Ripcord (1962)

 

Any discussion of the 1962 episodes of parachuting adventure series Ripcord must at some point deal with its confusing chronology and, with it, syndicated series in general. Unlike network-sponsored shows, syndicated series such as this one were developed by independent companies and sold to local stations to air when and where they chose. And therein lies the rub in terms of historical chronology--since each local station could choose what to air and when, there is no defined first air date for any episode. Further muddying the waters is the confusion over the two different kinds of syndicated shows--newly developed and independently produced shows versus what were essentially reruns of canceled series, which could be network-produced programs or older independently produced shows. Even TV Guide gets it wrong in their September 15, 1962 Fall Preview issue when they say that syndicated shows are only of the canceled variety being shown in reruns but include Death Valley Days in their list of examples. Death Valley Days, one of the longest-running westerns in TV history, continued producing new episodes through the 1969-70 season. For Ripcord the confusion stems from the mismatch between the episode numbers for Season 2 both on the DVD reissue and the imdb.com listing and the copyright dates in the closing credits for each episode. For example, while the first two episodes of Season 2, "Aerial Backfire" and "Among Those Missing" have 1962 copyright dates (and I have been able to confirm from my incomplete and random collection of 1962 TV Guide magazines issued from several different regional markets) and were aired at least by October 18 and 25, 1962, respectively, the third episode, "Chute to Kill" has a 1963 copyright date in the closing credits, though it is listed as a 1962 episode on imdb.com. Continuing this hodge-podge sequencing, Episodes 4 and 5 are copyrighted 1962, while Episodes 6, 7, and 8 are copyrighted 1963 (the last of these is listed as a 1962 episode on imdb.com). Episode 9, "Flight to Terror" has a 1962 copyright (imdb.com lists it for 1963), while Episode 10, "A Free Falling Star," has a 1963 copyright. Episodes 11 and 12 are both copyrighted 1962, the last listed by imdb.com for that year. However, Episodes 13, 20, 21, 24, 25, 27, and 29 all have 1962 copyrights, though imdb.com lists them as 1963 episodes. I have been able to confirm from my TV Guide collection that episodes 20, 21, 27, and 29 all aired somewhere in 1962. It would not be unusual for an episode copyrighted in 1962 to be first aired in early 1963 (this happens regularly with network-produced shows which are filmed weeks ahead of their first airing), but I have found no evidence of a 1963 copyrighted show airing in 1962. It is unclear where the episode-numbering scheme originated, whether from production company records or elsewhere, but if it were from the production company itself, it appears that the episodes were not filmed or aired in sequence. All of which brings us to the reason for this lengthy discussion: this blog post will cover all the remaining Season 1 episodes not covered in our first post for Ripcord as well as the Season 2 episodes with a 1962 copyright date, regardless where they appear in the episode-numbering scheme.

We've already covered the show's origins in our previous post on the 1961 episodes, but a 2014 review of the Season 1 DVD set on dvdtalk.com sheds some light on the confusing world of syndicated television mentioned above. Apparently, Ripcord production company Ziv Television Programs, Inc. owner Frederick Ziv had started out as a radio program syndicator but learned in the early 1950s that he could make even more money by producing independent TV series and selling them directly to local stations. Among his other popular productions were The Cisco Kid, Highway Patrol, and Sea Hunt. However, Ziv hit its peak popularity in the mid-to-late 1950s, by which point the major networks saw the money Ziv was making and decided to muscle in on the business by offering local stations reruns of their canceled series, which were more attractive to the stations since they were proven commodities rather than new, untested product. Ziv's money pot began drying up, and by the early 1960s, the time when Ripcord went into production, he was forced to sell out to United Artists, which is why you will see their trademark and logo on Season 2 Ripcord credits. The changing landscape of syndicated television is perhaps as big a reason for Ripcord's short, 2-season run as the danger involved in filming the real parachute jumps mentioned in our previous post on this series. After all, the series was credited with a huge increase in civilian parachuting interest during its run as well as huge sales of its tie-in children's toy parachutist. The fact that Season 2 was filmed in color shows that United Artists was apparently going all-in to make the show a hit, but the odds against it proved too high to continue beyond 1963.

Other changes for Season 2 included the dismissal of Ripcord pilot Chuck Lambert played by Paul Comi. While Shug Fister was retained in his role as Charlie Kearn, the other Ripcord pilots for Season 2 were the show's credited "technical advisors" Lyle Cameron and Leigh Hunt using their own first names as character names, a la The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. The plots, however, did not change much from Season 1 to Season 2--medical rescues that sometimes require paramedic Jim Buckley to perform surgery by dictation, kidnapping ransom drops, apprehending escaped convicts, international espionage, insurance fraud schemes, and Ted McKeever jumping out of a plane holding a dog ("Thoroughbred" in Season 1, "Aerial Backfire" in Season 2) are all used in multiple episodes. All of which begs the question, how realistic would it have been to run a parachute-for-hire business in the early 1960s? Granted, the business landscape has changed plenty since then--drones with cameras can perform a lot of the surveillance that Ted and Jim are ostensibly hired to carry out, and it would seem likely that there are fewer inaccessible parts of the country that can be reached only by air (though it is also likely there were not as many such places in 1961-63 as the Ripcord plots seemed to suggest). These days, the only non-military applications for parachutists appear to be training civilian thrill seekers (as the Ripcord boys do regularly, though their students always seem to have some kind of ulterior motive, like insurance fraud) and wildfire "smoke jumpers"--firefighters trained to parachute into dangerous wildfires to help control their spread, which is what we see Ted and Jim doing in the aforementioned "Aerial Backfire" and the Season 1 episode "Millionaire Doctor," which quickly turns into the familiar medical rescue story. It's also worth noting that today's parachute tourism trainers often barely survive financially and live in their own RVs that allow them to travel the country to drum up seasonal business, as opposed to being housed in an expansive warehouse space with front offices, secretaries, intercom systems, etc., as shown on Ripcord. Milt Platt, one of the stuntmen who performed real-life jumps filmed for Ripcord and profiled in a 2009 article in the Orlando Sentinel, ran his own parachute consulting business at the time (while he was also working as a deputy sheriff for the LAPD), Parachuting Associates, but the bulk of his business was providing film and aircraft services for the film industry, such as filming Johnny Carson's 1968 first attempt at parachuting which ended up being shown on The Tonight Show. But then, real-life accuracy isn't the main objective of Ripcord--it's high-flying adventure.

And nothing spells adventure like jumping out of a plane without a parachute, which happens both in Season 1 and Season 2 and provides the most hair-raising film sequences of the series, especially when one considers that the sky-diving sequences are real, not the faked type of Hollywood make-believe seen in Frankie Avalon surfing movies. In Season 1's "Hi-Jack," Ted and Jim are hired by an aerospace company to locate a submerged test space capsule and then fly with the company's owner, a leading space scientist named Dr. Elmo Gossett, and an attractive female meteorologist back to Florida for no real reason only to find the plane hijacked by the president's greedy assistant and a duplicitous airplane steward and flown to what is clearly meant to be Cuba. The assistant's plan is to force everyone aboard except Gossett to parachute out of the plane before it reaches Cuba but keep Gossett hostage so that he can be forced to work for the enemy. So Gossett has no parachute, and after the assistant pushes an unconscious Jim out of the plane only to have him miraculously regain consciousness in time to pull his own ripcord, Ted pushes Gossett out of the plane with no parachute and then dives after him, catches him in mid-air, and lands safely with him using Ted's parachute. As someone with an acute fear of heights, watching someone free-falling from 10,000 feet without a parachute is unsettling, even knowing that it is a filmed TV episode and that everyone survived. The same stunt is repeated in Season 2's "Panic at 10,000" only this time a pair of politicians are trying to fly to an airport dedication in a private plane only to have the landing gear stick so that they can't land and then discover that in their haste to take off they forgot to bring along any parachutes. The airport where they are destined, with Ted Knight as chief air traffic controller, does not have the necessary equipment for a crash landing, so their only option is to abandon the craft over an unpopulated area. Ted McKeever comes up with a scheme to fly over the top of them and lower parachutes down to them on a rope into the open canopy of the damaged plane, but he is only able to successfully drop them one parachute as two others miss the catch of the passenger politician, and with the private plane about to run out of gas, there is no time for Ted and company to land, pick up more parachutes, and try again. So Ted's new plan is to have one of the politicians jump with the parachute he actually caught, while the other politician continues to pilot the plane and then jumps out without a parachute with Ted diving after him from his own plane and catching him in mid-air, just as in "Hi-Jack." This time the stunt doesn't seem quite as scary, perhaps because we've already seen it executed successfully, or maybe because it's filmed in color, which doesn't seem quite as noirish.

Speaking of dangerous mid-air stunts, we mentioned in our previous post that a mid-air accident during the filming of Season 2 caused the production company to begin using more stock footage. That accident occurred when two planes were trying to allow a stuntman to lower himself from a rope tied around the wheel well of the Ripcord plane onto the tail fin of a second plane while being filmed from a third plane. Due to unexpected turbulence, the two planes touched and crashed, though both pilots and the stuntman were able to parachute safely. The footage from that accident, available for viewing on youtube.com, was reportedly incorporated into two Season 2 episodes, one of which was "The Lost Ones" in which Jim Buckley almost dies doing the stunt from the real-life accident and suffers from PTSD so that he does not want to jump again. However, after refusing to accompany Ted on a jump into the Baja desert as part of a U.S. Coast Guard test of their search and rescue capabilities (who knew the Coast Guard rescued people in mountainous deserts?), Jim is forced to power through his nerves when Ted is lost after slipping over the edge of a cliff while spreading out his parachute as a signal for the Coast Guard to find him, and Jim has to jump down to his location to pull him back to safety (for some reason, the Coast Guard can't do this). The use of stock footage, however, appears to have been confined to other story elements besides Ted and Jim parachuting, at least in the episodes copyrighted in 1962. In any case, the series should be commended for handling a topic like PTSD (though it isn't called that here) and depicting the very real dangers of the sport of sky-diving, even when carried out by experienced professionals. A little more of that vulnerability from the main characters and a little less uber macho bravado would have made for a more interesting and less formulaic series.

One more trivia tidbit: in the final episode for Season 1, "Para-Nurse," Allison Hayes plays a wise-cracking parachuting nurse who Ted and Jim compete for (and lose). Kudos to whoever came up with the idea of filming her from the ground up to make her look taller when she makes her first appearance, since her most famous movie role was the title character in The Attack of the 50-Foot Woman.

The Actors

For the biographies of Larry Pennell, Ken Curtis, Shug Fisher, and Paul Comi, see the 1961 post on Ripcord.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 1, Episode 15, "The Silver Cord": Robert F. Simon  (shown on the left, played Dave Tabak on Saints and Sinners, Gen. Alfred Terry on Custer, Frank Stephens on Bewitched, Uncle Everett McPherson on Nancy, Capt. Rudy Olsen on The Streets of San Francisco, and J. Jonah Jameson on The Amazing Spiderman) plays former military paratrooper Speed Domaine. George Dunn (Jessie Williams on Cimarron City and the Sheriff on Camp Runamuck) plays Ripcord pilot John Chapman.

Season 1, Episode 16, "Thoroughbred": Doris Dowling (starred in The Lost Weekend, The Blue Dahlia, Bitter Rice, and Othello and played Irene Adams on My Living Doll) plays thoroughbred race horse owner Margo Kane. Lee Van Cleef (shown on the right, starred in High Noon, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly and played John Peter McAllister on The Master) plays her husband Henry. Grant Woods (Capt. Myles Keogh on Custer) plays a local sheriff.

Season 1, Episode 17, "Ransom Drop": Ric Marlow (shown on the left, wrote the lyrics to "A Taste of Honey" for which he won a Grammy) plays a kidnapper. Jack Raine (appeared in Mine Own Executioner, Dangerous When Wet, and Julius Caesar) plays inventor Brandon Oliver.

Season 1, Episode 19, "Double Drop": James Coburn (shown on the right, starred in The Magnificent Seven, Charade, Our Man Flint, and In Like Flint and played Jeff Durain on Klondike and Gregg Miles on Acapulco) plays fugitive payroll robber Bert Tucker. Kenneth MacDonald (played the judge 32 times on Perry Mason, played Col. Parker on Colt .45, and appeared in several Three Stooges shorts) plays kidnapped Dr. Page.

Season 1, Episode 20, "The Financier": Russ Conway (Fenton Hardy on The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure, Gen. Devon on Men Into Space, and Lt. Pete Kile on Richard Diamond, Private Detective) plays presumed dead financier E.J. Bowen. Myron Healey (shown on the left, played Doc Holliday on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays his business partner Joe Manson.

Season 1, Episode 22, "Desperate Choice": Dan White (appeared in Arizona Whirlwind, Taza, Son of Cochise, Attack of the Giant Leeches, and The Sergeant Was a Lady and played Dan Fraser on From These Roots) plays prospector Simmons. Leslie Barrett (Judge Hanley on Dark Shadows) plays college professor David Croft. Wayne Heffley (Officer Dennis on Highway Patrol and Vern Scofield on Days of Our Lives) plays a park ranger.

Season 1, Episode 23, "Diplomatic Mission": Dick Simmons (shown on the right, appeared in Lady in the Lake, Love Laughs at Andy Hardy, Look for the Silver Lining, and Battle Circus and played Sgt. Preston on Sergeant Preston of the Yukon) plays Army commander Col. Jock Sutherland. Walter Brooke (appeared in The Graduate, Tora! Tora! Tora!, and The Nude Bomb and played Henry Forsythe on The Young Marrieds, D.A. Frank Scanlon on The Green Hornet, Mr. Gibson on Bright Promise, and Clarence Johnson on The Waltons) plays imposter U.N. agent Frank Taylor.

Season 1, Episode 24, "Hagen Charm": Arthur Franz (shown on the left, starred in Flight to Mars, The Member of the Wedding, and The Caine Mutiny and played Bill Winters on World of Giants and Hugh McLeod on The Nurses) plays sports and war hero Dr. Joe Hagen.

Season 1, Episode 25, "The Helicopter Race": Tom Brown (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Mr. Lucky) plays business owner Frederick Stanton. Norman Alden (Lucius Grundy on Not for Hire, Johnny Ringo on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Captain Horton on Rango, Tom Williams on My Three Sons, Coach Leroy Fedders on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Al Cassidy on Fay, and Frank Heflin on Electra Woman and Dyna Girl and voiced Aquaman on Super Friends and The All-New Super Friends Hour and Hank McSummers on Devlin) plays his pilot Owen Driskill. John Bryant (Dr. Carl Spaulding on The Virginian) plays Driskill's boss and co-conspirator. Dyan Cannon (shown on the right, starred in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Shamus, Heaven Can Wait, Revenge of the Pink Panther, and Deathtrap and played Lisa Crowder on Full Circle, Judge Jennifer Cone on Ally McBeal and Ally and Honey Bernstein-Flynn on Three Sisters) plays secretary Marion Hines.

Season 1, Episode 27, "Hi-Jack": Whit Bissell (shown on the left, starred in He Walked by Night, Creature From the Black Lagoon, I Was a Teenage Werewolf, I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, and Hud and played Bert Loomis on Bachelor Father, Calvin Hanley on Peyton Place, and Lt. Gen. Heywood Kirk on The Time Tunnel) plays space scientist Dr. Elmo Gossett. Vinton Hayworth (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Lawman) plays space capsule company owner Mr. Burton. Betty Lou Gerson (appeared in The Red Menace, The Fly, and The Miracle of the Hills and voiced Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmations) plays his wife Emily. Liam Sullivan (Major Mapoy on The Monroes, Dr. Joseph Lerner on The Young and the Restless, Dr. Wallace on General Hospital, and Mr. Willis on Knots Landing) plays Burton's assistant Jeffrey Hamlin. Elaine Devry (daughter of a Disney animator and Mickey Rooney's fourth wife) plays meteorologist Dr. Eve Malloy. Bing Russell (father of Kurt Russell, played Deputy Clem Foster on Bonanza) plays Burton's private pilot Capt. Larkin. Don Edmonds (appeared in Gidget Goes Hawaiian, Beach Ball, and Wild Wild Winter and played Nicky D'Angelo on Broadside) plays his co-pilot Capt. Finchon.

Season 1, Episode 28, "The Human Kind": Kenneth Tobey (shown on the right, starred in The Thing From Another World, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, and It Came From Beneath the Sea and played Chuck Martin on Whirlybirds, Dick Robinson on Our Private World, and Russ Conway on I Spy) plays itinerant rural preacher Rev. Dr. Darrell. Paul Lambert (appeared in Spartacus, House of Women, The Big Mouth, and Mama's Dirty Girls and played Tom Dalessio on Executive Suite) plays rogue ranch hand Colin Garth.

Season 1, Episode 31, "Elegy for a Hero": Lang Jeffries (shown on the left, one-time husband of Rhonda Fleming, played Skip Johnson on Rescue 8) plays former Army hero Lt. Wally Griffin.

Season 1, Episode 32, "Cougar Mesa": Michael Pate (starred in Face to Face, Julius Caesar, Hondo, and Tower of London and played Chief Vittoro on Hondo and Det. Sgt. Vic Maddern on Matlock) plays insurance fraudster John Durlin. Della Sharman (shown on the right, wife of Skip Homeier, played Nurse Johnson on Dr. Kildare) plays his girlfriend Jackie Campbell. William "Billy" Benedict (played Trouble in 4 Little Tough Guys features, Skinny in 5 East Side Kids features, and Whitey in 23 Bowery Boys features) plays dude ranch owner Mr. Wheelwright. Joey Faye (Myer in Mack and Myer for Hire) plays insurance adjuster Harry J. Babbitt.

Season 1, Episode 33, "Last Chance": Hank Patterson (shown on the left, played Pete Duggan on The New Adventures of Spin and Marty, Fred Ziffel on Green Acres and Petticoat Junction, and Hank Miller on Gunsmoke) plays flamboyant prospector Harry Travis. Tom London (starred in Six-Shootin' Sheriff, Song of the Buckaroo, and Riders in the Sky) plays claim jumper Garret.

Season 1, Episode 34, "Log Jam": Michael Harvey (appeared in Tycoon, Berlin Express, and Return of the Bad Men and played Capt. Steve Strong on Tom Corbett, Space Cadet) plays lumber company owner George St. Martin. Paul Langton (shown on the right, played Leslie Harrington on Peyton Place) plays his foreman Sam Haney.

Season 1, Episode 35, "Mile High Triangle": Robert Sampson (Sgt. Walsh on Steve Canyon, Father Mike Fitzgerald on Bridget Love Bernie, and Sheriff Turk Tobias on Falcon Crest) plays desperate gambler Eric Ashley. Kathie Browne (shown on the left, played Angie Dow on Hondo and was Darren McGavin's second wife) plays his wealthy wife Liz. Walter Mathews (Clyde Bingham on General Hospital) plays debt collector Charley Carroll.

Season 1, Episode 36, "Millionaire Doctor": George Macready (starred in Gilda, Detective Story, A Kiss Before Dying, Paths of Glory, and Dead Ringer and played Martin Peyton on Peyton Place) plays pushy millionaire Hal Glinders. Lee Philips (shown on the right, starred in Peyton Place and The Hunters, and played Ellery Queen on The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen; also directed 60 episodes of The Andy Griffith Show and multiple episodes of Peyton Place, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Doris Day Show, and The Waltons) plays his son-in-law Dr. Ian Kendrick. Meade Martin (Joe Demarest on Michael Shayne) plays Glinders' son Mark. Norman Leavitt (Ralph on Trackdown) plays air traffic controller Ed.

Season 1, Episode 37, "One for the Money": Johnny Seven (shown on the left, played Lt. Carl Reese on Ironside) plays fugitive murderer Johnny Monday. George E. Carey (Lamont Corbin on General Hospital) plays his associate Al Crown. Marie Worsham (Stacey Lee Balla on Kitty Foyle) plays weather balloon reporter Joan. William Sargent (Jerry Carter on Peyton Place) plays police Sgt. Kenyon. Grant Woods (see "Thoroughbred" above) plays Ripcord pilot Bob Archer.

Season 1, Episode 38, "Para-Nurse": Allison Hayes (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1960 post on Bat Masterson) plays nurse Laura Coakley. Harry Carey, Jr. (starred in Red River, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Mister Roberts, and The Searchers and played Bill Burnett on The Adventures of Spin and Marty) plays forest ranger Carl Devlin. Grant Woods (see "Thoroughbred" above) returns as Ripcord pilot Bob Archer.

Season 2, Episode 2, "Among Those Missing": Gordon Jones (shown on the left, appeared in The Green Hornet, Flying Tigers, My Sister Eileen, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and McLintock! and played Mike Kelley on The Abbott and Costello Show, Pete Thompson on The Ray Milland Show, Hubie Dodd on So This Is Hollywood, and Butch Barton on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet) plays police Capt. Tom Blacker. Paul Lambert (see "The Human Kind" above) plays fugitive Joe Sandoe. Lyle Cameron (technical advisor on Ripcord) plays the Ripcord pilot.

Season 2, Episode 4, "Day of the Hunter": King Calder (Lt. Gray on Martin Kane) plays munitions company CEO John Harland. Karl Swenson (shown on the right, played Lars Hanson on Little House on the Prairie) plays his employee Will Gorman. Richard Evans (Paul Hanley on Peyton Place) plays Gorman's son Billy.

Season 2, Episode 5, "Devil's Canyon": Pat Conway (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on Tombstone Territory) plays escaped convict Johnny Bicker. Paul Birch (Erle Stanley Gardner on The Court of Last Resort, Mike Malone on Cannonball, and Capt. Carpenter on The Fugitive) plays his former boss Bill Dean. Audrey Dalton (appeared in Titanic (1953), Separate Tables, and Kitten With a Whip) plays Dean's wife Janice. William Boyett (Sgt. Ken Williams on Highway Patrol and Sgt. MacDonald on Adam-12) plays State Police officer Capt. Paris.

Season 2, Episode 9, "Flight to Terror": Joe De Santis (appeared in Deadline - U.S.A., I Want to Live!, Al Capone, and Madame X) plays fleeing racketeer Louis Santee. Al Ruscio (shown on the right, played Paul Locatelli on Shannon, Sal Giordano on Life Goes On, Frank Ruscio on Joe's Life, and Kosta Kanelos on Port Charles) plays his bodyguard Carlo Minelli. Jay Douglas (Officer Len Dorsey on Highway Patrol) plays FBI agent Bill Cramden. Leigh Hunt (technical advisor on Ripcord) plays Ripcord pilot Leigh.

Season 2, Episode 11, "Hostage Below": Richard Eastham (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on Tombstone Territory) plays wealthy businessman Don Hart. Mikki Jamison (first wife of musician Jimmy Griffin later of the group Bread, appeared in Ski Party, Beach Ball, and played Veronica Lodge in two Archie-comics-based TV movies that were unsold pilots) plays his daughter Laurie. Paul Lambert (see "The Human Kind" above) plays kidnapper Dick Kupper.

Season 2, Episode 12, "The Hunter": Gerald Mohr (shown on the right, narrator on 19 episodes of The Lone Ranger, Christopher Storm on Foreign Intrigue, voice of Mr. Fantastic and Reed Richards on Fantastic 4) plays professional assassin Cliff Street. Russ Conway (see "The Financier" above) plays Secret Service agent Mr. Scott.

Season 2, Episode 13, "Infiltration": John Zaremba (shown on the left, played Special Agent Jerry Dressler on I Led 3 Lives, Dr. Harold Jensen on Ben Casey, Admiral Hardesy on McHale's Navy, Dr. Raymond Swain on The Time Tunnel, and Dr, Harlem Danvers on Dallas) plays drug-smuggling boss Harvey Stanton. Ric Marlow (see "Ransom Drop" above) plays his employee Steve Neven. William Sargent (see "One for the Money" above) plays police Lt. Carney. Leigh Hunt (see "Flight to Terror" above) returns as Ripcord pilot Leigh.

Season 2, Episode 20, "The Losers": Leo Gordon (shown on the right, appeared in Gun Fury, Hondo, Quantrill's Raiders, and Big Top Pee-wee and played Big Mike McComb on Maverick) plays uranium prospector Harry. Fred Beir (Larry Atwood on Days of Our Lives) plays his partner Ed Sutton.

Season 2, Episode 21, "The Lost Ones": Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez (shown on the left, appeared in Wings of the Hawk, The High and the Mighty, and Rio Bravo and played Pedro Vasquez on The Texan) plays goat herder Pedro Perez.

Season 2, Episode 24, "The Money Mine": Lee Van Cleef (see "Thoroughbred" above) plays counterfeiting kingpin Jack Martin. John Bryant (shown on the right, see "The Helicopter Race" above) plays government agent Stuart Langton.

Season 2, Episode 25, "Panic at 10,000": Myron Healey (see "The Financier" above) plays Senator Henry Gilbert. Ken Drake (Bragan on Not for Hire) plays his political adversary Rep. Julian Fant. Ted Knight (shown on the left, appeared in The Candidate, Countdown, and Caddyshack and played Phil Buckley on The Young Marrieds, Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Ben Turner on Lassie's Rescue Rangers, Roger Dennis on The Ted Knight Show, and Henry Rush on Too Close for Comfort) plays an air traffic controller. Frank Warren (Officer Simpson on Highway Patrol and grocer Art Crowley on The Andy Griffith Show) plays Gilbert's plane attendant Harry. Lyle Cameron (see "Among Those Missing" above) plays the Ripcord pilot.

Season 2, Episode 27, "A Present for Felipe": BarBara Luna (shown on the right, played Theresa Modesto on Zorro, Maria Roberts on One Life to Live, Anna Ryder on Search for Tomorrow, and Sydney Jacobs on Sunset Beach) plays fiesta sky-diver Domi Dias.

Season 2, Episode 29, "Race Morgan: Bounty Hunter": Johnny Seven (see "One for the Money" above) plays bounty hunter Race Morgan. Lyle Cameron (see "Among Those Missing" above) plays the Ripcord pilot.

 

Tales of Wells Fargo (1960)

If it were cast today, Tales of Wells Fargo might depict crooks and con men working inside the fabled company that began as a guaranteed transportation venture based out of San Francisco, but in the 1950s American television landscape, Wells Fargo agents were the good guys. The series ran for 6 seasons on NBC from 1957-62, the first five as a 30-minute black-and-white program with a single star--Dale Robertson playing special agent Jim Hardie, who travels alone throughout the west usually investigating robberies and murders perpetrated against the assets and agents of his employer. In this role, Hardie is a kind of combination private detective and lawman. The format and stories are hardly distinctive in the western TV genre, overlapping with earlier and later series such as Stories of the Century, Cheyenne, Pony Express, and Shotgun Slade, but due to Robertson's folksy charm and beefcake good looks, it shot to #3 in the ratings during its initial season and still placed #7 in its sophomore year before falling out of the top 30 in its final four seasons. The series was conceived by producer Nat Holt, who had directed Robertson in his first credited film role in Fighting Man of the Plains, and was based very loosely on the career of Fred J. Dodge, who worked as a special undercover agent for Wells Fargo  in the 1870s and 1880s throughout the west before settling in Texas in 1890 and working openly for the company from then on. The television character Jim Hardie, however, always openly announces his role as a Wells Fargo agent, many times preceded by his reputation when he enters a town to work on a case, though he occasionally goes undercover impersonating someone else, such as imprisoned killer Bill Stampel in the episode "The Canyon" (February 1, 1960) and wanted horse thief Rattlesnake Jim in the episode "Vasquez" (May 16, 1960).

Holt and his writers also expanded Hardie's chronological reach beyond Dodge's by setting some episodes as early as 1865, when the real-life Dodge was only 11 years old, and had him encounter real-life western legends that Dodge never dealt with, while avoiding one of Dodge's closest friends, Wyatt Earp, since the latter was then the star of another western series, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, on a competing network--ABC. The real-life Fred Dodge had even helped Earp land a job with Wells Fargo in Tombstone, Arizona, where he would later have his famous shoot-out at the O.K. Corral. But in the fictional world of Jim Hardie, the episode "Escort to Santa Fe" (December 19, 1960) depicts Hardie assigned to escort Mexican President Benito Juarez to a meeting with U.S. officials in Santa Fe on the day that President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. The episode "Cole Younger" (January 4, 1960) tries placing Hardie in the midst of the famous James-Younger Gang botched robbery of the North Minefield, Minnesota bank, which led to Younger's capture and imprisonment, though the real-life Dodge had no involvement in the event. Likewise, in the highly chauvinistic episode "Pearl Hart" (May 9, 1960), Hardie helps capture the notorious female stagecoach robber by playing on her vanity, which Hardie says all women are guilty of, by luring her into a shooting contest in Deming, New Mexico since she is so proud of her skill. After he bests her and takes her to Tucson for trial, he narrates that after serving a light sentence she went straight and even got married. The story of the real Pearl Hart is a bit more complicated, having married an alcoholic, abusive husband when she was 16, sending her two children to live with her mother in Ohio while she pursued various occupations, even possibly operating a brothel, and eventually turning to stagecoach robbery ostensibly to support her then-ailing mother. She was actually acquitted of the robbery but later arrested for tampering with the U.S. mail, escaped from prison but later recaptured in Deming, and after serving her sentence in Yuma Prison was later charged with receiving stolen property while running a Kansas City cigar store but acquitted of that charge as well. Needless to say, the arc of her real-life story did not follow the tidy redemptive trajectory depicted on Tales of Wells Fargo, but this episode's version is consistent with the overall moral sermonizing found elsewhere in the series.

"Frightened Witness" (December 26, 1960) depicts an eye witness to a murder being unwilling to testify against the perpetrator after being threatened by the perpetrator's gang members. However, after being shamed by his young son as a coward and then receiving a lecture from Hardie about what society would look like if killers were allowed to walk free without repercussion, the witness decides to stand up to the bullies threatening him and is so invigorated by his new-found backbone that he pummels one of the bullies in a fistfight. In "The Bride and the Bandit" (December 12, 1960) a former saloon girl posing as a schoolteacher who hopes to marry an upstanding Wells Fargo agent receives admonishment from Hardie to let the agent make the decision about whether her past is a deal-breaker rather than pretending to be something she's not and then running away once her cover is blown. And in another highly chauvinistic episode, Hardie literally takes over his knee and spanks precocious 17-year-old Stephanie Carrie in "A Study in Petticoats" (October 17, 1960) after she relentlessly tries to get him to marry her and then lies to her brothers, claiming that he took advantage of her when they were alone, in order to try to force a shotgun marriage upon him. After he administers the spanking, the brothers thank him and say they should have done the same a long time ago. Granted, the paternalistic tone of Tales of Wells Fargo was fairly common for the era but also helps demonstrate why this series failed to stand out from its competition.

While Hardie's character was unambiguously upright on screen, Robertson's handling of the series behind the scenes, like Pearl Hart's actual biography, is a little more complicated. Before the series got off the ground, Nat Holt tried to sell Robertson on the idea of Wells Fargo for some time, but Robertson kept putting him off because he considered himself too busy with his work on feature films. Eventually Robertson felt he owed Holt a favor out of loyalty for having gotten him started in his successful career, though he was also drawn to television's shorter shooting schedule than that of feature films. To sweeten the deal Holt offered Robertson 50% ownership of the series, and as the game show says, the price was right. However, by the fifth season, according to an interview with Earle Lyon on westernclippings.com, Robertson felt that Holt, then 67 years old, was getting too old and forgetful to continue, so he invited Lyon to take over as producer for the remainder of the series. Though Holt opposed the move, Robertson, who was also an experienced horse trainer, got the backing of NBC and the show's financial backer, Universal, and Holt was "put out to pasture" with Lyon taking over in Season 5. However, Robertson himself eventually was ousted as well, when, according to Lyon, Lew Wasserman took over Universal and decided that Tales of Wells Fargo, which had been expanded to an hour for its final season and was being shot in color at a time when very few other series were, was too expensive and canceled the series despite Robertson and Lyon wanting to continue. Perhaps Robertson forcing Holt out was necessary as "just business," but it hardly sounds like the kind of thing Jim Hardie would have done.

The theme music for Tales of Wells Fargo was composed by Stanley Wilson, who was profiled in the 1961 post for Ripcord.

Timeless Media Group has released the first two complete seasons on DVD as well as a 6-disc Best of collection from the first five seasons and a 22-episode collection from the final season. The series is also currently airing on the Encore Westerns cable TV channel.

 

 

 

 

The Actors

Dale Robertson

Dayle Lymoine Robertson was born in Harrah, Oklahoma, 30 miles east of Oklahoma City and claimed to have Cherokee blood. He became an accomplished rider of horses by age 10 and was training polo ponies a few years later. In high school he starred in athletics and became a professional boxer after high school while attending the Oklahoma Military Academy. He was reportedly offered a lead role in the Columbia feature Golden Boy during this time but turned it down as he had no interest in acting. Once the U.S. entered World War II he was commissioned as an officer and stationed in Europe, where he was wounded twice and was awarded the Bronze and Silver Star medals. However, while stationed in San Luis Obispo, California, he and some friends decided to have photographs made to send home. The photographer who took his picture made an enlargement and posted it in his shop window, drawing the interest of numerous talent scouts. Taking the advice given him by fellow Oklahoman Will Rogers, Jr., Robertson never took acting classes in order to retain his natural folksiness. Many years later he said that the only reason he got into acting was to earn enough money to buy a horse ranch back in Oklahoma, which he eventually did. His first uncredited role came in the 1948 feature The Boy With Green Hair, and the following year he got his first on-screen credit playing Jesse James in Fighting Man of the Plains. By 1951 he had signed a 7-year contract with 20th Century Fox and was playing leading roles in such films as Take Care of My Little Girl and Golden Girl. Later Robertson estimated that about 70% of his roles were in westerns, such as The Outcasts of Poker Flat, Devil's Canyon, and Sitting Bull. He made his first television appearances on the drama anthologies Studio 57 and Schlitz Playhouse in 1956. His second appearance on the latter series was titled "A Tale of Wells Fargo," which essentially served as the pilot for the series he would help create, own, and star in the following year, Tales of Wells Fargo. 

Though his workload diminished in the first few years after Wells Fargo was canceled, appearing in a handful of feature films and a pair of TV movies, he was soon back on television in a leading role as Ben Calhoun in Iron Horse, which ran for two seasons from 1966-68. He followed that by replacing Robert Taylor as the host and narrator of the syndicated series Death Valley Days during its final two seasons in 1969-70. His acting career again went on hiatus through most of the 1970s except for a few TV movies, but he returned to television as oil wildcatter Walter Lankershim on the first season of Dynasty. The following year he appeared 5 times as Frank Crutcher on Dallas, and after another 5-year drought returned to a starring role in the short-lived J.J. Starbuck in 1987-88. Thereafter he had only a few credits--one on Murder, She Wrote, another TV movie, and two appearances on Lloyd Bridges' series Harts of the West in 1993-94. He and his fourth wife Susan settled on his long-sought horse ranch in Yukon, Oklahoma but eventually sold it and moved to San Diego, where he died from complications from pneumonia and lung cancer on February 27, 2013 at the age of 89.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 4, Episode 17, "Cole Younger": Royal Dano (appeared in The Far Country, Moby Dick, and The Outlaw Josey Wales) plays notorious outlaw Cole Younger. Patty Ann Gerrity (shown on the left, appeared in To Hell and Back, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and The Trouble With Angels and played Alice Holliday on This Is Alice) plays farmer's daughter Inger Hegelund. House Peters, Jr. (Sheriff Jim Billings on Lassie) plays Hanska Falls Sheriff Glisburn. Olan Soule (Aristotle "Tut" Jones on Captain Midnight, Ray Pinker on Dragnet (1952-59), and Fred Springer on Arnie) plays a telegrapher.

Season 4, Episode 18, "The Easterner": Gerald Mohr (narrator on 19 episodes of The Lone Ranger, Christopher Storm on Foreign Intrigue, voice of Mr. Fantastic and Reed Richards on Fantastic 4) plays Boston lawyer Mulvaney. Joanna Moore (mother of Tatum and Griffin O'Neal, appeared in Touch of Evil, Son of Flubber, and Never a Dull Moment and played Peggy McMillan on The Andy Griffith Show) plays stage passenger Arlene Howard. S. John Launer (Marshall Houts on The Court of Last Resort and the judge 33 times on Perry Mason) plays a Wells Fargo agent. 

Season 4, Episode 19, "The Governor's Visit": Douglas Kennedy (starred in Adventures of Don Juan, I Was an American Spy, and Jack McCall, Desperado and played Marshal Steve Donovan on Steve Donovan, Western Marshal and Sheriff Fred Madden on The Big Valley) plays Wyoming outlaw Clancy. Mari Blanchard (shown on the right, starred in Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, Destry, Son of Sinbad, and She Devil and played Kathy O'Hara on Klondike) plays saloon owner Kitty Flambeau. Joan Staley (Playboy Playmate who appeared in Cape Fear, Roustabout, Valley of the Dragons, Johnny Cool, and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken and played Hannah on 77 Sunset Strip and Roberta Love on Broadside) plays saloon girl Sally. Joan Granville (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Lock Up) plays saloon girl Tess. Tom McKee (Comrade Laylock Brisson on I Led 3 Lives, Captain Davis on The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, and Fire Chief Tucker on Rescue 8) plays Wyoming sheriff Parker. Bob Steele (starred in Breezy Bill, Of Mice and Men, and The Big Sleep, played Billy the Kid in 6 westerns and Tucson Smith in 19 others, and played Trooper Duffy on F Troop) plays Clancy henchman Cole. Quintin Sondergaard (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Tombstone Territory) plays an unnamed Clancy henchman.

Season 4, Episode 21, "The Canyon": Bruce Gordon (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Untouchables) plays outlaw community kingpin Len Garner. Andy Clyde (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Real McCoys) plays outlaw community resident Pop Brown. Jean Ingram (had an affair with James Edward Baker, aka Father Yod of The Source Family, who was convicted of killing her husband in 1963) plays embezzlement suspect's daughter Jane Kimball. 

Season 4, Episode 22, "Red Ransom": Frank DeKova (Chief Wild Eagle on F Troop and Louis Campagna on The Untouchables) plays Apache renegade Joe Black. John Alderson (Sgt. Bullock on Boots and Saddles and Wyatt Earp on Doctor Who) plays Wells Fargo agent Clay Arvin. 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 Clara. Larry J. Blake (the unnamed jailer on Yancy Derringer and Tom Parnell on Saints and Sinners) plays Apache chief Akana. Pat Hogan (Black Cloud on Brave Eagle) plays argumentative townsman Todd Hoover. Grandon Rhodes (Mr. Vanderlip on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Dr. Stevens on Lassie, the judge 16 times on Perry Mason, and Dr. J.P. Martin on Bonanza) plays another townsman.

Season 4, Episode 23, "The Englishwoman": Adrienne Hayes (shown on the right, played Brooke Bentley on General Hospital) plays embezzlement suspect's daughter Vickie St. John. Wesley Lau (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Perry Mason) plays Wells Fargo agent Hank. Frank Ferguson (Gus Broeberg on My Friend Flicka, Eli Carson on Peyton Place, and Dr. Barton Stuart on Petticoat Junction) plays the Morgan sheriff. George Cisar (Sgt. Theodore Mooney on Dennis the Menace and Cyrus Tankersley on The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D.) plays newspaper publisher Whitey Lawson. John Beradino (Special Agent Steve Daniels on I Led 3 Lives, Sgt. Vince Cavelli on The New Breed, and Dr. Steve Hardy on General Hospital) plays gunslinger Larry Wills. Mason Curry (Deke Tuttle on The Ghost and Mrs. Muir) plays general store owner Joe Jenson.

Season 4, Episode 24, "Forty-Four Forty": Peter Whitney (Sergeant Buck Sinclair on The Rough Riders and Lafe Crick on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays stagecoach robber Big Duggin. Roy Barcroft (Col. Logan on The Adventures of Spin and Marty and Roy on Gunsmoke) plays stage driver Tom Olsen. Nancy Hale (shown on the left, played Helen Carter on Whirlybirds) plays his daughter Myra. Sam Flint (Mr. Armstead on Father Knows Best and Judge Jewett on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays Tucson doctor Ed Baylor. Owen Bush (Ben on Shane, John Belson on Sirota's Court, and Crimshaw on Our House) plays stage manager Hank.

Season 4, Episode 25, "The Late Mayor Brown": John Stephenson (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Flintstones) plays River Oaks resident Miles Rogers. George Mitchell (Cal Bristol on Stoney Burke) plays River Oaks Marshal Dan Fogarty. Vic Perrin (the narrator on Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, the control voice on The Outer Limits, and did voicework on Jonny Quest, Star Trek, Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, and Mission: Impossible!) plays thief Ben Locust. Gail Kobe (Penny Adams on Trackdown and Doris Schuster on Peyton Place and produced over 200 episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful) plays late mayor's widow Kate Brown. Charles Cooper (starred in The Wrong Man and played the sheriff on Father Murphy and Judge Robert Boucher on The Practice) plays Locust's friend Sonny Boston. 

Season 4, Episode 26, "Black Trail": Dianne Foster (starred in Night Passage, The Last Hurrah, and The Deep Six) plays former actress Elaine Griffon. Luis Van Rooten (appeared in The Hitler Gang, Champion, and Operation Eichmann and played Knobby Walsh on The Joe Palooka Story) plays bank president Cyrus Wilson. Ron Soble (Dirty Jim on The Monroes) plays stagecoach robber Burch. 

Season 4, Episode 27, "The Great Bullion Robbery": Joyce Taylor (shown on the left, played Mary McCauley on Men Into Space) plays Wells Fargo agent's daughter Anne King. Robert Karnes (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Lawless Years) plays Weber Falls Marshal Emmett Clegg. Jan Merlin (Roger Manning on Tom Corbett, Space Cadet and Lt. Colin Kirby on The Rough Riders) plays ex-con Johnny Hogan. Ed Kemmer (Commander Buzz Corry on Space Patrol, Paul Britton on The Secret Storm, and Dick Martin on As the World Turns) plays blacksmith Joe Beecher.

Season 4, Episode 28, "The Outlaw's Wife": Mike Road (Marshal Tom Sellers on Buckskin, Lt. Joe Switolski on The Roaring 20's, and provided the voice for Race Bannon on Johnny Quest and Ugh on Space Ghost) plays robbery conspirator Clete. Patricia Huston (Addy Olson on Days of Our Lives and Hilda Brunschwager on L.A. Law) plays robber's wife's sister Marge Walker. Byron Morrow (Capt. Keith Gregory on The New Breed and Pearce Newberry on Executive Suite) plays a Wells Fargo agent. 

Season 4, Episode 29, "The Town": Mary Webster (shown on the far right, appeared in The Delicate Delinquent, Eighteen and Anxious, and Master of the World) plays Wolf Creek heir Lucy Potter. Rhys Williams (shown on the near right, played Doc Burrage on The Rifleman) plays train passenger Jim Cook. Robert Foulk (Ed Davis on Father Knows Best, Sheriff Miller on Lassie, Joe Kingston on Wichita Town, Mr. Wheeler on Green Acres, and Phillip Toomey on The Rifleman) plays Wolf Creek crook Clem Fallon. Bert Remsen (Detective Lawrence on Peyton Place, Mr. Pell on Gibbsville, Mario on It's a Living, and Jack Crager on Dynasty) plays Fallon's henchman Burkett. Robert B. Williams (postman Mr. Dorfman on Dennis the Menace  and Barney on Hazel) plays a hotel clerk. 

Season 4, Episode 30, "The Trading Post": 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 bounty hunter Chase Robson. Paul Langton (Leslie Harrington on Peyton Place) plays trading post manager Frisbee. Peter Leeds (Tenner Smith on Trackdown and George Colton on Pete and Gladys) plays white man living among Indians Oscar Shipley. X Brands (Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah on Yancy Derringer) plays Osage brave Spotted Tail. Monte Blue (Sheriff Hollister on Sky King) plays his father Nicoma. 

Season 4, Episode 31, "Dead Man's Street": Buddy Ebsen (shown on the right, played Sgt. Hunk Marriner on Northwest Passage, Jed Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies, Barnaby Jones on Barnaby Jones, and Roy Houston on Matt Houston) plays lawless patriarch Dan Ferguson. George Kennedy (starred in Charade, The Sons of Katie Elder, The Dirty Dozen, Cool Hand Luke, and The Naked Gun and played MP Sgt. Kennedy on The Phil Silvers Show, Father Samuel Cavanaugh on Sarge, Bumper Morgan on The Blue Knight, and Carter McKay on Dallas) plays his son Joby. Robert Bray (Simon Kane on Stagecoach West and Corey Stuart on Lassie) plays his son Alec. Kelly Thordsen (Colorado Charlie on Yancy Derringer) plays his son Amos. 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 Wells Fargo agent George Guinness. Wallace Ford (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Deputy) plays Paradise, CA marshal F.X. Murphy. Walter Sande (appeared in To Have and Have Not, A Place in the Sun, and Bad Day at Black Rock and played Capt. Horatio Bullwinkle on The Adventures of Tugboat Annie and Papa Holstrum on The Farmer's Daughter) plays bartender Healey. Herbert Lytton (Admiral Reynolds on McHale's Navy) plays store owner Benson.

Season 4, Episode 32, "Threat of Death": Robert Middleton (Barney Wales on The Monroes) plays store owner Jason Kreegar. King Calder (Lt. Gray on Martin Kane) plays a Dobie resident. William Campbell (appeared in The High and the Mighty, Love Me Tender, Dementia 13, and Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte and played Jerry Austin on Cannonball) plays Wells Fargo robber Johnny Crail. Elizabeth Allen (shown on the left, played Laura Deane on Bracken's World, Martha Simms on The Paul Lynde Show, Capt. Quinlan on CPO Sharkey, and Victoria Bellman on Texas) plays captive half-breed Ilona. Virginia Sale (Selma Plout on Petticoat Junction and Green Acres) plays another Dobie citizen. 

Season 4, Episode 33, "Dealer's Choice": Patricia Barry (shown on the right, played Kate Harris on Harris Against the World, Lydia McGuire on Dr. Kildare, Adelaide Horton Williams on Days of Our Lives, Peg English on All My Children, and Sally Gleason on Guiding Light) plays wealthy heir Phyllis Randolph. Frank Wilcox (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Untouchables) plays her father. Robert Lowery (starred in Criminal Investigator, Revenge of the Zombies, The Navy Way, The Mummy's Ghost, and They Made Me a Killer and played Big Tim Champion on Circus Boy and Buss Courtney on Pistols 'n' Petticoats) plays casino owner John Galena. Arthur Space (appeared in Black Beauty, The Cockeyed Miracle, and Target Earth and played Herbert Brown on National Velvet and Dr. Frank Weaver on Lassie) plays Wells Fargo manager Arnold Porter. Robert Carson (Mr. Maddis on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show) plays Wells Fargo agent Houseman Ward. Ann McCrea (Midge Kelsey on The Donna Reed Show) plays casino hostess Sarah. Roy Gordon (Andrew V. McMahon on The Millionaire) plays card-playing Judge Donovan.

Season 4, Episode 34, "Pearl Hart": Beverly Garland (shown on the left, played Casey Jones on Decoy, Ellis Collins on The Bing Crosby Show, Barbara Harper Douglas on My Three Sons, Dorothy "Dotty" West on Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Ellen Lane on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and Ginger on 7th Heaven) plays legendary outlaw Pearl Hart. Michael Pate (starred in Face to Face, Julius Caesar, Hondo, and Tower of London and played Chief Vittoro on Hondo and Det. Sgt. Vic Maddern on Matlock) plays her henchman Hogan. Stafford Repp (Brink on The New Phil Silvers Show and Chief O'Hara on Batman) plays Deming, NM sheriff Henry Roseboro. Jean Inness (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Dr. Kildare) plays his wife Martha.

Season 4, Episode 35, "Vasquez": Cesare Danova (shown on the right, appeared in Tender Is the Night, Cleopatra, Viva Las Vegas, Mean Streets, and Animal House and played Actor on Garrison's Gorillas) plays famous desperado Tiburcio Vasquez. Jack Reitzen (Chopstick Joe on Terry and the Pirates and Flores on Not for Hire) plays his henchman Moreno. Rodolfo Hoyos, Jr. (Luis Valdez on Viva Valdez) player henchman Chavez. Barbara Luna (Maria on One Life to Live) plays Vasquez's lover Rosita. Stuart Randall (Sheriff Art Sampson on Cimarron City, Al Livermore on Lassie, and Sheriff Mort Corey on Laramie) plays San Jose Sheriff Morris. C. Lindsay Workman (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Donna Reed Show) plays a telegrapher.

Season 4, Episode 36, "Kid Brother": Larry Pennell (shown on the left, see the biographical section for the 1961 post on Ripcord) plays Hardie's younger brother Ben. Henry Corden (Carlo on The Count of Monte Cristo, and Babbitt on The Monkees and did voicework on The Flintstones, Jonny Quest, The Atom Ant Show, The Banana Splits Adventure Hour and Return to the Planet of the Apes) plays New Orleans police inspector Dupre. Allison Hayes (see the biographical section for the 1960 post on Bat Masterson) plays saloon girl Marie. Kathie Browne (Angie Dow on Hondo and was Darren McGavin's second wife) plays saloon girl Madeleine. Joanna Lee (appeared in The Joker Is Wild, The Brain Eaters, and Plan 9 From Outer Space and wrote screenplays for The Flintstones, My Three Sons, Gilligan's Island, Nanny and the Professor, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, and Room 222) plays saloon girl Antoinette. Howard Caine (Schaab on The Californians and Maj. Wolfgang Hochstetter on Hogan's Heroes) plays the saloon manager.

Season 4, Episode 37, "Man for the Job": 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 stagecoach shotgun messenger Phil Coughlin. Regis Toomey (starred in Alibi, Other Men's Women, The Finger Points, His Girl Friday, and The Big Sleep and played Joe Mulligan on The Mickey Rooney Show, Lt. Manny Waldo on Four Star Playhouse, Lt. McGough on Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Bill Cochran on Shannon, Det. Les Hart on Burke's Law, and Dr. Barton Stuart on Petticoat Junction and Green Acres) plays Wells Fargo agent Les Goslin. Ken Lynch (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1961 post on Checkmate) plays prospective stage robber Parker. Dennis Cross (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Blue Angels) plays his partner Luke Lambert.

Season 5, Episode 1, "Day of Judgement": John Dehner (shown on the left, played Duke Williams on The Roaring '20's, Commodore Cecil Wyntoon on The Baileys of Balboa, Morgan Starr on The Virginian, Cyril Bennett on The Doris Day Show, Dr. Charles Cleveland Claver on The New Temperatures Rising Show, Barrett Fears on Big Hawaii, Marshal Edge Troy on Young Maverick, Lt. Joseph Broggi on Enos, Hadden Marshall on Bare Essence, and Billy Joe Erskine on The Colbys) plays vengeful Civil War veteran Wade Cather. John Lupton (Tom Jeffords on Broken Arrow and Frank on Never Too Young) plays wanted robber Eli Fisher. Doris Dowling (starred in The Lost Weekend, The Blue Dahlia, Bitter Rice, and Othello and played Irene Adams on My Living Doll) plays Fisher's lady friend Verna. 

Season 5, Episode 2, "Angry Town": Paul Birch (Erle Stanley Gardner on The Court of Last Resort, Mike Malone on Cannonball, and Capt. Carpenter on The Fugitive) plays Miles City Sheriff Paul Brick. Sydney Pollack (shown on the right, directed They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, The Way We Were, Absence of Malice, Tootsie, and Out of Africa) plays his brother-in-law Stan Riker. Paul Fix (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Rifleman) plays Hardie's old friend and physician Doc Howard. Guy Wilkerson (played Panhandle Perkins in 22 westerns) plays rancher Zeb Baker. Richard Tyler (appeared in It's in the Bag!, Father Was a Fullback, and Tea and Sympathy and played Henry Aldrich on The Aldrich Family) plays posse member Chris Warren. Ed Prentiss (Carl Jensen on The Virginian and Dr. Ralph Dunbar on Days of Our Lives) plays banker Harry Newhole.

Season 5, Episode 3, "Doc Dawson": Edgar Buchanan (shown on the left, played Uncle Joe Carson on The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and Petticoat Junction, Red Connors on Hopalong Cassidy, Judge Roy Bean on Judge Roy Bean, Doc Burrage on The Rifleman, and J.J. Jackson on Cade's County) plays former outlaw and new dentist Doc Dawson. Stanley Clements (Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie in 6 Bowery Boys feature films) plays dead Wells Fargo driver's brother-in-law Clyde Simpson. Don Haggerty (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 on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays close family friend Joe Haynes. Douglas Spencer (appeared in The Thing From Another World, Shane, This Island Earth, River of No Return, and The Diary of Anne Frank) plays a Texas sheriff.

Season 5, Episode 4, "The Kinfolk": Richard Jaeckel (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Frontier Circus) plays wanted killer Len Lassiter.

Season 5, Episode 5, "A Study in Petticoats": Whitney Blake (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1961 post on Hazel) plays jewelry owner Norma Hoover. Diane Jergens (appeared in The Bob Mathias Story, 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 infatuated 17-year-old Stephanie Carrie. Paul Genge (Lt. Burns on 87th Precinct) plays the Longshire Wells Fargo agent. 

Season 5, Episode 6, "All That Glitters": Barbara Stuart (shown on the left, played Bessie on The Great Gildersleeve, Alice on Pete and Gladys, Bunny on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Peggy Ferguson on The McLean Stevenson Show, Marianne Danzig on Our Family Honor, and Alice on Huff) plays bank president Meg Hollister. Ron Harper (see the biography section for the 1961 post on 87th Precinct) plays her brother Dan Haskell. Ken Lynch (see "Man for the Job" above) plays ex-con safecracker Joe Brass. Donna Corcoran (sister of Noreen Corcoran, appeared in Angels in the Outfield, Don't Bother to Knock, and Million Dollar Mermaid) plays his daughter Helen. Robert P. Lieb (Harry Thompson on Hazel) plays Wells Fargo agent Sam Tubs.

Season 5, Episode 7, "Run for the River": Ron Hayes (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Bat Masterson) plays Hardie's prisoner Ira Kyle. Bruce Gordon (shown on the right, see "The Canyon" above) plays Red Bluffs Mayor Carl Orleans. Forrest Taylor (starred in True Nobility, Big Calibre, Too Much Beef, and The Lost Planet and played Doc Brannon on Man Without a Gun) plays Ira's father Pop Kyle. William Boyett (Sgt. Ken Williams on Highway Patrol and Sgt. MacDonald on Adam-12) plays bank clerk Bert. 

Season 5, Episode 8, "Leading Citizen": Robert Middleton (see "Threat of Death" above) plays San Tomas, TX mayor/sheriff/judge Bodie Seaton. Wesley Lau (see "The Englishwoman" above) plays outlaw Morgan Bates. Robert Carricart (Pepe Cordoza on T.H.E. Cat) plays Seaton henchman Coley David.

Season 5, Episode 9, "The Killing of Johnny Lash": Dennis Patrick (shown on the left, played Paul Stoddard on Dark Shadows and Vaughn Leland on Dallas) plays card dealer Nevada. Anne Helm (Molly Pierce on Run for Your Life) plays saloon showgirl Nell. 

Season 5, Episode 10, "The Wade Place": Robert J. Wilke (appeared in Best of the Badmen, High Noon, The Far Country, and Night Passage and played Capt. Mendoza on Zorro) plays Wells Fargo manager Mike Ross. Vaughn Taylor (starred in Jailhouse Rock, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Psycho, and In Cold Blood and played Ernest P. Duckweather on Johnny Jupiter) plays store owner Seth Wade. Russell Thorson (Det. Lt. Otto Lindstrom on The Detectives and William Kennerly on Peyton Place) plays his brother, saloon owner Joe Wade. William Henry (appeared in Madame X, The Way of All Flesh, Mister Roberts, and The Alamo and played Andrew on The Living Christ Series) plays outlaw Tracy Harkins. Marianna Hill (appeared in Roustabout, Paradise, Hawaiian Style, The Godfather: Part II, and High Plains Drifter and played Rita on The Tall Man) plays informant Maria.

Season 5, Episode 11, "Jeff Davis' Treasure": John Dehner (see "Day of Judgement" above) returns as Wade Cather. John McLiam (appeared in Cool Hand Luke, In Cold Blood, Sleeper, The Missouri Breaks, and First Blood) plays robbery accomplice Henry Moore. Leo Gordon (Big Mike McComb on Maverick) plays accomplice and blacksmith Adam Kemper. Paul Langton (see "The Trading Post" above) plays accomplice Leo Summers. 

Season 5, Episode 12, "The Bride and the Bandit": Myron Healey (Doc Holliday on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays holdup man Tip Rollins. Dabbs Greer (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1960 post on Gunsmoke) plays Wells Fargo agent Ben Wilson. Jan Clayton (starred in Sunset Trail, The Wolf Hunters, and This Man's Navy and played Ellen Miller on Lassie) plays former showgirl Ellen Stevens. Ellen Corby (Henrietta Porter on Trackdown and Esther Walton on The Waltons) plays hotel clerk Kate Wiggam.

Season 5, Episode 13, "Escort to Santa Fe": Gregory Walcott (see the biography section for the 1961 post on 87th Precinct) plays saboteur Kyle Gentry. Linda Lawson (shown on the left, played Renee on Adventures in Paradise, Pat Perry on Don't Call Me Charlie, Laura Fremont on Ben Casey, and Mrs. Paganini on That's Life) plays saloon girl Kate Fallon. 

Season 5, Episode 14, "Frightened Witness": John Milford (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays captured killer Walt Corbin. Garry Walberg (Police Sgt. Sullivan on Johnny Staccato, Sgt. Edward Goddard on Peyton Place, Speed on The Odd Couple, and Lt. Frank Monahan on Quincy M.E.) plays key witness Chris Matson. Michael Burns (Howie Macauley on It's a Man's World and Barnaby West on Wagon Train) plays his son Billy.