, Billy, for the show's final season, appearing 5 times in the role. His acting career did last much longer, however. He made multiple appearances on Rawhide in different roles but retired from acting in 1965 and became a real estate agent in Orange County until his death in El Toro at the age of 65 on January 21, 1997.

Steve Brodie

There is conflicting information about veteran character actor Steve Brodie, who was born either John Stephens or John Stevenson in El Dorado, Kansas in 1919. Before taking up acting Brodie raced cars, worked on oil rigs, made bootleg whiskey, and was a boxer. He had hoped to studio criminal law but was forced to drop out of school and took up acting. When the acting roles were few and far between, he changed his stage name to Steve Brodie, a flamboyant saloon owner who claimed to have jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge and lived to tell about it. When casting directors assumed the acting Brodie was related to the daredevil, he did not bother correcting them. He broke into films when an MGM talent scout brought him to Hollywood and signed him to a contract, which ran only a year, but he soon became ensconced as a go-to heavy. Amongst his most notable roles were in A Walk in the Sun, Badman's Territory, Crossfire, Return of the Badmen, Home of the Brave, Winchester '73, M, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, and The Caine Mutiny. In the early 1950s he also began working in television, both in westerns and other dramatic fare, including Adventures of Wild Bill Hickock, The Lone Ranger, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and Wanted: Dead or Alive. He was cast to replace Lash LaRue in the role of crooked sheriff Johnny Behan for the final season of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.

After Earp he continued working primarily in TV with occasional feature film roles as well. He made multiple appearances on Everglades, PerryMason, Rawhide, Lassie, and Bonanza. Another point of disagreement about his personal life is how many times he was married. His first marriage was to actress Lois Andrews, but one source says they divorced in 1950 and he then married Barbara Ann Stillwell Savitt; another source says he remained married to Andrews until her death in 1968. In either case, Brodie's son Kevin went on to become a movie director and producer and directed his father in the 1975 sci-fi thriller The Giant Spider Invasion, which also starred Barbara Hale and Alan Hale, Jr. Brodie married Virginia Osburn in 1973 and remained married to her until his death. He last appeared on TV in the mini-series How the West Was Won in 1979, and his last film appearance was in The Wizard of Speed and Time in 1988. He died in West Hills, California on January 9, 1992 at the age of 72.

John Anderson

John Robert Anderson was born in Clayton and grew up in Quincy, Illinois. He served in the Coast Guard during World War II, started his acting career on a Mississippi River boat, and spent a year with the Cleveland Playhouse before moving to New York and acting on Broadway. He would eventually earn a Master's degree in drama from the University of Iowa. His television career began in 1950 on the Fireside Theatre and he made his first feature film appearance, uncredited, three years later in The Eddie Cantor Story. Over the next 40 years Anderson logged well over 200 credits both in television and movies, though he had only a handful of short-lived recurring roles, including 6 appearances as Wyatt Earp's brother Virgil during the final season of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. But he had already built a lengthy resume by that time, including multiple appearances on Gunsmoke, Have Gun -- Will Travel, and Sea Hunt. He played California Charlie in Hitchcock's Psycho and appeared in Ride the High Country, The Satan Bug, 5 Card Stud, The Great Bank Robbery, Cotton Comes to Harlem, and Smokey and the Bandit II. But his television credits far outnumbered his film work. Besides numerous appearances on The Rifleman, The Twilight Zone, The Virginian, Perry Mason, Laramie, and The Rat Patrol, he had regular roles playing Dr. Herbert Styles on Dallas and Harry Jackson, the grandfather of MacGyver. He also frequently played presidential or authority figures and was believed to bear a physical resemblance to Abraham Lincoln, whom he played three times. He also played Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the TV mini-series Backstairs at the White House and major league baseball commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis in the film Eight Men Out and the TV movie Babe Ruth. His last credits were in 1992 on Quantum Leap and Jake and the Fatman. He died of a heart attack on August 7, 1992 at the age of 69 and as a member of the Neptune Society had himself cremated and his ashes scattered at sea.

William Mims

Born in Carthage, Missouri in 1927, William Ray Mims moved to California as a teenager and attended Manual Arts High School and Los Angeles City College. He was active in Los Angeles local theatre and broke into films in 1956 in I Killed Wild Bill Hickock and made his first TV appearance that same year in an episode of Mike Hammer. His first regular role in TV was on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp in which he played Editor Dameron of the Clanton-controlled newspaper the Tombstone Nuggett during the show's final two seasons. After Earp he continued getting guest spots on westerns like Lawman, Tales of Wells Fargo, and Wagon Train and also had featured roles in films such as the Audie Murphy bio-pic Battle at Bloody Beach, Wild in the Country, The Children's Hour, The Lonely and the Brave, The Day Mars Invaded Earth, and Hot Rods to Hell. He appeared three times as Sam Ruddashaw on the TV series The Long, Hot Summer, three times as General Grant on The Beverly Hillbillies, and three times as Mayor Potts on Petticoat Junction. His television work continued steadily into the late 1980s, his last appearance being a 1988 episode of Falcon Crest. He died of cardiac arrest at the age of 64 on April 9, 1991. In his obituary in the Los Angeles Times, his wife mentioned that he was also founder and president of the Hollywood Hackers Celebrity Golf Club.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 5, Episode 19, "A Murderer's Return": Denver Pyle (shown on the left, played Ben Thompson in earlier seasons of 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 ex-convict Dobie Jenner. Rachel Ames (Audrey Hardy on General Hospital) plays his ex-girlfriend Phoebe McKean.

Season 5, Episode 20, "The Big Fight at Total Wreck": Clancy Cooper (Timmo McQueen on Lawman) plays Tim Shawnigan, leader of the Irish miners. Duncan Lamont (Victor Carroon on The Quartermass Experiment, Det. Insp. Ford on The Other Man, David MacMorris on The Texan, and Station Sgt. Cooper on Dixon of Dock Green) plays Jock Welsh, leader of the Welsh miners. Frank Gerstle (voiced Raseem on The Banana Splits Adventure Hour) plays mine owner Dick Gird.

Season 5, Episode 21, "Frontier Surgeon": Andy Albin (Andy Godsen on Julia) plays outlaw Tinkham Brown. John Gallaudet (Chamberlain on Mayor of the Town, Judge Penner on Perry Mason, and Bob Anderson on My Three Sons) plays Wells Fargo agent Thacker.

Season 5, Episode 22, "Let's Hang Curly Bill": Sam Flint (shown on the right, played Mr. Armstead on Father Knows Best and Judge Jewett in earlier episodes of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays Marshal Fred White.

Season 5, Episode 23, "Silver Dollar": Lesley Bradley (appeared in Time Flies, Anna Karenina, Attack of the Crab Monsters, and Teenage Cave Man) plays casino owner Dave Henson. Tom Palmer (Dr. Stewart on Lawman) plays cowboy Rafe Collins.

Season 5, Episode 24, "The Case of Señor Huerto": Penny Santon (shown on the left, played Madame Fatime in Don't Call Me Charlie, Madam Delacort on Roll Out, Mama Rosa Novelli on Matt Houston, Muriel Lacey on Cagney and Lacey, and Teresa Giordano on Life Goes On) plays widow Señora Huerta.

Season 5, Episode 25, "The Arizona Lottery": John Maxwell (Alex Gregory on The Court of Last Resort) plays Ten Percent Gang leader Shiloh Smith. Ron Foster (Officer Garvey on Highway Patrol) plays card player Johnny Behind the Deuce. Patricia Donahue (Hazel on The Thin Man and Lucy Hamilton on Michael Shayne) plays saloon girl Clara.

Season 5, Episode 26, "Don't Get Tough With a Sailor": John Litel (shown on the right, starred in Back in Circulation, On Trial, Murder in the Blue Room, four Nancy Drew films, and eight Henry Aldrich films and played Willis Thackery on My Hero, the Governor on Zorro, and Dan Murchison on Stagecoach West) plays retired Navy commander David Rowland. Mickey Simpson (Boley on Captain David Grief) plays Rowland sentry Magruder. Madge Kennedy (appeared in Bad Company, Lust for Life, Houseboat, and They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and played Aunt Martha Bronson on LeaveIt to Beaver) plays Rowland's wife Mrs. Rowland. 

Season 5, Episode 27, "The Scout": Charles McGraw (shown on the left, appeared in The Killers, Blood on the Moon, The Narrow Margin, and Spartacus and played Mike Waring on The Adventures of Falcon) plays legendary scout Tom Barrows. Rico Alaniz (earlier played Mr. Cousin on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays Apache leader Tahzay. Francis de Sales (Lt. Bill Weigand on Mr. & Mrs. North, Ralph Dobson on The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, Sheriff Maddox on Two Faces West, and Rusty Lincoln on Days of Our Lives) plays Indian reservation agent Smith.

Season 5, Episode 28, "The Buntline Special Stolen": Gary Gray (child actor who appeared in Return of the Bad Men, Rachel and the Stranger, and the "Father" movies Father Makes Good, Father's Wild Game, and Father Takes the Air) plays youngest Clanton boy Billy. Charles Wagenheim (Halligan on Gunsmoke) plays gunsmith Mr. Spangenberg. James T. Callahan (Dr. Yates Atkinson on Dr. Kildare, Danny Adams on Wendy and Me, George Callison on The Governor and J.J., Sgt. Hal Grady on The Runaways, and Walter Powell on Charles in Charge) plays a Spengenberg customer.

Season 5, Episode 29, "China Mary": Anna May Wong (shown on the right, the first Chinese-American movie star, starred in The Thief of Baghdad, Peter Pan, Shanghai Express, and Island of Lost Men) plays Chinese matriarch China Mary. Gerald Jann (Ling on Hong Kong) plays her top policeman.

Season 5, Episode 31, "Behan's Double Game": Orville Sherman (Mr. Feeney on Buckskin, Wib Smith on Gunsmoke, and Tupper on Daniel Boone) plays Johnny Behan's deputy Cavanaugh. John Litel (see "Don't Get Tough With a Sailor" above) returns as retired Navy commander David Rowland.

Season 5, Episode 32, "The Salvation of Emma Clanton": Sam Gilman (Sam Grafton on Shane) plays outlaw Gringo Hawkby. William Stevens (Officer Jerry Walters on Adam-12) plays Hawkby's henchman Willie. 

Season 5, Episode 33, "John Clum, Fighting Editor": Del Monroe (shown on the left, played Kowalski on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea) plays Clanton gunman Pete Spence. 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 stagecoach driver Levi McDaniels.

Season 5, Episode 34, "The Judge": Douglas Fowley (see the actor biographies above) plays elderly retired judge Amos Waggoner.

Season 5, Episode 35, "The Court vs. Doc Holliday": Forrest Lewis (shown on the right, played Mr. Peavey on The Great Gildersleeve) plays Holliday impersonator Ratzy Melvin.

Season 5, Episode 36, "Roscoe Turns Detective": Jock Gaynor (Deputy Marshal Heck Martin on Outlaws) plays Army Cavalry Lt. Grange. Paul Jasmin (provided the voice for Norma Bates in Psycho) plays gypsy Louis Vanik. William Keene (played various reverends on The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D.) plays Grange's superior Colonel Hibbert. Clancy Cooper (see "The Big Fight at Total Wreck" above) plays horse trader Skinner Malone.

Season 5, Episode 37, "The Posse": Ron Ely (shown on the left, starred in The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker, Night of the Grizzly, and Doc Savage: Man of Bronze and played Mike Madison on The Aquanauts and Tarzan on Tarzan) plays greenhorn bank employee Arleigh Smith. Peter Mamakos (Jean Lafitte on The Adventures of Jim Bowie) plays a San Berdoo gang member.

Season 5, Episode 38, "The Confidence Man": Nancy Hadley (Marilee Dorf on The Brothers and Barbara Simpson on The Joey Bishop Show) plays saloon performer Evie Marlow.

Season 5, Episode 39, "The Toughest Judge in Arizona": Angela Greene (Tess Trueheart on Dick Tracy) plays Clanton gang fence Alma Ross. Sam Flint (see "Let's Hang Curly Bill" above) plays wagon driver Spouter.

Season 5, Episode 40, "My Enemy -- Johnny Behan": Robert Gothie (Sam Hanson on The Gallant Men) plays rancher Will Morris.

Season 5, Episode 41, "Wyatt's Bitterest Enemy": Charles Wagenheim (see "The Buntline Special Stolen" above) plays informant Rowdy.

Season 6, Episode 1, "The Truth About Old Man Clanton": Howard Petrie (shown on the right, played Hugh Blaine on Bat Masterson) plays Arizona Governor Gosper. Britt Lomond (Captain Monastario on Zorro) plays outlaw Johnny Ringo.

Season 6, Episode 2, "The Doctor": Gregory Walcott (starred in Badman's Country and Plan 9 From Outer Space and played Det. Roger Havilland on 87th Precinct) plays outlaw leader Odie Hewitt. Walter Coy (Zoravac on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger and was the narrator on Frontier) plays doctor-turned-prospector Henry Mason. Sarah Selby (Aunt Gertrude on The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure, Lucille Vanderlip on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Miss Thomas on Father Knows Best, and Ma Smalley on Gunsmoke) plays  his wife Cora.

Season 6, Episode 3, "Johnny Behind the Deuce": Jack Ging (shown on the left, played Beau McCloud on Tales of Wells Fargo, Dr. Paul Graham on The Eleventh Hour, Lt. Dan Ives on Mannix, Lt. Ted Quinlan on Riptide, and Gen. Harlan "Bull" Fullbright on The A-Team) plays card-player Johnny O'Rourke. Carolyn Craig (starred in Giant, House on Haunted Hill, and Studs Lonigan and played Cynthia Allison on General Hospital) plays his fiancé Marcia.

Season 6, Episode 4, "Shoot to Kill": Howard Petrie (see "The Truth About Old Man Clanton" above) returns as Governor Gosper. Tyler McVey (Gen. Maj. Norgath on Men Into Space) plays Arizona Marshal Crawley Dake. Frank Gerstle (see "The Big Fight at Total Wreck" above) returns as mine owner Dick Gird. Don C. Harvey (Collins on Rawhide) plays a bartender.

Season 6, Episode 6, "Big Brother": Sue Randall (shown on the right, Miss Alice Landers on Leave It to Beaver) plays outlaw moll Lucy Tedder. Sherwood Price (Gen Gen. Jeb Stuart on The Gray Ghost) plays her fiancé Frank McLaury.

Season 6, Episode 7, "Woman of Tucson": Lloyd Corrigan (starred in A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob, Hitler's Children, Captive Wild Woman, The Bandit of Sherwood Forest, and Son of Paleface and played Papa Dodger on Willy, Wally Dipple on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Uncle Charlie on Happy, and Professor McKillup on Hank) plays dime novel author Ned Buntline. Rita Lynn (Ella Russo on The Detectives and Miss Kelly on Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) plays outlaw widow Amy Jones. James Nolan (Inspector Roper on Dante) plays Ten Percent Gang leader Luke Tighe.

Season 6, Episode 8, "The Fanatic": Mort Mills (shown on the left, played Marshal Frank Tallman on Man Without a Gun, Sgt. Ben Landro on Perry Mason, and Sheriff Fred Madden on The Big Valley) plays religious sect hater Odie Cairns. 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 religious sect outcast Hiram Grant. Jeanne Bates (Nurse Wills on Ben Casey) plays his wife Selma. 

 

Season 6, Episode 9, "He's My Brother": Wesley Lau (shown on the right, played Lt. Andy Anderson on Perry Mason and Master Sgt. Jiggs on The Time Tunnel) plays outlaw Dave Dray. Robert Sampson (Sgt. Walsh on Steve Canyon, Father Mike Fitzgerald on Bridget Love Bernie, and Sheriff Turk Tobias on Falcon Crest) plays his brother Cully.

Season 6, Episode 10, "The Too Perfect Crime": Denver Pyle (see "A Murderer's Return" above) plays stable owner Hoss Mackey. Ed Nelson (Michael Rossi on Peyton Place and Ward Fuller on The Silent Force) plays mine employee Hal Babcock. David Carlile (Deputy Bookright on The Long, Hot Summer) plays Babcock's rival Tom Gibbons.

Season 6, Episode 11, "Johnny Ringo's Girl": Suzanne Lloyd (Raquel Toledano on Zorro) plays Ringo's girlfriend Mary Turner. Lee Farr (Det. Lt. Jim Conway on The Detectives) plays her brother Claude. Britt Lomond (see "The Truth About Old Man Clanton" above) plays returns as Johnny Ringo. Glenn Strange (played Frankenstein's monster in House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula, and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein and played Sam Noonan on Gunsmoke) plays saddle tramp Joe.

Season 6, Episode 12, "Miss Sadie": Susan Cummings (shown on the left, played Georgia on Union Pacific) plays bank robber Ben Roberts' wife Sadie. Sam Flint (see "Let's Hang Curly Bill" above) plays bank manager Mr. Gale.

Season 6, Episode 13, "Winning Streak": Gloria Winters (Babs Riley on The Life of Riley and Penny King on Sky King) plays Morgan Earp's fiancé Ruthie Jensen.