Lawman (1962)

By 1962 Warner Brothers Television, which had flooded the ABC airwaves with a plethora of westerns and hip detective series in the late 1950s, was largely getting out of the westerns business as the genre's once dominant popularity was fading fast. Colt .45 had bit the dust in June 1960, Sugarfoot was jettisoned in 1961, and by the fall of 1962 Maverick, Bronco, and Lawman would join them on the junk heap. Only Cheyenne, Warner's first adult western debuting in 1955, would continue for one more abbreviated season consisting of 13 episodes that all ran in the fall of 1962, to be replaced by a new Warners western, The Dakotas, which would take its time slot and run for 19 episodes through mid-May of 1963. Though Cheyenne and Maverick were the bigger draws and have won greater acclaim, Lawman was the best of the bunch in tackling adult themes with unflinching honesty.

Of course, not every episode was a gem, and as we have mentioned in our two previous posts on the series, Warner Brothers' business model of recycling plots from its movie catalog as well as between its own series produced a number of shoddy retreads. A case in point is 1962's opening episode "The Locket" (January 7, 1962) in which a former employee of Lily returns to Laramie unconscious in a bushwhacked stagecoach followed by a man claiming to be her husband who turns out to be an outlaw searching for robbery spoils hidden by the woman's deceased husband. Even at 30 minutes, this episode drags to its too-obvious conclusion. But then the series embarks on a string of tales that undercut heroic ideals, the very foundation on which many westerns are built. 

"A Friend of the Family" (January 14, 1962) centers around a good friend of Johnny McKay's late father, Joe Henny, whom McKay had even called Uncle Joe though he was no blood relative. McKay runs across Henny when the latter is part of a bank-robbing gang that Troop and McKay foil, with Henny being captured in the aftermath. When McKay has to help Troop transport Henny to Cheyenne for trial, he lets his sympathies get the better of his judgment, which Henny exploits to his advantage by saying he was a victim of circumstances getting mixed up with the rest of the gang and constantly referring to himself as an old man. McKay's sympathy for Henny makes him let his guard down and allows Henny to escape, with Marshal Troop even accusing McKay of wanting him to escape, though he stops short of accusing McKay of conspiring with Henny. To atone for his error, McKay has to hunt down and eventually fatally shoot his "uncle," a stern lesson that a lawman can't play favorites with his captives. McKay gets another lesson in "The Tarnished Badge" (January 21, 1962) when former Laramie marshal Jess Bridges rides into town with two other men who pretend to be his prisoners but are actually there to help him rob the stage about to leave town. Troop is ready with hidden armed men lining the street, but when Bridges manages to escape with a bullet wound and McKay tracks him down in the wilderness, he again is too trusting and Bridges is able to take him prisoner by knocking him out with a rock to the head. Bridges is able to redeem himself somewhat after taking McKay to his hideout where his other two partners figure out McKay's true identity and force Bridges to choose between them and McKay. After all the outlaws wind up killing each other, McKay tells Troop that Bridges saved his life and that he was a good lawman, but clearly the man that McKay once idolized didn't live up to his reputation after turning in his badge.

Troop has a reckoning with one of his heroes in "The Long Gun" (March 4, 1962) when renowned Marshal Ben Wyatt shows up in Laramie and takes a hotel room overlooking the main street because he expects the brothers of an outlaw he killed to come looking for him, and he plans to shoot them down on sight. Troop says he can't allow such an extra-judicial killing to happen, but Wyatt says that Troop is powerless to stop him because he hasn't yet committed a crime. Troop then reveals that Wyatt was the man who inspired him to become a lawman himself, serving as Wyatt's deputy when he was just starting out. He asks when Wyatt became afraid of facing off against anyone, and Wyatt replies that the man Troop admired is dead. But while Wyatt ruminates, Troop throws his long rifle out into the street just as the brothers come riding up, and Wyatt is then forced to face off against them without cover, finally living up to the memory that Troop cherished of his bravery. Even though Wyatt has restored his standing, Troop has surely learned that even heroes have their weaknesses. 

The series also pokes fun at the myth of the western gunman in "No Contest" (February 4, 1962) with a recycled plot about an eastern tinhorn coming west and thinking it will be easy to live out the wild west fantasies he has read about in sensationalized news stories and pulp novels. But this episode gives the tread-worn plot a couple of twists in that the tinhorn is McKay's cousin, and he is the spitting image of Billy the Kid, which initially makes those who accidentally bump into him unusually willing to back down and apologize. The deference shown him makes the cousin, Jeff Allen, start to think that perhaps he could be a respected and feared gunman like his lookalike, so he purchases a gun and belt and begins practicing and then seems to seek out confrontation to put his new-found feeling of invincibility to the test, all the while ignoring McKay's warnings that gunfights in real life don't play out like they do in popular literature. It takes Troop, sensing that Allen is about to get his comeuppance from a boyfriend whose girl has been flirting with Allen, to slap some sense into him and then stare him down when he threatens to draw on Troop. Allen finally realizes his folly, but his epiphany is a little too quick to be convincing, even though the plot's larger point about the gap between wild west fiction and reality is still valid.

Speaking of tall tales of the wild west, perhaps the most unsettling episode with uncomfortable parallels today is "The Man Behind the News" (May 13, 1962) about newspaper publisher Luther Boardman who moves to Laramie from Kansas City and buys the local paper. His first act as publisher is to summon Troop and tell him how to do his job so that he can sensationalize it in his paper, and his office is lined with photos and pistols from famous outlaw gunman, a fetish of his. He even admits that he left Kansas City because it became too tame, and when Troop fails to play his game, he instigates a standoff between Troop and dim-witted gunman Mort Peters, goading Peters into believing that Troop has insulted and mistreated him and that he must demand satisfaction. Unable to convince either Boardman or Peters that they are being foolish, Troop finally gives them the standoff they want, only Peters is too inebriated to do any damage and gets a bullet in the shoulder from Troop while his own shot grazes Boardman trying to photograph the spectacle, and the newsman shows himself to be a complete coward despite his love of violence. While the story makes a valid point about the glorification of violence and the business of newspapers in selling copies and advertising, the story and characters are too farcical to have any real credibility, and setting up the press as "the enemy of the people" is a dangerous game--one might argue as dangerous as soliciting a gun battle.

Another episode with ironic contemporary parallels is "The Doctor" (May 6, 1962) in which Troop travels to Casper to bring back a hostile witness for a trial in Laramie. Along the way the stagecoach driver becomes very ill, and when examined by alcoholic former doctor Alexander Burrell, he is found to have the plague. Burrell says that they must quarantine themselves at the stage waystation between the two towns for four days, but his recommendation is met with anger by the other passengers. They try to discredit his opinion because of his alcoholism, and allow their own priorities--one woman is determined to get to Laramie on time to meet her future mail-order husband, afraid he will call the wedding off if she is late--to cloud their judgment. But Troop follows the science, or at least the possibility that the doctor is right, and orders everyone to stay put, though they nearly break out when he has to leave to chase down the delirious driver when the latter escapes out the window. At episode's end when the stage finally makes it to Laramie after the four-day delay, McKay tells Troop that there was a significant outbreak of plague in Casper but so far nothing has popped up in Laramie.

The series closes out its final episode, "The Witness" (June 24, 1962), with another tale about people using their own misguided priorities to upend another pillar of society--the legal system. When Nathan Adams returns home and finds his wife shot dead, he flies into a rage, and his sister-in-law Anna Prentiss invents a story about an intruder being the murderer, which sets Adams on a course of retribution. Meanwhile sketch artist Beebee Williams sees the situation as an opportunity to get revenge on rancher Jim Martin, who mistakenly identified Williams' brother as a bank robber years before with the brother being lynched by an angry mob. So Williams claims he saw Martin fleeing the scene at the time of the murder when he was actually out mending fences on his ranch with no one around to back his alibi. When Prentiss backtracks on the witness stand about being sure that Martin is the killer, he is acquitted, but this only prompts Adams to try to force him into a gunfight so that he can avenge his wife's death on his own terms. Once Troop learns from Martin the reason for Williams' animosity, he senses things do not add up and is finally able to get Prentiss to admit that she was the one who shot Adams' wife accidentally. When she relays this to Adams just before he is about to draw on Martin, Adams is shell-shocked at the mistake he nearly made and walks away stunned, while Williams also must face that he nearly caused the murder of a man who made an honest though tragic mistake. Rather than wallowing in extra-judicial revenge fantasies that have plagued television and the movies for decades, Lawman's Troop, while admittedly an unreal, larger-than-life hero, concludes by noting that people say revenge is sweet, but when Williams got just a whiff of it, it made him sick. While Lawman may not have had quite the savage realism of Sam Peckinpah's The Westerner nor the array of more fully developed characters found in Gunsmoke, it still holds up remarkably well for a western of its era, and certainly sits atop Warner Brothers' western universe.

All four seasons have been released on DVD by Warner Home Video.

The Actors

For the biographies for John Russell, Peter Brown, Peggie Castle, Clancy Cooper, Dan Sheridan, and Harry Cheshire, see the 1960 post on Lawman. For the biographies of Grady Sutton and Vinton Hayworth, see the 1961 post on Lawman.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 4, Episode 17, "The Locket": Robert Colbert (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1961 post on Maverick) plays incognito outlaw Breen. Julie Van Zandt (ex-wife of director Richard L. Bare) plays Lily's former employee Marcia Smith.

Season 4, Episode 18, "A Friend of the Family": Frank Ferguson (Gus Broeberg on My Friend Flicka, Eli Carson on Peyton Place, Judge Gurney on Temple Houston, and Dr. Barton Stuart on Petticoat Junction) plays friend of Johnny McKay's father Joe Henny. Gertrude Flynn (appeared in War and Peace, Rome Adventure, and Funny Girl and played Anna Sawyer on Days of Our Lives) plays bank customer Miss Selma. 

Season 4, Episode 19, "The Vintage": Kevin Hagen (John Colton on Yancy Derringer, Inspector Dobbs Kobick on Land of the Giants, and Dr. Hiram Baker on Little House on the Prairie) plays drunken brawler Kulp. Richard Reeves (Mr. Murphy on Date With the Angels) plays his friend Joe.

Season 4, Episode 20, "The Tarnished Badge": Lon Chaney, Jr. (shown on the right, starred in The Wolfman, Of Mice and Men, High Noon, The Ghost of Frankenstein, The Curse of Dracula, Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman, and many others, and played Chief Eagle Shadow on Pistols 'n' Petticoats and Chingachgook on Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans) plays former Laramie marshal Jess Bridges. Jackie Searl (child actor who appeared in Tom Sawyer (1930), Huckleberry Finn (1931), Alice in Wonderland (1933), Great Expectations(1934), and Little Lord Fauntleroy) plays his accomplice Slick. Marshall Reed (Inspector Fred Asher on The Lineup) plays another accomplice Jake.

Season 4, Episode 21, "No Contest": Richard Rogers (shown on the left, played Walter Tell on William Tell) plays Johnny's cousin Jeff Allen. Dawn Wells (Mary Ann Summers on Gilligan's Island) plays town flirt Elly Stratton. Guy Stockwell (brother of Dean Stockwell, starred in Beau Geste, It's Alive, and Airport 1975 and played Chris Parker on Adventures in Paradise) plays her boyfriend Jib Willis. 

Season 4, Episode 22, "Change of Venue": Philip Carey (shown on the right, starred in I Was a Communist for the FBI, Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison, Calamity Jane, Mister Roberts, Dead Ringer, and Three For Texas and played Lt. Michael Rhodes on Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers, Philip Marlowe on Philip Marlowe, Capt. Edward Parmalee on Laredo, and Asa Buchanan on One Life to Live) plays alleged killer Barron Shaw. Jan Shepard (appeared in King Creole, Attack of the Giant Leeches, and Paradise, Hawaiian Style and played Nurse Betty on Dr. Christian) plays conspirator Madelyn Chase. Roy Barcroft (Col. Logan on The Adventures of Spin and Marty and Roy on Gunsmoke) plays his prisoner guard Luke Tennant. Larry J. Blake (played the unnamed jailer on Yancy Derringer and Tom Parnell on Saints and Sinners) plays concerned citizen Mr. Parker. 

Season 4, Episode 23, "The Holdout": Arch Johnson (shown on the left, starred in Somebody Up There Likes Me, G.I. Blues, and The Cheyenne Social Club and played Gus Honochek on The Asphalt Jungle and Cmdr. Wivenhoe on Camp Runamuck) plays vigilante leader Logan. Larry Ward (Marshal Frank Ragan on The Dakotas) plays storekeeper Blake Stevens. Addison Richards (starred in Boys Town, They Made Her a Spy, Flying Tigers, and The Deerslayer and played Doc Calhoun on Trackdown and Doc Landy on The Deputy) plays town council leader Ben Thurston. 

Season 4, Episode 24, "The Barber": William Fawcett (shown on the right, played Clayton on Duffy's Tavern, Marshal George Higgins on The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, and Pete Wilkey on Fury) plays original Laramie barber Ed Carruthers. Wendell Holmes (appeared in Good Day for a Hanging, Because They're Young, Elmer Gantry, and The Absent Minded Professor) plays bank robber Frank MacStrowd. Gail Bonney (Goodwife Martin on Space Patrol and Madeline Schweitzer on December Bride) plays homesteader's wife Mrs. Wilson. Owen Bush (Ben on Shane, John Belson on Sirota's Court, and Crimshaw on Our House) plays homesteader Will Puffin.

Season 4, Episode 25, "The Long Gun": 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 renowned lawman Marshal Ben Wyatt. Robert "Buzz" Henry (starred in Buzzy Rides the Range, Buzzy and the Phantom Pinto, and Mr. Celebrity) plays one of his victim's brothers. George Dunn (Jessie Williams on Cimarron City and the Sheriff on Camp Runamuck) plays hunter Ed Love.

Season 4, Episode 26, "Clootey Hutter": Virginia Gregg (shown on the right, starred in Dragnet, Crime in the Streets, Operation Petticoat and was the voice of Norma Bates in Psycho and the voice of Maggie Belle Klaxon on Calvin and the Colonel) plays widow rancher Clootey Hutter. Jack Elam (Deputy J.D. Smith on The Dakotas, George Taggart on Temple Houston, Zack Wheeler on The Texas Wheelers, and Uncle Alvin Stevenson on Easy Street) plays her suitor Paul Henry. Jack Hogan (starred in The Bonnie Parker Story, Paratroop Command, and The Cat Burglar and played Kirby on Combat!, Sgt. Jerry Miller on Adam-12, Chief Ranger Jack Moore on Sierra, and Judge Smithwood on Jake and the Fatman) plays his brother Earl. Justin Smith (appeared in The Jazz Singer, Wild on the Beach, and The Candidate) plays busybody Ed Cramer.

Season 4, Episode 27, "Heritage of Hate": Roy Roberts (Capt. Simon P. Huxley on The Gale Storm Show, Admiral Rogers on McHale's Navy, John Cushing on The Beverly Hillbillies, Mr. Cheever on The Lucy Show, Frank Stephens on Bewitched, Norman Curtis on Petticoat Junction, and Mr. Botkin/Bodkin on Gunsmoke) plays vengeful rancher John Kemper. Ken Mayer (Maj. Robbie Robertson on Space Patrol) plays his ranch hand Moss. Kathie Browne (shown on the left, played Angie Dow on Hondo and was Darren McGavin's second wife) plays Kemper's daughter-in-law Laurie. William Joyce (Kellam Chandler on Days of Our Lives) plays ex-con Bill Fells. Frank Albertson (starred in Alice Adams, Man Made Monster, and It's a Wonderful Life and played Mr. Cooper on Bringing Up Buddy) plays impressionable citizen Henry Bildy. Grace Albertson (second wife of Frank Albertson, played Ethel Robinson on Our Private World) plays his wife Sarah.

Season 4, Episode 28, "Mountain Man": Med Flory (shown on the right, played clarinet in the Ray Anthony orchestra and founded and played alto sax in the group Super Sax, appeared in Gun Street, The Nutty Professor (1963), and The Gumball Rally, and played Sheriff Mike McBride on High Mountain Rangers) plays amorous mountain man Lex Buckman. William Fawcett (see "The Barber" above) returns as barber Ed Carruthers. Rusty Wescoatt (Joe the bartender on Trackdown) plays a blacksmith.

Season 4, Episode 29, "The Bride": William Mims (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays con man Frank Farnum. Jo Morrow (appeared in Gidget, Our Man in Havana, and The 3 Worlds of Gulliver) plays his niece Melanie Wells. L.Q. Jones (Beldon on The Virginian, Sheriff Lew Wallace on The Yellow Rose, and Nathan Wayne on Renegade) plays wealthy rancher Ollie Earnshaw. Harry Strang (played the sheriff on The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin) plays stage driver Ed Lecky.

Season 4, Episode 30, "The Wanted Man": Marie Windsor (shown on the left, starred in Outpost in Morocco, Dakota Lil, Cat-Women of the Moon, Swamp Women, and The Day Mars Invaded Earth) plays pregnant wife Ann Jesse. Jan Stine (Roger on The Donna Reed Show and Eddie on The Virginian) plays her son Ben. Dick Foran (Fire Chief Ed Washburne on Lassie and Slim on O.K., Crackerby!) plays her fugitive husband Frank. Alan Baxter (appeared in Saboteur, Close-Up, Judgment at Nuremberg, and Paint Your Wagon) plays bounty hunter Joe Street. Ralph Moody (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Rifleman) plays Laramie physician Doc Greer.

Season 4, Episode 31, "Sunday": Richard Evans (Paul Hanley on Peyton Place) plays captured killer Billy Deal. Andrew Duggan (shown on the right, played Cal Calhoun on Bourbon Street Beat, George Rose on Room for One More, Major Gen. Ed Britt on 12 O'Clock High, and Murdoch Lancer on Lancer) plays Dakota outlaw Frank Boone. Owen Orr (Wally Blanchard on No Time for Sergeants) plays his henchman Jim Young. Robert "Buzz" Henry (see "The Long Gun" above) plays his henchman Wid.

Season 4, Episode 32, "The Youngest": Olive Carey (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Lock Up) plays bully matriarch Ma Martin. Joseph Gallison (appeared in All the Young Men, The Wackiest Ship in the Army, and PT 109 and played Bill Matthews on Another World and Dr. Neil Curtis on Days of Our Lives) plays her youngest son Jim, Jr. 

Season 4, Episode 33, "Cort": Kevin Hagen (shown on the left, see "The Vintage" above) plays terminally ill Cort Evers. 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 his brother Mitch. Ralph Moody (see "The Wanted Man" above) plays Laramie physician Doc Jessup. 

Season 4, Episode 34, "The Doctor": Whit Bissell (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 alcoholic former doctor Alexander Burrell. Sherwood Price (Gen. Jeb Stuart on The Gray Ghost) plays hostile witness Will Evans. Charles Lane (appeared in The Milky Way, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Lady Is Willing, The Music Man, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, and The Gnome-Mobile and played Mr. Fosdick on Dear Phoebe, Homer Bedloe on Petticoat Junction, Foster Phinney on The Beverly Hillbillies, Dale Busch on Karen, and Judge Anthony Petrillo on Soap) plays his attorney Morris Weeks. Eloise Hardt (shown on the right, played Karen Hadley on The Dennis O'Keefe Show) plays bride-to-be Cissy Lawson. Harry Strang (see "The Bride" above) plays stage driver Randy Whedon.

Season 4, Episode 35, "The Man Behind the News": Clinton Sundberg (appeared in The Kissing Bandit, The Barkleys of Broadway, In the Good Old Summertime, and Annie Get Your Gun) plays newspaper publisher Luther Boardman. Hal Baylor (Jenkins on Rawhide and Mercury on Batman) plays gunman Mort Peters. Peggy Mondo (shown on the left, played Mama Vitale on To Rome With Love) player Peters' girlfriend Flora. 

Season 4, Episode 36, "Get Out of Town": Bill Williams (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1960 post on Assignment: Underwater) plays casino owner Jim Bushrod. John Hubbard (starred in One Million, B.C., The Mummy's Tomb, and What's Buzzin', Cousin? and played Mr. Brown on The Mickey Rooney Show, Col. U. Charles Barker on Don't Call Me Charlie, and Ted Gaynor on Family Affair) plays his partner Sy. Tim Graham (Homer Ede on National Velvet) plays Laramie's top businessman Amos Hall. Tom London (starred in Six-Shootin' Sheriff, Song of the Buckaroo, and Riders in the Sky)  plays his employee Pete. Clyde Howdy (Hank Whitfield on Lassie) plays bank teller Joe.

Season 4, Episode 37, "The Actor": John Carradine (shown on the left, starred in Stagecoach, The Grapes of Wrath, House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula, The Ten Commandments, and Sex Kittens Go to College and played Gen. Joshua McCord on Branded) plays alcoholic actor Geoffrey Hendon. Mary Anderson (starred in Bahama Passage, The Song of Bernadette, and Lifeboat and played Catherine Harrington on Peyton Place) plays his pursuer Martha Carson. Warren J. Kemmerling (Judge Rense on How the West Was Won) plays her husband Bill. Harry Harvey (Sheriff Tom Blodgett on The Roy Rogers Show, Mayor George Dixon on Man Without a Gun, and Houghton Stott on It's a Man's World) plays physician Dr. Wilson.

Season 4, Episode 38, "Explosion": Gary Vinson (Chris Higbee on The Roaring '20's, George Christopher on McHale's Navy, and Sheriff Harold Skiles on Pistols 'n' Petticoats) plays head injury victim Jess Billings. Denver Pyle (Ben Thompson on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Grandpa Tarleton on Tammy, Briscoe Darling on The Andy Griffith Show, Buck Webb on The Doris Day Show, Mad Jack on The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, and Uncle Jesse on The Dukes of Hazzard) plays his attacker Sam Brackett. Gilman Rankin (Deputy Charlie Riggs on Tombstone Territory) plays Brackett associate Paul Dales. John Qualen (appeared in The Three Musketeers(1935), His Girl Friday, The Grapes of Wrath, Angels Over Broadway, Casablanca, Anatomy of a Murder, and A Patch of Blue) plays Laramie physician Doc Shay. Marie Blake (shown on the right, appeared in Love Finds Andy Hardy, Li'l Abner, and Mourning Becomes Electra, played Sally the receptionist in 14 Dr. Kildare and Dr. Gillespie features, and played Nurse Tacky on Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal and Grandmama on The Addams Family) plays homesteader's wife Mrs. Murdoch.

Season 4, Episode 39, "Jailbreak": Peter Breck (Clay Culhane on Black Saddle, Doc Holliday on Maverick, and Nick Barkley on The Big Valley) plays jailed outlaw Pete Bole. Pamela Austin (shown on the left, starred in Hootenanny Hoot, Kissin' Cousins, and The Perils of Pauline) plays his girlfriend Little Britches. James Griffith (Aaron Adams on Trackdown and Deputy Tom Ferguson on U.S. Marshal) plays jailbreak planner Heracles Snead. Frank Ferguson (see "A Friend of the Family" above) plays Casper Sheriff Howard Callaghan. Mickey Simpson (Boley on Captain David Grief) plays Snead henchman Murph.

Season 4, Episode 40, "The Unmasked": Dabbs Greer (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1960 post on Gunsmoke) plays hotel owner Joe Brockaway. Angela Greene (Tess Trueheart on Dick Tracy) plays his wife Marian. Charles Maxwell (Special Agent Joe Carey on I Led 3 Lives and was the voice of the radio announcer on Gilligan's Island) plays ex-Confederate bounty hunter Samuel Davidson. Barry Atwater (Dr. John Prentice on General Hospital) plays his partner Carter Banks. Jack Albertson (starred in Days of Wine and Roses, Kissin' Cousins, The Flim-Flam Man, and Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and played Lt. Harry Evans on The Thin Man, Walter Burton on Room for One More, Lt. Cmdr. Virgil Stoner on Ensign O'Toole, Paul Fenton on Mister Ed, and Ed Brown on Chico and the Man) plays elixir salesman Doc Peters.

Season 4, Episode 41, "The Witness": Morgan Woodward (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays vengeful widower Nathan Adams. 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 sister-in-law Anna Prentiss. Jay Novello (Juan Greco on Zorro and Mayor Mario Lugatto on McHale's Navy) plays sketch artist Beebee Williams. John Agar (starred in Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Sands of Iwo Jima, Woman of the North Country, Revenge of the Creature, The Mole People, and Attack of the Puppet People) plays rancher Jim Martin.

Lawman (1961)

As actor James Garner observed in his memoir The Garner Files, Jack Warner didn't run his television studio in order to make great art; he did it to make money as cheaply as possible. And since westerns were the most popular genre of the day, his studio produced a stable of shows to capitalize on the cowboy craze. But perhaps the best of the lot was the generically titled Lawman, which, as pointed out in the previous post for its 1960 episodes, certainly had its share of cardboard characters and recycled plots, but it also was the one show that closest approached the bar set by Gunsmoke as the grand daddy of adult westerns. Unlike the other Warners westerns that featured various drifters finding adventure wherever they roamed, Lawman was firmly planted in the town of Laramie, Wyoming, as Gunsmoke was rooted in Dodge City, and recounted the exploits of its Marshal Dan Troop who kept time with his saloon-owning lady friend Lily Merrill (just lake Matt Dillon hung out with Miss Kitty), who is continually thwarted in her attempts to get her man to propose. But after these parallels, the comparison begins to break down: Lawman deputy Johnny McKay is fairly one-dimensional compared with Dennis Weaver's Chester Goode, and there is no equivalent to Milburn Stone's feisty Doc Adams.

But despite the sometimes shop-worn plots and the unfortunate attempts at humor (the continued return of Joel Grey as pint-sized Owny O'Reilly is like a bothersome gnat), Lawman hit its stride in Season 3 with some surprisingly uncompromising storylines. In "The Robbery" (January 1, 1961), an episode directed by Robert Altman, Troop is visited by an old friend and former lawman Sam Deever who has fallen on hard times due to an injury and gotten mixed up with outlaws who have just robbed an army payroll and murdered the paymaster. When the army sends officious Lt. Davidson to investigate the murder, the outlaws feel they need to eliminate Troop, who has met them and now knows them, and have Deever lead him out into the woods under the pretext of investigating apparently stolen railroad equipment so that they can ambush him. But as they go deeper into the woods, Troop begins to suspect something is off and gets Deever to confess and then agree to help him capture the killers, which he does. However, Davidson shows up late, not realizing that Deever has turned against the outlaws and fatally shoots him. McKay is angry at Davidson for killing someone who was on their side, but Troop sums up that perhaps things worked out the best for everyone because his old friend will not have to face a hanging and he won't have to bear the guilt of doing the hanging. It's a grim conclusion to a situation that could never have produced the happy ending that most TV programs delivered at the time.

Another example is "The Marked Man" (January 22, 1961)in which Tod Larson, the estranged brother of saloon girl Muriel Hanley, comes to town and visits her at the Bird Cage, but she is none too pleased because he has a tarnished past that she wants nothing to do with. His real reason for the visit is to pick up a letter sent to her that identifies Troop as his assassination target, paid for by the owner of a saloon that Troop shut down. But when Larson meets and then shares a meal with Troop, he tries to back out of the hit. The saloon owner threatens Muriel, so Larson is stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place. With his sister being what he describes as the only thing he's got despite her rejection of him, Larson chooses to sacrifice himself rather than lead Troop to slaughter, knocking him out and stealing his hat and coat, then riding to the spot where Troop was to be ambushed. When Troop wakes up, he and McKay rush to where he knows the ambush will take place but arrives too late. Troop returns to town and tries to console Muriel by focusing on the good her brother did, but Lily remarks that once he has consoled her he will have to console himself.

And in "The Persecuted" (April 9, 1961) Troop has to face an aging gunslinger Burley Keller, who pretends that he wants to turn his back on his past and settle peacefully in Laramie but is actually a sadistic killer who goads men into drawing on him so that he can shoot them down. He is also cruel to his wife of 10 years, saying that she is old and worn out while he tries to talk Lily to leaving town with him. Troop ultimately has to lure Keller into making the same mistake as his victims by insulting him horribly until he is forced to draw and Troop has the justification he needs to gun him down. In the end Troop invites Keller's widow to stay in town as she boards a stagecoach, but she can only reply that she knew what kind of man her husband was and loved him anyway, though she doesn't know why. The story refuses to wrap things up in a tidy sense of closure, instead leaving the wound open. Though Lawman had its share of misguided youths and misfits who manage to turn their lives around, it also took an unflinching look at lives ruined by greed and desperation. In "Trojan Horse" (December 31, 1961) Troop tells government road agent Duncan Clooney that he was right in calling nitroglycerine "the work of the devil," but Clooney counters that men do more of the devil's work than any explosive, to which Troop replies, "I'll drink to that."

And yet despite this unusual realism in depicting the evil that men do, Troop's character is larger than life. He may not be able to save everyone who needs saving, but he is shown to have superior knowledge and judgment over any other authority figures who visit Laramie. Besides the officious Lt. Davidson cited above, he runs afoul of U.S. Marshals inspector Orville Luster in "By the Book" (December 24, 1961), who thinks that Troop runs his town too wide open in allowing citizens to carry guns, gamble, and drink. He forces McKay to lock up two benign drunks since they are technically in violation of disturbing the peace, but Troop then sets them free, angering Luster until the two bumblers foil a plot by a pair of hardened outlaws to kill Luster. 

He also locks horns with New York police Lt. Foster in "The Man From New York" (March 19, 1961), who comes to Laramie looking for a man who committed larceny three years before, even though the culprit has begun repaying the money anonymously. Troop quickly figures out that the man Foster is hunting is harness maker Fred Stiles, a solid citizen since he moved to Laramie, and he refuses to arrest him. Stiles feels that he has no choice but to flee, and Foster chases after him in a buggy that overturns, pinning him. Stiles has the opportunity to shoot Foster but instead uses his rifle to fire a warning shot to help Troop find Foster and take him back to town for medical attention. Foster eventually comes around to agree with Troop that a man can change and salvage his past, and he decides to leave Laramie without Stiles.

Both of the preceding episodes make the point that the law can be applied unfairly and that it takes a person of superior judgment to know when it needs to be held firm and when it can be bent. Marshal Dan Troop is shown to be such a person. As the show entered its fourth season, however, the story lines became more conventional, much like the theme music, which was toned down from the bolder arrangement used during the first three seasons. However, two exceptional episodes maintain the edgier flavor of the Season 3 episodes mentioned above. In "The Four" (October 1, 1961), a posse led by Herm Forrest comes to town looking for a man named Lee Darragh. Troop and Lily at first suspect that they are in town to cause some kind of mischief, such as a robbery, but Forrest eventually explains that they are looking to capture Darragh, a cold-blooded killer who can deceive people because of his boyish youth. When Darragh finally shows up and Troop is forced to gun him down, Forrest approaches Troop and asks if he can take home the body of his brother, a twist that the viewer doesn't see coming but makes Forrest's earlier depiction of Darragh all the more poignant. And in "The Catalog Woman" (November 5, 1961) Troop is hunting a black widow figure who lures lonely men with money into marriage through advertisements in a magazine, then killing them. Troop even agrees to pose as a decoy suitor himself only to find out that the widow is a man. Perhaps even more daring for the time, when the first suitor, Walter Perkins, meets the stage bearing his future bride with a bouquet of flowers, another man gets off before the widow and says to Perkins in an effeminate tone, "Are those for me?" Certainly cross-dressing and homosexuality were strictly taboo on the 1961 television landscape, but Lawman wasn't above bending the rules on many fronts.

Though it has not been released on DVD as of this writing, the series is currently showing weekdays on the Encore West cable TV channel.

The Actors

For the biographies for John Russell, Peter Brown, Peggie Castle, Dan Sheridan, and Harry Cheshire, see the post for Lawman 1960.

Grady Sutton

Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee and raised in Florida, Grady Harwell Sutton enjoyed a long and prolific career playing primarily befuddled country bumpkins and southerners. Sutton got his start in films while on a summer vacation in Hollywood with his roommate, the younger brother of director William A. Seiter. Sutton was invited on to the set and allowed to serve as an extra in The Mad Whirl, released in 1925. That same year he appeared in the Harold Lloyd masterpiece The Freshman and thereafter appeared in a number of other college-themed films. In 1933 he appeared alongside W.C. Fields in the short  The Pharmacist and thereby became a favorite of Fields, who threatened to back out of The Bank Dick if Sutton were not included in the cast. He also appeared with Fields in The Man on the Flying Trapeze and You Can't Cheat an Honest Man, danced with Katherine Hepburn and stepped on her toes in Alice Adams, and was the bridegroom-to-be for Carole Lombard in My Man Godfrey. He also appeared in classics such as Stage Door, Anchors Aweigh, A Star Is Born, and White Christmas, often in uncredited roles. His television appearances began in the early 1950s, starting with The Egg and I, but his role as hotel clerk Ben Toomey on Lawman was his first recurring role.

After Lawman was canceled in 1962, he continued to mix feature film and TV work, the former including appearances in the Doris Day musical Billy Rose's Jumbo, the Rat Pack western farce 4 for Texas, My Fair Lady, a pair of Elvis Presley vehicles--Tickle Me and Paradise Hawaiian Style--the Peter Sellers comedy I Love You Alice B. Toklas, and the Raquel Welch sex-change farce Myra Breckenridge. He found his second recurring TV role playing the character Sturgis on The Phyllis Diller Show, and made his last appearance on film in the Ramones musical Rock 'n' Roll High School in 1979. He moved into the Motion Picture and Television Home and Hospital in 1994 and died there of natural causes on September 17, 1995 at the age of 89.

Vinton Hayworth

Vinton Haworth was born in Washington, D.C., son of a printer and publisher and grandson of a Shakespearean actor. He began his own acting career in his late teens and had a long and successful career in radio drama, most notably playing Jack Arnold (which was also his stage name) in Myrt and Marge, which ran from 1932-46. He made his film debut in the 1934 romantic drama Enlighten Thy Daughter  and had steady work throughout the 1930s and early 1940s, many times in uncredited roles. His television career began in the mid-1940s and from that point forward he made very few feature film appearances. He was a founding member of what is today the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the union for radio and TV performers, and served as its president from 1951-54. By the late 1950s he began getting multiple appearances on shows such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and Whirlybirds. In 1958 he had his first recurring role as the villainous Magistrado Carlos Galindo on the Walt Disney series Zorro. His role as Laramie bank president Oren Slauson stretched for 10 episodes of Lawman from 1959-62.

He continued appearances  on a number of series thereafter, including Laramie, Perry Mason, and Gunsmoke but also had a number of small recurring roles on other series, playing Mr. Sutherland 5 times on Hazel between 1961-65, Dr. Faber 4 times on Green Acres between 1965-67, and as a judge 3 times on Dragnet between 1967-69. When Barton McLane passed away while playing Gen. Peterson on I Dream of Jeannie in 1969, Hayworth's  Gen. Winfield Schaeffer, who started appearing on the show the previous year, replaced him. Uncle to both Ginger Rogers and Rita Hayworth (his wife Jean Rogers was the sister of Ginger's mother; his sister Volga Hayworth was Rita's mother), Hayworth suffered a heart attack and died 5 days before the air date of his final Jeannie appearance on May 21, 1970 at the age of 63.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 3, Episode 17, "Fireshouse Lil": Sheldon Allman (Norm Miller on Harris Against the World) plays bank robber Edward Dirckes. 

Season 3, Episode 18, "The Frame-Up": Dabbs Greer (shown on the left, see the biography section of the 1960 post on Gunsmoke) plays shady lawyer Les Courtney. Randy Stuart (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays his client Jessica Kindle. William Mims (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays troublemaker Rich Matthews.

Season 3, Episode 19, "The Marked Man": Andrew Duggan (Cal Calhoun on Bourbon Street Beat, George Rose on Room for One More, Major Gen. Ed Britt on 12 O'Clock High, and Murdoch Lancer on Lancer) plays hired assassin Tod Larson. Larry J. Blake (the unnamed jailer on Yancy Derringer and Tom Parnell on Saints and Sinners) plays barfly Chuck Slade.

Season 3, Episode 20, "The Squatters": DeForest Kelley (show on the right, played Dr. McCoy on Star Trek) plays ranch foreman Bent Carr. King Calder (Lt. Gray on Martin Kane) plays squatter Ad Prentice.

Season 3, Episode 21, "Homecoming": Marc Lawrence (appeared in The Ox-Bow Incident, Tampico, Key Largo, The Asphalt Jungle, and The Man With the Golden Gun and directed 16 episodes of Lawman) plays escaped convict Frank Walker. Adrienne Marden (Mary Breckenridge on The Waltons) plays his wife Mary. Ray Stricklyn (Dr. James Parris on The Colbys and Senator Pickering on Wiseguy) plays his son Eddy. 

Season 3, Episode 22, "Hassayampa": John Anderson (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays temperance crusader Hassayampa Edwards. Donald "Red" Barry (played Red Ryder in the movie serial The Adventures of Red Ryder, and played Lt. Snedigar on Surfside 6, The Grand Vizier and Tarantula on Batman, Capt. Red Barnes on Police Woman, and Jud Larabee on Little House on the Prairie) plays shyster bar owner Dusty McCade. George Wallace (starred in Radar Men From the Moon, Destry, and Forbidden Planet and played Judge Milton Cole on Hill Street Blues and Grandpa Hank Hammersmith on Sons and Daughters) plays his partner Clyde Morton. 

Season 3, Episode 23, "The Promoter": John Van Dreelen (starred in The Leech Woman, 13 Ghosts, and Topaz) plays whiskey promoter Malcolm Tyler DeVries. Frank Gerstle (Dick Gird on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays saloon owner David Farris. 

Season 3, Episode 24, "Detweiler's Kid": Chad Everett (shown on the right, starred in Get Yourself a College Girl, Made in Paris, The Singing Nun, and Airplane II and played Deputy Del Stark on The Dakotas, Dr. Joe Gannon on Medical Center, Paul Hagen on Hagen, Wyatt Earp III on The Rousters, Jack McKenna on McKenna, Jack Manhattan on Manhattan, AZ, and Vic on Chemistry) plays cattle herder Jim Austin. Joyce Meadows (Lynn Allen on The Man and the Challenge and Stacy on Two Faces West) plays rancher's daughter Elfreida Detweiler. 

Season 3, Episode 25, "The Inheritance": Will Wright (Ben Weaver on The Andy Griffith Show) plays miser Tecumsah Pruitt. Lurene Tuttle (appeared in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, Ma Barker's Killer Brood, Psycho, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, and The Fortune Cookie and played Doris Dunston on Father of the Bride and Hannah Yarby on Julia) plays his wife. Fuzzy Knight (appeared in She Done Him Wrong, The Lat Round-Up, The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, and The Oregon Trail and played Pvt. Fuzzy Knight on Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion) plays store owner Mr. Morris. Guy Wilkerson (Panhandle Perkins in 22 westerns) plays his customer Slim.

Season 3, Episode 26, "Blue Boss and Willie Shay": Sammy Davis, Jr. (shown on the left, "The Greatest Living Entertainer" starred in Porgy and Bess, Ocean's 11, Robin and the 7 Hoods, Sweet Charity, The Cannonball Run, and Cannonball Run II) plays cattle drover Willie Shay. Richard Jaeckel (Tony Gentry on Frontier Circus, Lt. Martin Quick on Spenser: For Hire, and Capt. Ben Edwards on Baywatch) plays drover Al Janaker. 

Season 3, Episode 27, "The Man From New York": Mike Road (Marshal Tom Sellers on Buckskin, Lt. Joe Switolski on The Roaring 20's, and who provided the voice for Race Bannon on Johnny Quest and Ugh on Space Ghost) plays New York police Lt. Foster. Richard Arlen (Lionel starred in The Virginian, Dangerous Paradise, Gun Smoke, Island of Lost Souls, and Alice in Wonderland) plays harness maker Fred Stiles. 

Season 3, Episode 28, "Mark of Cain": John Kellogg (shown on the right, played Jack Chandler on Peyton Place) plays returning acquitted killer Chad Kennedy. Coleen Gray (starred in Kiss of Death, Nightmare Alley, The Killing, The Vampire, The Leech Woman, and The Phantom Planet and played Muriel Clifford on McCloud) plays his brother's widow Rena. Carolyn Komant (Dixie on The Roaring 20's) plays saloon girl Dolores.

Season 3, Episode 29, "Fugitive": Catherine McLeod (Claire Larkin on Days of Our Lives) plays fugitive's wife Meg Cormack. Dorothy Konrad (Mrs. Trilling on The Last Resort) plays store owner Mrs. Fields. 

Season 3, Episode 30, "The Persecuted": Adam Williams (appeared in Flying Leathernecks, The Big Heat, Fear Strikes Out, and North by Northwest) plays gunslinger Burley Keller. Jean Willes (appeared in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Ocean's 11, and Gypsy) plays his wife Annie. Joseph Gallison (Dr. Neil Curtis on Days of Our Lives) plays his victim Roy Barnes. Sandy McPeak (Pvt. Saunders on The Gallant Men, Capt. Braddock on Blue Thunder, J. Wendell Summerhayes on Wildside, and Chief Bradley on Nasty Boys) plays trailhand Ted Turner. 

Season 3, Episode 31, "The Grubstake": Frank Ferguson (Gus Broeberg on My Friend Flicka, Eli Carson on Peyton Place, and Dr. Barton Stuart on Petticoat Junction) plays prospector Rainbow Jack. Heather Angel (shown on the left, starred in The Hound of the Baskervilles, Orient Express, The Three Musketeers(1935), Pride and Prejudice, Lifeboat, and 5 Bulldog Drummond features and played Mrs. Dowell on Peyton Place and Miss Faversham on Family Affair) plays aging saloon girl Stephanie Collins. Robert Cornthwaite (Professor Windish on Get Smart) plays lawyer Edward Coughill. 

Season 3, Episode 32, "Whiphand": Leo Gordon (shown on the right, played Big Mike McComb on Maverick) plays rancher Bull Nickerson. Peggy McCay (Anna Rose on Room for One More, Iris Fairchild on General Hospital, Mrs. Malloy on Gibbsville, Marian Hume on Lou Grant, and Caroline Brady on Days of Our Lives) plays his wife Cassie. Jack Beutel (starred in The Outlaw, Best of the Badmen, and Jesse James' Women and played Deputy Jeff Taggart on Judge Roy Bean) plays his ranch-hand Ryder. Med Flory (played clarinet in the Ray Anthony orchestra and founded and plays alto sax in the group Super Sax, appeared in Gun Street, The Nutty Professor (1963), and The Gumball Rally, and played Sheriff Mike McBride on High Mountain Rangers) plays traveling peddler Jed Pennyman. 

Season 3, Episode 33, "The Threat": 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 land-grabber Herm Villiers. Whit Bissell (starred in He Walked by Night, Creature From the Black Lagoon, I Was a Teenage Werewolf, I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, and Hud and who played Bert Loomis on Bachelor Father, Calvin Hanley on Peyton Place, and Lt. Gen. Heywood Kirk on The Time Tunnel) plays Laramie visitor Edgar Chase. 

Season 3, Episode 34, "The Trial": Shirley Knight (shown on the left, starred in Ice Palace, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, Sweet Bird of Youth, Dutchman, and As Good as It Gets and played Mrs. Newcomb on Buckskin, Estelle Winters on Maggie Winters, and Phyllis Van De Kamp on Desperate Housewives) plays orphan Tendis Weston. Tim Graham (Homer Ede on National Velvet) plays her uncle Charlie. Ray Teal (see Jim Teal on Lassie and Sheriff Roy Coffee on Bonanza) plays Kansas Judge Leonard Whitehall. Slim Pickens (starred in The Story of Will Rogers, Dr. Strangelove, Blazing Saddles, The Apple Dumpling Gang, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, and The Howling and played Slim on Outlaws, Slim Walker on The Wide Country, California Joe Milner on Custer, and Sgt. Beauregard Wiley on B.J. & the Bear) plays stagecoach driver Barney.

Season 3, Episode 35, "Blind Hate": Jason Evers (starred in The Brain That Wouldn't Die, House of Women, The Green Berets, and Escape From the Planet of the Apes and played Pitcairn on Wrangler, Prof. Joseph Howe on Channing, and Jim Sonnett on The Guns of Will Sonnett) plays ranch-hand Shag Warner. Ted de Corsia (Police Chief Hagedorn on Steve Canyon) plays his boss Lem Pastor. Mala Powers (starred in Cyrano de Bergerac, Rose of Cimarron, and Tammy and the Bachelor and played Rebecca Boone on Walt Disney's Daniel Boone and Mona on Hazel) player Pastor's daughter Lucy. John Qualen (starred in The Three Musketeers(1935), His Girl Friday, The Grapes of Wrath, Angels Over Broadway, Casablanca, Anatomy of a Murder, and A Patch of Blue) plays physician Doc Shea.

Season 3, Episode 36, "The Break-In": Sheldon Allman (see "Firehouse Lil" above) plays wanted outlaw in disguise Walt Hudson. Chubby Johnson (shown on the right, played Concho on Temple Houston) plays drunkard Cactus Gates. 

Season 3, Episode 37, "Conditional Surrender": Robert F. Simon (Dave Tabak on Saints and Sinners, Gen. Alfred Terry on Custer, Frank Stephens on Bewitched, Uncle Everett McPherson on Nancy, Capt. Rudy Olsen on The Streets of San Francisco, and J. Jonah Jameson on The Amazing Spiderman) plays outlaw patriarch Pa Beason. Hampton Fancher (Deputy Lon Gillis on Black Saddle and co-wrote the screenplay and was executive producer on Blade Runner) plays his son Lester. Claire Griswold (wife and former student of Sydney Pollack) plays his daughter Iona.

Season 3, Episode 38, "Cold Fear": Frank Overton (shown on the left, starred in Desire Under the Elms, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Fail-Safe and played Major Harvey Stovall on 12 O'Clock High) plays former Arizona marshal incognito Brad Turner. Margaret Field (mother of actress Sally Field) plays his wife Ann. 

Season 3, Episode 39, "The Promise": Stuart Randall (Sheriff Art Sampson on Cimarron City, Al Livermore on Lassie, and Sheriff Mort Corey on Laramie) plays Fort Laramie commander Col. Strappin. Ken Lynch (appeared in I Married a Monster From Outer Space, Anatomy of a Murder, and Dead Ringer and played Lt. Thomas Brand on Checkmate, Det. Lt. Tom Handley on Arrest and Trial, Lt. Barney Keller on Honey West, and Police Sgt. Grover on McCloud) plays condemned criminal Jed Barrister. 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 gambler Simm Bracque. Carolyn Komant (see "Mark of Cain" above) plays eloper Nancy Fuller.

Season 4, Episode 1, "Trapped": Peter Breck (shown on the right, played Clay Culhane on Black Saddle, Doc Holliday on later seasons of Maverick, and Nick Barkley on The Big Valley) plays extorter Hale Connors. House Peters, Jr. (Sheriff Jim Billings on Lassie) plays telegrapher Joe Poole. 

Season 4, Episode 2, "The Juror": Jack Hogan (starred in The Bonnie Parker Story, Paratroop Command, and The Cat Burglar and played Kirby on Combat!, Sgt. Jerry Miller on Adam-12, Chief Ranger Jack Moore on Sierra, and Judge Smithwood on Jake and the Fatman) plays accused train robber Ben Cawley. Larry J. Blake (see "The Marked Man" above) plays storekeeper Mr. Parker. 

Season 4, Episode 3, "The Four": Jack Elam (shown on the left, played Deputy J.D. Smith on The Dakotas, George Taggart on Temple Houston, Zack Wheeler on The Texas Wheelers, and Uncle Alvin Stevenson on Easy Street) plays posse leader Herm Forrest. Norman Alden (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, and Coach Leroy Fedders on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) plays posse member Charley. Johnny Weissmuller, Jr. (son of swimmer and actor Johnny Weissmuller) plays posse member Willy. Joseph Gallison (see "The Persecuted" above) plays their quarry Lee Darragh. Dorothy Konrad (see "Fugutive" above) plays storekeeper Mrs. Bangle. 

Season 4, Episode 4, "The Son": James Westerfield (shown on the right, appeared in The Shaggy Dog, The Absent-Minded Professor, and The Love God? and played John Murrel on The Travels of Jamie McPheeters) plays vengeful father Zachariah Herod. Chad Everett (see "Detweiler's Kid" above) plays his blind son Cole. Tom Reese (starred in Taggart, The Money Trap, and Murderers' Row and played Sgt. Thomas Velie on Ellery Queen) plays cowboy Bob Mengis. Charles Irving (Judge Blanchard on Perry Mason) plays traveling salesman Eugene Thomas.

Season 4, Episode 5, "Owny O'Reilly, Esquire": Joel Grey (shown on the left, starred in Cabaret, Man on a Swing, The Seven Percent Solution, and Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins and played Lemuel Idzik on Oz) returns as diminutive youngster Owny O'Reilly. Mort Mills (Marshal Frank Tallman on Man Without a Gun, Sgt. Ben Landro on Perry Mason, and Sheriff Fred Madden on The Big Valley) plays incarcerated killer Jack Saunders. Barry Kelley (starred in The Asphalt Jungle, The Manchurian Candidate, and The Love Bug and played Mr. Slocum on Pete and Gladys and Mr. Hergesheimer on Mister Ed) plays Wyoming Governor Johnson. Roberta Shore (Laura Rogan on Walt Disney Presents: Annette, Henrietta Gogerty on The Bob Cummings Show, and Betsy Garth on The Virginian) plays his daughter Millie.

Season 4, Episode 6, "The Substitute": Kathleen Freeman (Katie on Topper, Marilly on Mayor of the Town, Bertha Krause on The Bob Cummings Show, Flo Shafer on The Beverly Hillbillies, Kate Harwell on Funny Face, and Iris Belmont on Lotsa Luck) plays Laramie matron Mavis Martingale. Jan Arvan (Nacho Torres on Zorro and Paw Kadiddlehopper on The Red Skelton Hour) plays her husband Homer. Whit Bissell (see "The Threat" above) plays educated drunk Al Skinner. 

Season 4, Episode 7, "The Stalker": Peter Whitney (shown on the right, played Sergeant Buck Sinclair on The Rough Riders and Lafe Crick on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays fur trapper Alteeka McClintoch. Donald "Red" Barry (see "Hassayampa" above) plays his antagonist Jess Schaeffer. Harry Lauter (Ranger Clay Morgan on Tales of the Texas Rangers, Atlasande on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, and Jim Herrick on Waterfront) plays Schaeffer's brother Compton. 

Season 4, Episode 8, "The Catalog Woman": Herb Vigran (Brooker on Gunsmoke) plays frugal rancher Walter Perkins. William Fawcett (Clayton on Duffy's Tavern, Marshal George Higgins on The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, and Pete Wilkey on Fury) plays Laramie townsman John. Richard Carlyle (Casey on Crime Photographer) plays con man posing as Mrs. Agatha Wingate.

Season 4, Episode 9, "The Cold One": 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 escaped convict King Harris. Joyce Meadows (shown on the left, see "Detweiler's Kid" above) plays his wife Barbara. Ric Marlow (wrote the lyrics to "A Taste of Honey") plays Harris' henchman Willis. Percy Helton (Homer Cratchit on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays cowardly citizen Thatcher. Sandy McPeak (see "The Persecuted" above) plays Marshal Troop helper Ed Lane.

Season 4, Episode 10, "Porphyria's Lover": Benny Baker (appeared in Blonde Trouble, Stage Door Canteen, and Paint Your Wagon and played Pete the bartender on F Troop) plays substitute bartender Dave. 

Season 4, Episode 11, "The Appointment": Kent Smith (shown on the right, starred in Cat People, This Land Is Mine, Hitler's Children, Curse of the Cat People, Nora Prentiss, The Spiral Staircase, and The Fountainhead and played Dr. Robert Morton on Peyton Place and Edgar Scoville on The Invaders) plays Fort Laramie commander Maj. Jason A. Leeds. John Kellogg (see "Mark of Cain" above) plays court-martialed soldier Bern Lochard. Tom London (starred in Six-Shootin' Sheriff, Song of the Buckaroo, and Riders in the Sky) plays old army veteran Pete.

Season 4, Episode 12, "The Lords of Darkness": Arch Johnson (starred in Somebody Up There Likes Me, G.I. Blues, and The Cheyenne Social Club and played Cmdr. Wivenhoe on Camp Runamuck) plays Darkness patriarch Andrew Lord. Corey Allen (went on to direct multiple episodes of Dr. Kildare, Police Woman, Dallas, Hunter, and Star Trek: The Next Generation) plays his son William. Charles Maxwell (Special Agent Joe Carey on I Led 3 Lives and was the voice of the radio announcer on Gilligan's Island) plays the Darkness marshal. Damian O'Flynn (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays bar owner Sutter. Owen Bush (Ben on Shane, John Belson on Sirota's Court, and Crimshaw on Our House) plays the Darkness bartender.

Season 4, Episode 13, "Tarot": Robert McQueeney (shown on the left, played Conley Wright on The Gallant Men) plays gambler Joe Wyatt. Bill Zuckert (Arthur Bradwell on Mr. Novak and Chief Segal on Captain Nice) plays payroll robber Luther. 

Season 4, Episode 14, "The Prodigal Mother": Catherine McLeod (see "Fugitive" above) plays prodigal mother Margaret Coleson. Billy Booth (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on Dennis the Menace) plays her abandoned son Tad. King Calder (see "The Squatters" above) plays Tad's adoptive father Dave McCallan.

 

Season 4, Episode 15, "By the Book": Lyle Talbot (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet) plays inspector of U.S. marshals Orville Luster. Walter Burke (starred in All the King's Men, Jack the Giant Killer, and Support Your Local Sheriff! and played Tim Potter on Black Saddle) plays carouser Ernie. Sheldon Allman (see "Firehouse Lil" above) plays his buddy Teakwood. 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 outlaw Lou Silk.

Season 4, Episode 16, "Trojan Horse": Kenneth Tobey (starred in Angel Face, The Thing From Another World, and It Came From Beneath the Sea and played Chuck Martin on Whirleybirds and Russ Conway on I Spy) plays government road agent Duncan Clooney. Richard Bakalyan (starred in The Delicate Delinquent, The Cool and the Crazy, Juvenile Jungle, Hot Car Girl, Paratroop Command, and The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes) plays his worker Eggers.