Maverick (1961)

In his examination of the subversive origins of Roy Huggins' western TV series Maverick, Dennis Broe covers the way the show critiqued capitalism, the myth of the noble conquest of the west by the white man, and the corrupt system of law and order practiced by the United States both at home and abroad on the world stage. The one theme running through all these topics is the insatiable greed of the human species, which the Maverick brothers are able to exploit not only at the poker table but also in a number of other cons and schemes that only work because their marks are blinded by their own avarice.

But the great irony of Maverick's existence is that it was produced at Warner Brothers, perhaps the most rapacious studio then in business. Perhaps Jack Warner didn't know who he was dealing with in the one-time member of the Communist party Huggins, but after he cheated Huggins out of royalties for creating Maverick and Warner's other hit series of the time, 77 Sunset Strip, by falsely crediting their pilots as having derived from released Warner feature films, Maverick evolved from a series about a wandering gambler with a bit of larceny in his heart to a full-scale attack on the foundations of American society. Warner also underpaid its actors and writers, used stock footage from earlier motion pictures wherever possible, and otherwise worked to maximize the company's profits at the expense of everything else. Tired of being taken advantage of, both Huggins and James Garner left the show and the studio by 1960, leaving Warner with the dilemma of how to sustain one of its most popular, and therefore profitable, series. 

The first step, as described in our post on the 1960 episodes, was to introduce Roger Moore (then under contract to Warner) as the Maverick's English cousin Beau to replace Garner beginning in Season 4. But in agreeing to take on the role, Moore had his contract reworked so that he could leave after a year and citing the declining quality of the scripts over the course of Season 4, Moore left the series after appearing in only 15 episodes as Beau Maverick, the last being "Red Dog" (March 5, 1961) in which Beau just happens to rest at an isolated spot designated by a collection of outlaws as the meeting place to carry out a plot unknown to all but one of them, and Beau has to play along until he figures out a way to wriggle out of the predicament without getting killed.

Three weeks later Robert Colbert was brought on as heretofore never mentioned third Maverick brother Brent in "The Forbidden City" (March 26, 1961). According to Garner in his autobiography The Garner Files, when Colbert was told that he would have to wear Garner's old costume and essentially have to pull off a Garner impersonation, Colbert pleaded, "Put me in a dress and call me Brenda, but don't do this to me!" Though Warner had obviously contemplated adding Colbert before Moore's departure, given the publicity photos of the two and Jack Kelly posing as a Maverick trio, they kept Colbert for only one more episode, "Benefit of the Doubt" (April 9, 1961), before basically ghosting him. Season 4 ended with a two-part story starring Kelly, and Colbert was never informed that he was being dropped but never told to report for Season 5 either.

For Season 5, Warner Brothers tried another sleight of hand worthy of a Maverick--alternating new episodes starring Kelly with re-runs of old Garner episodes but listing Garner in the opening credits for the new Kelly episodes to make it appear that he was still somehow involved. Only 13 new episodes were created for the final season. None of the machinations could save the series, whose ratings plummeted after Huggins and Garner left. Warner had essentially killed its golden goose, and by 1961-62 none of its cookie-cutter productions ranked in the top 30 of the TV ratings.

But what is perhaps even more ironic is that even with Huggins and Garner gone, the series continued to poke at the underbelly of a corrupt establishment. Some of the Season 4 episodes, like the aforementioned "Red Dog," seemed to wander far afield from the original Maverick ethos, most probably because they were derived from earlier Warner properties that had nothing to do with the series. But towards the end of Season 4, the stories begin to get back to the series' original targets: "Flood's Folly" (February 19, 1961) includes a corrupt judge who is trying to rig an estate to favor the woman he is courting, not realizing that she is using him to help a wanted outlaw. "Triple Indemnity" (March 19, 1961) has Bart tangling with small-town kingpin George Parker who has a hand in all the local businesses, especially a life insurance company run by the town undertaker. "The Forbidden City" (March 26, 1961) exposes the sheriff and mayor as being part of a conspiracy to hide the fact that their wealth originated from making a corrupt deal years ago to keep quiet about a wealthy landowner guilty of murder. And "Benefit of the Doubt" (April 9, 1961) has Brent getting mixed up in a corrupt sheriff's attempt to rob his own town's mail company to satisfy his aspiring fiance. Finally, the two-part "The Devil's Necklace" (April 16 & 23, 1961) depicts greed and corruption on all sides as Bart escapes as the only survivor of multiple plots by a madly ambitious army captain, a renegade Apache brave, and a conniving scam-artist peddler.

In Season 5 the stakes are raised from individual bad actors to corrupt institutions. "Dade City Dodge" (September 18, 1961) finds Bart embroiled in a scam run by the leading citizens of Dade City, Texas who for years have run a crooked poker game to fleece anyone unfortunate enough to visit, with the sheriff receiving a cut of the take as well. "The Art Lovers" (October 1, 1961) skewers not only the world of corrupt art dealers but also their ignorant, nouveau-riche tycoon clients, who have no qualms about buying what they believe to be stolen masterpieces but are unable to recognize that the works are forgeries. "The Golden Fleecing" (October 8, 1961) takes aim at investment banking and the easily manipulated stock market, allowing scoundrels like Loftus Jaggers to rob innocent clients of their assets by luring them into stock agreements and then short-selling and feeding the market false information to drive the client to bankruptcy, allowing the banker to swoop in and buy their assets for next to nothing. "A Technical Error" (November 26, 1961) mocks the banking industry, a favorite target of Huggins-era Maverick episodes, when Bart unwittingly accepts ownership of a small-town bank to settle the gambling debts of its owner, only to discover that the bank is missing $20,000 that Bart must then replace to avoid being accused of fraud. He manages to escape calamity by introducing a trading stamp program that the townspeople are obsessed with even though the stamps are redeemable only for literal junk, a racket very popular in the early 1960s because it gave the illusion of getting something for nothing.

Undoubtedly the most popular Season 5 episode from 1961 is the send-up of rival western Bonanza in "Three Queens Full" (November 12, 1961) in which Jim Backus plays the Wheelwright family patriarch whose top priority is to see that the family name is never besmirched and that the true story is never revealed of how they came to acquire their vast empire by stealing it from the Indians, a critique of the very origins of the United States. It's surprising that even with Huggins long gone Warner allowed the show to take shots at the foundations of the society on which its very existence was built. Perhaps they felt that parodying other TV shows and exposing other industries was far enough removed not to be a threat, but more likely, just like the crooks the Mavericks were always trying to outsmart, they were willing to try anything that would make a buck. 

 

The Actors

For the biographies of James Garner, Jack Kelly, and Roger Moore, see the 1960 post on Maverick.

Robert Colbert

Born July 26, 1931 in Long Beach, CA, Robert Colbert's entry into show business began when he was serving as a typist for the Military Police on Okinawa while moonlighting as a radio DJ on KSBK in the evenings. A female member of the Air Force Special Services thought his voice would be a good fit for a local theatrical production of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, and the experience gave Colbert the acting bug. When he returned to the States he continued acting in theatrical productions until spotted by actor Mickey Shaughessy, who referred him to a talent agency. After a few bit parts in feature films from 1957-59, including the Three Stooges farce Have Rocket -- Will Travel, Colbert was signed to Warner Brothers and began making guest appearances on their programs such as Bourbon Street Beat, Sugarfoot, and Bronco in 1959. He made dozens of appearances on Warner TV shows over the next few years, including his debut on Maverick in 1960 until Warner decided to use him to try to replace James Garner during Season 4.

But by 1962 Colbert, like Garner before him, had had enough of Warner's shenanigans and asked to be released from his contract. He continued to find steady guest roles on shows such as Wagon Train, Perry Mason, and The Virginian, and even made a return appearance on the Warner series 77 Sunset Strip in 1964. But by his own admission, Colbert never really sought out star status: 

I guess I would be considered an underachiever by today's standards. I never went for the gusto of trying to become a star. I never had a publicity agent. I never really made the rounds of the Hollywood parties. I was just content to be under contract to Warner Bros. and work all the time. I didn't do anything to hype my career, but I've never had any major regrets about it. I liked the fact that I could live a normal life, that I could walk down the street or travel on a plane without being mobbed by fans. I was always working; that was good enough.

However, his profile was about to rise, if ever so slightly. After he starred in a failed TV pilot for MGM called The Mayor in 1964, his agent arranged a meeting with producer Irwin Allen, which led to Colbert being cast in one of the lead roles as Dr. Doug Phillips on the 1966-67 science fiction series The Time Tunnel. That series was followed by less frequent guest appearances on shows such as Hawaii Five-O, Mannix, and Land of the Giants. But in 1973 he was cast in the role of Stuart Brooks in the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless, a role he continued for 10 years. By the 1980s his workload continued to decrease but included multiple appearances on Hunter and occasional feature film roles, most notably in the farces Amazon Women on the Moon and I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. In the 1990s he made a couple of appearances on Reasonable Doubts and Baywatch before retiring from acting. Today at age 87 he still makes occasional appearances at western and science fiction conventions.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 4, Episode 16, "A State of Siege": Ray Danton (shown on the left, starred in Chief Crazy Horse, Onionhead, The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond, The George Raft Story, and Portrait of a Mobster and played Nifty Cronin on The Alaskans) plays wealthy landowner Don Felipe Archuleta. Lisa Gaye (Gwen Kirby on How to Marry a Millionaire) plays his fiance Soledad Lozaro. 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 the stagecoach driver.

 Season 4, Episode 17, "Family Pride": Denver Pyle (shown on the right, played 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 Beau's old friend Jerry O'Brien. Robert Cornthwaite (Professor Windish on Get Smart) plays scam artist John Crippen. Karl Swenson (Lars Hanson on Little House on the Prairie) plays imposter General Josiah Warren. Anita Sands (later became astrologer to the stars and a self-help guru) plays his grand-daughter Roseanne. Wallace Rooney (Andrew Winters on The Doctors) plays general store owner Mr. Wallace. Stacy Keach, Sr. (Carlson on Get Smart) plays the Silver City marshal. Olan Soule (Aristotle "Tut" Jones on Captain Midnight, Ray Pinker on Dragnet (1952-59), and Fred Springer on Arnie) plays a hotel clerk.

Season 4, Episode 18, "The Cactus Switch": Edgar Buchanan (Uncle Joe Carson on The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and Petticoat Junction, Red Connors on Hopalong Cassidy, Judge Roy Bean on Judge Roy Bean, Bob/Doc Dawson on Tales of Wells Fargo, Doc Burrage on The Rifleman, and J.J. Jackson on Cade's County) plays bank robber and murderer Red Daniels. Robert Logan (J.R. Hale on 77 Sunset Strip and Jericho Jones on Daniel Boone) plays his son Ben. Peter Hansen (shown on the left, played Lt. Col. Van Pelt on Gomer Pyle: USMC, Major Drake on How the West Was Won, and Lee Baldwin on Port Charles and General Hospital) plays con man Lawrence Deville. Fay Spain (starred in Dragstrip Girl, Al Capone, and The Gentle Rain) plays his accomplice Lana Cane. 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 jeweler Mueller. Chubby Johnson (Concho on Temple Houston) plays stagecoach driver Andy Gish. Carolyn Komant (Dixie on The Roaring 20's) plays Beau's date Flossie. Lane Chandler (Tom Pike on Lawman) plays Green River Sheriff Bill Wright.

Season 4, Episode 19, "Dutchman's Gold": Jacques Aubuchon (starred in The Silver Chalice, The Big Boodle, and The Love God? and played Chief Urulu on McHale's Navy) plays prospector The Dutchman. Mala Powers (shown on the right, 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) plays saloon owner Charlotte Simmons. Frank Sully (Danny the bartender on The Virginian) plays her bartender Charlie. Carlos Romero (Rico Rodriguez on Wichita Town, Romero Serrano on Zorro, and Carlo Agretti on Falcon Crest) plays Mexican bandit Ricardo Padilla. Sheldon Allman (Norm Miller on Harris Against the World) plays saddle tramp Vern Tripp.

Season 4, Episode 20, "The Iceman": Andrew Duggan (shown on the left, 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 gubernatorial candidate Calvin Powers. Shirley Knight (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 his daughter Nancy. Virginia Gregg (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 his housekeeper Abbey. Bruce Gordon (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Untouchables) plays his opponent Rath Lawson. John Kellogg (Jack Chandler on Peyton Place) plays Lawson's henchman Ben Striker. James Seay (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays Sheriff Gil McCrary. Nelson Olmsted (Captain Masters, MD on The Phil Silvers Show) plays coroner Eli Sayles. 

Season 4, Episode 21, "Diamond Flush": Carl Esmond (starred in Little Men, Lover Come Back (1946), and Walk a Crooked Mile) plays French nobleman Comte de Lisle. Dan Tobin (Terrance Clay on Perry Mason) plays imposter Ralph Ferguson. Anna Lee (shown on the right, starred in King Solomon's Mines, How Green Was My Valley, Flying Tigers, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Sound of Music, and In Like Flint and played Lila Quartermaine on General Hospital) plays his wife Helene. Ted de Corsia (Police Chief Hagedorn on Steve Canyon) plays their co-conspirator Amos Parker. Sig Ruman (starred in Ninotchka,  A Night at the Opera, To Be or Not to Be, House of Frankenstein, and Stalag 17) plays jeweler August Bockenheimer. Phil Tully (Charlie the bartender on The Deputy) plays Pinkerton agent Tim O'Rourke. 

Season 4, Episode 22, "Last Stop: Oblivion": Buddy Ebsen (shown on the left, played Sheriff Matthew Brady on Corky and White Shadow, Sgt. Hunk Marriner on Northwest Passage, Jed Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies, Barnaby Jones on Barnaby Jones, and Roy Houston on Matt Houston) plays Oblivion waystation owner Nero Lyme. Virginia Christine (was the Folger's Coffee woman in commercials and starred in The Mummy's Curse, The Killers, and Night Wind and played Ovie Swenson on Tales of Wells Fargo) plays his wife Verna. Rayford Barnes (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays their son Dirk. Suzanne Lloyd (Raquel Toledano on Zorro) plays stagecoach passenger Laura Nelson. Maurice Manson (Frederick Timberlake on Dennis the Menace, Josh Egan on Hazel, and Hank Pinkham on General Hospital) plays retired undertaker Bascombe Sunday. Hampton Fancher (Deputy Lon Gillis on Black Saddle and co-wrote the screenplay and was executive producer on Blade Runner) plays hot-headed young gun Tate McKenna. Paul Birch (Erle Stanley Gardner on The Court of Last Resort, Mike Malone on Cannonball, and Capt. Carpenter on The Fugitive) plays Medicine Forks Sheriff Miller. 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 wanted killer Durst. Bud Osborne (played stagecoach drivers in dozens of westerns and in episodes of The Cisco Kid, Annie Oakley, The Range Rider, Hopalong Cassidy, The Lone Ranger, The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, Rescue 8, Zorro, Bronco, Law of the Plainsman, Johnny Ringo, Cheyenne, The Texan, and Rawhide) plays stagecoach driver Sam Overman.

Season 4, Episode 23, "Flood's Folly": Alan Baxter (appeared in Saboteur, Close-Up, and Paint Your Wagon) plays Beau's old friend Judge John Scott. Jeanne Cooper (Grace Douglas on Bracken's World and Katherine Chancellor Murphy on The Young and the Restless) plays Scott's client Martha Flood. Michael Pate (shown on the right, 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 wanted murderer Chet Whitehead.

Season 4, Episode 24, "Maverick at Law": Gage Clarke (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Gunsmoke) plays disgruntled bank teller Myron Emerson. Ken Mayer (Maj. Robbie Robertson on Space Patrol) plays Ten Sleep Sheriff J. Starrett. 

Season 4, Episode 25, "Red Dog": 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 desperado Buckskin Charlie King. 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 crooked Judge Reese. Lee Van Cleef (starred in High Noon, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly) plays notorious gunman Wolf McManus. Joseph Gallison (Dr. Neil Curtis on Days of Our Lives) plays young gunslinger Kid Curran. Sherry Jackson (Terry Williams on Make Room for Daddy) plays his wife Erma. 

Season 4, Episode 26, "The Deadly Image": 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 ex-con Gus Tellson. Abraham Sofaer (starred in Christopher Columbus, Quo Vadis, and Elephant Walk) plays his blind father-in-law Papa Rambeau. Dawn Wells (shown on the right, played Mary Ann Summers on Gilligan's Island) plays Papa's grand-daughter Caprice. Robert Ridgely (Lt. Frank Kimbro on The Gallant Men, the announcer on The Woody Woodbury Show, and Cliff Hamilton on Domestic Life and was the voice of Tarzan on Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, Flash Gordon on Flash Gordon, and General Ross on The Incredible Hulk) plays U.S. cavalry Lt. Reed. Bartlett Robinson (Frank Caldwell on Mona McCluskey) plays his commanding officer Capt. Ranson. Kelly Thordsen (Colorado Charlie on Yancy Derringer) plays outlaw henchman Hemmett. 

Season 4, Episode 27, "Triple Indemnity": Alan Hewitt (starred in That Touch of Mink, Days of Wine and Roses, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, and The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and played Det. Bill Brennan on My Favorite Martian) plays Parkerville kingpin George Parker. Ed Nelson (Michael Rossi on Peyton Place and Ward Fuller on The Silent Force) plays his younger brother William. Peter Breck (shown on the left, played Clay Culhane on Black Saddle and Nick Barkley on The Big Valley) plays Bart's old friend Doc Holliday. Laurie Mitchell (starred in Calypso Joe, Queen of Outer Space, and Missile to the Moon) plays Holliday's sweetheart Ellen. Mickey Simpson (Boley on Captain David Grief) plays elixir peddler Cabella.

Season 4, Episode 28, "The Forbidden City": 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 Sunburst Sheriff Sam Shadley. Gertrude Flynn (appeared in War and Peace, Rome Adventure, and Funny Girl and played Anna Sawyer on Days of Our Lives) plays spinster Nettie Moss. Craig Duncan (Sgt. Stanfield/Banfield on Mackenzie's Raiders) plays poker player Val Joyce. Bill Erwin (Joe Walters on My Three Sons and Glenn Diamond on Struck by Lightning) plays a hotel clerk. 

Season 4, Episode 29, "Substitute Gun": Robert Rockwell (shown on the right, played Phillip Boynton on Our Miss Brooks, Sam Logan on The Man From Blackhawk, Tom Bishop on Diff'rent Strokes, and Wally Overmier on Growing Pains) plays saloon owner Tom Blauvelt. Coleen Gray (starred in Kiss of Death, Nightmare Alley, The Killing, The Vampire, The Leech Woman, and The Phantom Planet and played Dean Ann Boyd Jones on Bright Promise and Muriel Clifford on McCloud) plays his wife Greta. Joan Marshall (Sailor Duval on Bold Venture) plays her sister Connie Malone. Carlos Romero (see "Dutchman's Gold" above) plays rival saloon owner Clete Spain. 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 Spearhead Sheriff Coleman. Jackie Searl (began as a child actor, appearing in Tom Sawyer (1930), Huckleberry Finn (1931), Alice in Wonderland (1933), Great Expectations(1934), and Little Lord Fauntleroy) plays assassin Wilbur "Smiley" Drake. Norman Leavitt (Ralph on Trackdown) plays undertaker Ezra Gouch. 

Season 4, Episode 30, "Benefit of the Doubt": George Wallace (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays Amber Flats Sheriff Joe Holley. Randy Stuart (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays dance hall girl Mavis Todd. Elizabeth MacRae (shown on the left, played Lou-Ann Poovie on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and Jozie on Search for Tomorrow) plays her sister Emily. 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 sheriff-wannabe McGaven. John Alderson (Sgt. Bullock on Boots and Saddles and Wyatt Earp on Doctor Who) plays mail office manager Zindler. Slim Pickens (see "A State of Siege" above) plays stagecoach driver Roscoe. Trevor Bardette (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays waystation manager Bert Coleman. Steve Raines (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Rawhide) plays posse member Sims. 

Season 4, Episode 31, "The Devil's Necklace, Part 1": John Dehner (Duke Williams on The Roaring '20's, Commodore Cecil Wyntoon on The Baileys of Balboa, Morgan Starr on The Virginian, Cyril Bennett on The Doris Day Show, Dr. Charles Cleveland Claver on The New Temperatures Rising Show, Barrett Fears on Big Hawaii, Marshal Edge Troy on Young Maverick, Lt. Joseph Broggi on Enos, Hadden Marshall on Bare Essence, and Billy Joe Erskine on The Colbys) plays scheming peddler Luther Cannonbaugh. Steve Brodie (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays ambitious U.S. Army Capt. Paul Score. Kasey Rogers (shown on the right, played Julie Anderson on Peyton Place and Louise Tate on Bewitched) plays his wife Angel. John Hoyt (starred in My Favorite Brunette, The Lady Gambles, and Blackboard Jungle and played Grandpa Stanley Kanisky on Gimme a Break!) plays visiting commander Gen. Bassington. Rayford Barnes (see "Last Stop: Oblivion" above) plays Cpl. Sean Cassidy. Mark Tapscott (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Tall Man) plays an unnamed private. Rita Lynn (Ella Russo on The Detectives and Miss Kelly on Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) plays Fort Distress' commanding officer's wife Edith Reidinger. Michael Forest (starred in Ski Troop Attack, Atlas, and The Glory Guys and was the voice of Capt. Dorai on Street Fighter II: V and Olympus on Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue) plays Apache ex-con Bob Tallhorse. 

Season 4, Episode 32, "The Devil's Necklace, Part 2": John Dehner (see "The Devil's Necklace, Part 1" above) returns as scheming peddler Luther Cannonbaugh. Steve Brodie (shown on the left, see "The Devil's Necklace, Part 1" above) returns as ambitious U.S. Army Capt. Paul Score. John Hoyt (see "The Devil's Necklace, Part 1" above) returns as visiting commander Gen. Bassington. Chad Everett (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 Bassington's second-in-command Lt. Gregg. Rayford Barnes (see "Last Stop: Oblivion" above) returns as Cpl. Sean Cassidy. Mark Tapscott (see "The Devil's Necklace, Part 1" above) returns as an unnamed private. Michael Forest (see "The Devil's Necklace, Part 1" above) returns as Apache ex-con Bob Tallhorse. 

Season 5, Episode 1, "Dade City Dodge": Mike Road (see "Red Dog" above) plays con man Pearly Gates. Kathleen Crowley (shown on the right, played Terry Van Buren on Waterfront and Sophia Starr on Batman) plays his partner Marla. Ken Lynch (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Checkmate) plays Dade City Sheriff Clark. Gage Clarke (see "Maverick at Law" above) plays Dade City undertaker Luke Harper. Guy Wilkerson (played Panhandle Perkins in 22 westerns) plays Dade City blacksmith Judd Kerns. Lane Chandler (see "The Cactus Switch" above) plays a U.S. marshal.

Season 5, Episode 2, "The Art Lovers": Jack Cassidy (shown on the left, Tony Award-winning father of David and Shaun Cassidy and husband of Shirley Jones, played Oscar North on He & She) plays tycoon's nephew Roger Cushman. John Hoyt (see "The Devil's Necklace, Part 1" above) plays his uncle George Cushman. James Westerfield (appeared in The Shaggy Dog, The Absent-Minded Professor, and The Love God? and played John Murrel on The Travels of Jamie McPheeters) plays railroad tycoon Paul Sutton. Gertrude Flynn (see "The Forbidden City" above) plays his wife Rheba. Leon Belasco (Mr. Appopolous on My Sister Eileen) plays art dealer Cosmo Nardi. John Alderson (see "Benefit of the Doubt" above) plays unscrupulous ship Capt. Bly. 

Season 5, Episode 3, "The Golden Fleecing": Paula Raymond (starred in The Tall Target, Texas Carnival, and The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms) plays investment banker's daughter Adele Jaggers. Myron Healey (Doc Holliday on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays her father's engineer Frank Mercer. 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 Quaker farmer Henry Albright. Olive Sturgess (shown on the right, played Carol Henning on The Bob Cummings Show) plays his daughter Phoebe. Charles Meredith (Dr. LeMoyne Snyder on The Court of Last Resort) plays their neighbor Seth Carter. Richard Loo (appeared in The Purple Heart, Back to Bataan, Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing, The Sand Pebbles, and The Man With the Golden Gun and played Master Sun on Kung Fu) plays San Francisco importer Lee Hong Chang. Herb Vigran (Judge Brooker on Gunsmoke) plays stockbroker Mr. Butler. 

Season 5, Episode 4, "Three Queens Full": Jim Backus (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Mr. Magoo Show) plays wealthy patriarch Joe Wheelwright. Joseph Gallison (see "Red Dog" above) plays his son Small Paul. Frank Ferguson (Gus Broeberg on My Friend Flicka, Eli Carson on Peyton Place, and Dr. Barton Stuart on Petticoat Junction) plays lawman Sheriff Mattson. Harry Lauter (Ranger Clay Morgan on Tales of the Texas Rangers, Atlasande on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, and Jim Herrick on Waterfront) plays saloon owner Matthew Braze. Willard Waterman (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Dennis the Menace) plays marriage broker Whittleseed. Kasey Rogers (see "The Devil's Necklage, Part 1" above) plays actress Emma Walter. Merry Anders (Joyce Erwin on The Stu Erwin Show, Val Marlowe on It's Always Jan, Mike McCall on How to Marry a Millionaire, and Policewoman Dorothy Miller on Dragnet 1967) plays former saloon girl Cissie Anderson.

Season 5, Episode 5, "A Technical Error": Peter Breck (see "Triple Indemnity" above) returns as Bart's friend Doc Holliday. Reginald Owen (appeared in A Christmas Carol (1938), Mrs. Miniver, Woman of the Year, National Velvet, and Mary Poppins) plays bank president Major Holbrook Sims. Jolene Brand (Anna Maria Verdugo on Zorro) plays bank employee Penelope Baxter. Alma Platt (Mrs. Henehan on These Are My Children) plays bank employee Miss Hennesey. Frank de Kova (shown on the right, played Chief Wild Eagle on F Troop and Louis Campagna on The Untouchables) plays notorious outlaw Blackjack Hardy. Frank London (Shad on Johnny Staccato and Charlie on Peyton Place) plays his younger brother Little Sonny. Paul Barselou (played various bartenders in 9 episodes of Bewitched) plays hotel clerk Ferguson. Gail Bonney (Goodwife Martin on Space Patrol and Madeline Schweitzer on December Bride) plays a townswoman robbed of her trading stamps.

Maverick (1960)

The year 1960 would prove to be the undoing of Maverick, at one time Warner Brothers' top-rated western series. Created by Roy Huggins, the show debuted in 1957 with Warners contract actor James Garner in the title role of poker playing drifter Bret Maverick. According to Garner's 2011 memoir, The Garner Files, Warners had wanted to cast him in the lead for their first western series Cheyenne but when the casting director couldn't get in touch with him, the part went to Clint Walker. Garner himself did not really want to be a TV actor but since he was under contract to Warners, he had little choice. When it became obvious that the 8-day production cycle for a single 60-minute episode made it impossible to deliver an episode every week, Warners created the character of Bart Maverick, Bret's brother, cast Jack Kelly in the role of Bart, and was able to work on two episodes simultaneously as they alternated back and forth between lead characters. Occasionally both brothers would appear in the same episode, such as "Maverick and Juliet" (January 17, 1960), but one of the brothers would be the dominant character and the other would show up briefly. In this case, Bret is the one who intervenes in the family feud plaguing the star-crossed lovers, suggesting a poker game as a way of solving the dispute, and Bart is brought in by the other family as their ringer in the poker game. 

The aforementioned episode demonstrates Garner's assertion that what made Maverick different from other westerns on the air at the time was that it was a comedy, though perhaps "farce" would be a more apt descriptor. Other "adult" westerns like Gunsmoke and Have Gun -- Will Travel certainly had their comic elements, but the overall tone of most plots was fairly serious, often deadly serious. Occasionally these series and others like Wagon Train would slip in a humorous-themed episode, but usually the humor would fall flat, indicating that these series were best when sticking to their dramatic roots. The principals in Maverick often find themselves in life-threatening situations but manage to escape often through an unlikely turn of events, reinforcing the feeling that they were never in serious danger. For example, in "The People's Friend" (February 7, 1960) Bart is pressed to run for state senator when legitimate candidate Ellsworth Greeley barely survives an assassination attempt secretly staged by his rival Wellington Cosgrove. Once it appears that Bart has become the favorite to win the election, a disguised Cosgrove and his henchmen threaten to kill Bart if he doesn't throw the election. But our hero is saved after he whimsically draws a moustache on a Cosgrove poster, thereby causing lawman Sheriff Burke to realize that Cosgrove is actually wanted outlaw Handlebar Joe Jeffers.

The "Maverick and Juliet" episode also illustrates the series' fondness for parody and puns, though by 1960 other series had picked up that tactic as well, such as Wagon Train's spoof of Dickens' Great Expectations in "The Tom Tucket Story." The Maverick episode "Kiz" (December 4, 1960) includes a newspaper reporter named Clement Samuels, an obvious anagram of Samuel Clemens reinforced by the unmistakable clothing and facial hair of the man who wrote under the pseudonym Mark Twain. In other seasons Maverick spoofed the work of Renaissance British playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan ("The Rivals," January 25, 1959) and staged a parody of the popular gangster series The Untouchables.

The other significant differences between Maverick and other westerns are that the principal characters avoid gunplay at almost all costs--they would rather run than shoot--and they strenuously avoid romantic entanglements. In "Guatemala City" (January 31, 1960) Bret makes the mistake of regularly romancing Ellen Johnson, then compounds the error by tracking her down to Guatemala when she suddenly disappears. Needless to say, things go downhill from there as he becomes mixed up in a diamond heist that he eventually solves with the help of a street urchin named Angelita, suggesting that he is better off spending time with a female who is too young for him. However, the Mavericks are certainly not averse to fistfights, as there is usually at least one knuckle-swapping brawl per episode. Other western heroes like Bat Masterson and Deputy Clay McCord of The Deputy say that they prefer to avoid shooting but more often than not are forced by circumstances to let their guns do the talking.

The series also takes a less than serious approach to their gambling careers, perhaps as a hedge against the Puritanical backlash that sunk Mr. Lucky. While the Mavericks are generally without equal when it comes to playing poker straight up, they are very poor judges when engaging in other wagers. In "The Marquesa" (January 3, 1960) Bart accepts the deed to a cantina from Miguel Ruiz, sight unseen, as payment for a gambling debt. When he actually goes to visit his new establishment, he finds that it has been closed by order of a Judge Painter in a crooked ownership dispute involving a descendant of one-time town owner the Marquesa Ruisenor. Soon after Bart gains undisputed ownership to the property by paying the descendant, Lily, $5000, the cantina burns to the ground. In "Cruise of the Cynthia B" (January 10, 1960) Bret is hoodwinked into thinking he is buying a riverboat for a mere $1000 from Gillespie MacKenzie, whom he finds tied up by his ankles in a tree, only to later learn that the boat is in disrepair, that six other people fell for the same ruse, and that MacKenzie plans to take the forged deeds back from them all at gunpoint. Similar acquisitions fail to pan out in "The Town That Wasn't There" (October 2, 1960) and "The Maverick Line" (November 20, 1960), the former involving a silver mine and the latter a stagecoach line.

But perhaps the worst business deal was made by studio chief Jack L. Warner when he tried to repay Garner for unflattering comments he had made in an interview about Warner, his miserly operation, and his treatment of Garner as "a piece of meat." When a writers strike broke out in early 1960, Warner seized on the "force majeure" (i.e., "act of God") clause in Garner's contract to suspend the actor, claiming that there were no scripts to be filmed. Warner notably did not also suspend Garner's co-star Jack Kelly. Garner retaliated by suing Warner for breach of contract and, despite being warned that he would "never work in this town again," won the suit when Warner himself testified that the studio had in fact produced some 100 scripts by various writers during the strike, all credited to W. Hermanos, i.e. Warner Brothers. Though the monetary settlement Garner received was paltry, he was free from his contract with Warners to pursue what he really wanted all along--making feature films. To replace Garner, Warners inserted British actor Roger Moore, also already under contract, as cousin Beau Maverick at the beginning of Season 4, though in accepting the role Moore was able to structure his contract so that his servitude to Warners would last only one more year. Kelly would remain with the series for the duration, which would last through an abbreviated fifth season, but the ratings continued to sink each year from a high of #6 in 1958-59 to falling out of the top 30 after Garner left.

The series' enduring popularity and Garner's connection to it is evidenced by his participation in the 1978 TV movie The New Maverick, a guest appearance on the short-lived derivative 1979 series Young Maverick, his revival 1981 series Bret Maverick, and his role in the 1994 feature film adaption Maverick starring Mel Gibson. Though Garner may have hated his boss Jack Warner, he obviously bore no ill feelings to the character and TV series that launched his career, even attending the dedication of a statue depicting his character in his hometown of Norman, Oklahoma in 2006. Because of its iconoclastic take on the western genre and its star's equally outspoken take on the business of television, Maverick will remain, as its theme song states, a legend of the west.

The music for the theme song was composed by David Buttolph, born in New York, who studied at Julliard and in Vienna, where he also worked as a nightclub pianist. He also worked as an opera coach in Munich before returning to the States in 1927 and found work conducting for NBC Radio. In 1933 he moved to Los Angeles and began a long and prolific career composing, arranging, and conducting for feature films and television, though much of his work went uncredited. Among the many films he worked on were Zorro, Ball of Fire, House of Wax, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, and The Lone Ranger. Besides Maverick, he worked on several other TV series, including Conflict, Laramie, Wagon Train, Frontier Circus, and The Virginian. He died January 1, 1983 at the age of 80. The lyrics for the Maverick theme were written by Paul Francis Webster, also from New York, who worked as a dance instructor before pursuing a career as a lyricist. His first song to be performed professionally was "Masquerade" recorded by Paul Whiteman in 1932. In 1935 Twentieth Century Fox signed him to write for Shirley Temple, but he soon return to free-lance work and scored his first hit when he collaborated with Duke Ellington on "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)" in 1941.He began writing lyrics for feature films in 1935 and in 1950 signed a contract with MGM. He won three Oscars, for "Secret Love" (1953), "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" (1955), and "The Shadow of Your Smile" (1965), and was nominated 16 times, second only to Johnny Mercer. Among his other noted lyrics are "April Love," "Baltimore Oriole," "Black Coffee," "Like Young," "Rio Bravo", "Somewhere My Love," "The Twelfth of Never," and the theme to the 1967 animated series Spiderman. Webster was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972 and passed away March 18, 1984 at the age of 76.

All five seasons have been released on DVD by WarnerArchives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Actors

James Garner

James Scott Bumgarner was born in Norman, Oklahoma. His mother, of Cherokee descent, died when he was 5 and his father sent Garner and his two older brothers to live with relatives until he remarried. But according to Garner his stepmother was a "nasty bitch" who beat him regularly and forced him to wear a dress as further humiliation. Finally at age 14 Garner had had enough and knocked her down with a single punch and then choked her on the floor until his father and brothers pulled him off. When Garner's stepmother couldn't provide his father a reason for why she started the fight, he sent her packing. But soon Garner's father left for California himself, with the boys left to fend for themselves. Garner joined the Merchant Marine toward the end of World War II at the age of 17. Eventually Garner and his brothers rejoined their father in Hollywood where Garner did modeling work for Jantzen swimwear but didn't like it because he felt like "a piece of meat." Garner soon returned to Norman to play high school football but never graduated. He was drafted into the army during the Korean War and won two Purple Hearts, the second for taking friendly fire in the buttocks. During his stint in the army Garner was an admitted "dog robber," a scrounger like the characters he would later play in The Great Escape and The Americanization of Emily. Before leaving the army he received his high school diploma after passing the high school equivalency test. He had hoped to play football at the University of Oklahoma but knee injuries from his time in the National Guard before the war prevented that, so he moved to California and lay carpet for his father's business until he noticed a sign for his friend Paul Gregory, a one-time soda jerk when Garner first met him, a fellow Oklahoman, and now a Hollywood agent. Gregory cast Garner in a non-speaking role for a theatrical production of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial that starred Henry Fonda, Lloyd Nolan, and John Hodiak. Garner was thus able to observe Fonda nightly and later became a kind of valet for Nolan and eventually helped both he and Fonda practice their lines. After the production ended he wound up doing commercials for Winston cigarettes before he finally met Warner Brothers talent scout Dick Bare, who then decided he wanted to cast Garner in the lead for Warners' first TV western, Cheyenne. However, Bare was unable to later get in touch with Garner before the role was given to Clint Walker, though he did end up with a supporting role in the show's first episode as well as bit parts in a few more episodes, eventually leading to a screen test for Warners and finally a contract. Warner Brothers shortened his last name to Garner without his prior agreement and had him cast in small roles in feature films Toward the Unknown, The Girl He Left Behind, and Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend before landing his first significant role supporting Marlon Brando and Red Buttons in Sayonara. When it came time to cast the lead character for Warners' new western Maverick, Garner believes he was chosen because he was already under contract, though he didn't want to do a TV series.

After his acrimonious departure from Maverick and Warner Brothers, Garner was able to develop the movie career he had wanted all along, with plum roles in hit films like The Great Escape, The Americanization of Emily, The Wheeler Dealers, and The Thrill of It All. During this time he also participated in the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and was sitting in the third row when Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. His role in John Frankenheimer's 1966 Formula One drama Grand Prix gave him the car racing bug and by the end of the 1960s he owned his own racing team that competed in the rugged Baja 1000 cross country races with Garner driving himself along with a partner a couple of times. In 1969 he had a hit comedy western with Support Your Local Sheriff!, which led to the follow-up Support Your Local Gunfighter a couple of years later. He returned to TV for the series Nichols in 1971, but the show lasted only a single season with Garner's character being killed in the final episode. Maverick creator Roy Huggins and Stephen J. Cannell created the character who eventually became Jim Rockford in another series called Toma, managed to spin it into a TV movie of the week , and eventually its own series beginning in 1974 and running for 6 successful seasons. Though the show won him an Emmy for best lead actor in 1977, the series took a heavy physical toll on Garner, who was in nearly every scene and did his own stunts. An attack of bleeding ulcers led to the show's cancellation in 1980. Just as he stood up to Warner Brothers in the Maverick years, Garner wound up suing Universal for withheld royalties and exposed their "creative accounting" to make it appear that the studio was losing money, eventually settling out of court for what was assumed to be a multimillion dollar figure. But Garner's career was far from over: he brought back his first TV role in 1981 for a single season on Bret Maverick, appeared in the TV mini-series Space in 1985, and had recurring roles on Man of the People, Chicago Hope, First Monday, and 8 Simple Rules. He appeared in a series of Rockford TV movies in the 1990s, and he continued his work in feature films, most notably Victor Victoria, Murphy's Romance (for which he received an Oscar nomination), Space Cowboys, and The Notebook. He died July 19, 2014 apparently from a heart attack at the age of 86.

Jack Kelly

John Augustus Kelly, Jr. was born in Astoria, NY, the son of stage actress and model Nan Kelly and a ticketbroker, John Augustus Kelly, Sr., later a real estate professional after the family moved to Hollywood. Jack began modeling in soap commercials at age 2, for which he received a lifetime supply of soap and first appeared on the stage at age 9 with Hope Emerson in Swing Your Lady. He studied law at UCLA and gave up acting for a while, working various odd jobs before joining the Army in 1945, during which time he was aboard the first B-29 to fly over the Arctic circle. A year later he was back at UCLA and took up radio drama in the evenings on shows such as Lux Radio Theatre and Suspense. After leaving school he performed with the Circle Theatre of Los Angeles, where he was spotted in a production of Anna Lucasta by several directors, leading to his first film appearance in 10 years in 1949. After a number of feature film roles through the early 1950s, he began getting cast in TV programs such as The Ray Milland Show, Stories of the Century, and The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse, all in 1954. The following year he had his first starring television role as Dr. Parris Mitchell on Kings Row, one of three dramas (with Cheyenne and Casablanca) that rotated as part of Warner Brothers Presents. He continued interspersing his TV work with movie credits, including To Hell and Back, Forbidden Planet, and She Devil. But his career-defining role came when he was cast as Bart Maverick to share the workload with James Garner on Maverick.

Once Maverick ended in 1962, his TV guest spots were steady but not prolific, from Wagon Train in 1963 to Batman, Daktari, and Laredo in 1966. In the late 1960s he was the host of the game show Sale of the Century, eventually replaced by Joe Garagiola. He had brief supporting roles on Get Christie Love and The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries in the later 1970s, during which he also had a couple of guest spots on Garner's Rockford Files. He reprised his role of Bart Maverick in Garner's TV movie The New Maverick and short-lived TV series Bret Maverick as well as an episode of The Fall Guy and Kenny Rogers' TV movie The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw. As his film work began to dry up in the late 1970s, he became involved in real estate in Huntington Beach, California, where he moved. He also entered into politics there, serving several terms on the City Council and as mayor from 1983 - 1986. He suffered a heart attack in April 1992 and after appearing to rebound from it suffered a fatal stroke on November 7, 1992 at the age of 65. His sister Nancy Kelly was a prolific screen actress from the 1930s through the 1950s, receiving an Oscar nomination for her role in The Bad Seed in 1956.

Roger Moore

Roger George Moore was born in Stockwell, now part of London, England, the son of a policeman and housewife. He was drafted into the British Army at the end of World War II, where one of his jobs was  taking care of entertainers for the troops in Hamburg, Germany. After the war he found work as a model, particularly for knitted clothing, earning him the nickname The Big Knit. He made his acting debut on a 1950 BBC program called Drawing Room Detective. He was signed to a 7-year film contract with MGM in 1952 but was let go after only two years after the failure of Diane. In 1958 he was cast in the title role for the TV series Ivanhoe, which split filming between Britain and California. The series lasted only a single season, but Moore was immediately cast in the lead role the following year in the Warner Brothers gold-rush series The Alaskans along with Dorothy Provine, with whom he had an affair while married to his second wife, singer Dorothy Squires. After this series lasted only a single season, Warner Brothers cast him as James Garner's replacement for Season 4 of Maverick. According to Garner, Moore agreed to do the series only if he were released from his Warner Brothers contract after one season. TV Guide also reported that Moore's contract stipulated that he would be released from Warner if Garner returned to the series.

After leaving Maverick Moore achieved his first great success when he was cast as Simon Templar in the British spy series The Saint, which ran for 7 seasons. Two years after its end he teamed up with Tony Curtis in the British-produced series The Persuaders! which found success in Europe but not in the States on ABC. In 1973 he succeeded Sean Connery as James Bond (excepting the 1-film diversion of George Lazenby in On Her Majesty's Secret Service) when he starred in Live and Let Die. He would star in the next 6 Bond films and as of this date served in the role longer than any other actor. While playing Bond he also appeared in other films such as Gold, Shout at the Devil, The Wild Geese, Cannonball Run, and Curse of the Pink Panther. After a 5-year hiatus following his last Bond film, he resumed his film career in 1990, which has continued up until at least 2013, though his appearances have become fewer and many involve voicework for animated fare such as Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. He had a regular role in the 1999 TV series The Dream Team, but the show was canceled after only 5 episodes. He has been active in working for UNICEF and helped PETA produce a video protesting the making of foie gras. He was knighted in 2003 for his charity work. His later years have been plagued by a series of health issues--prostate cancer in 1993, bradycardia in 2003, and Type II diabetes in 2013. He currently splits his time between residences in Monaco, France, and Switzerland and has been married to his fourth wife Christine "Kiki" Tholstrup since 2002.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 3, Episode 16, "The Marquesa": Adele Mara (shown on the left, wife of Maverick producer Roy Huggins appeared in Wake of the Red Witch, Sands of Iwo Jima, and The Big Circus) plays Luisa, descendant of Marquesa Ruisenor. Carlos Romero (Rico Rodriguez on Wichita Town, Romero Serrano on Zorro, and Carlo Agretti on Falcon Crest) plays her attorney Manuel Ortiz. Jay Novello (Juan Greco on Zorro and Mayor Mario Lugatto on McHale's Navy) plays henchman Pepe. Morris Ankrum (starred in Rocketship X-M, Invaders From Mars, Earth vs. The Flying Saucers, and The Giant Claw and played the judge 22 times on Perry Mason) plays Judge Jason Painter. Raymond Hatton (starred in Oliver Twist (1916), The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Lord Jim, played Marshal Sandy Hopkins in 28 westerns and Rusty Joslin in 7 other westerns, and played The Mole on Dick Tracy) plays barfly Charlie Plank. Rodolfo Hoyos, Jr. (Luis Valdez on Viva Valdez) plays poker player Miguel Ruiz. Lane Chandler (Tom Pike on Lawman) plays a sheriff.

Season 3, Episode 17, "Cruise of the Cynthia B": Mona Freeman (starred in Black Beauty, Mother Wore Tights, Angel Face, and Jumping Jacks) plays schemer Modesty Blaine. Alexander Campbell (appeared in Magnificent Obsession and Anatomy of a Murder and played Sheriff Bill Logan on State Trooper) plays entrepreneur Abner Morton. Irene Tedrow (Mrs. Elkins on Dennis the Menace) plays boat co-owner Mrs. Ambrose Tutwiller. Gage Clarke (Mr. Botkin on Gunsmoke) plays boat co-owner Montgomery Teague.

Season 3, Episode 18, "Maverick and Juliet": Carole Wells (Edwina Brown on National Velvet and Lucy Hanks on Pistols 'n' Petticoats) plays feuding family daughter Julie Carteret. Lew Brown (SAC Allen Bennett on The F.B.I.) plays her brother Jeb. 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 her mother. Steve Terrell (Tom on Pride of the Family) plays her beloved Sonny Montgomery. Rhys Williams (Doc Burrage on The Rifleman) plays his father Montague Montgomery. Marjorie Bennett (see the biographical section for the 1960 post on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays his mother Edwina. Walter Coy (Zoravac on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger and the narrator on Frontier) plays a preacher.

Season 3, Episode 19, "The White Widow": Julie Adams (shown on the right, starred in The Creature From the Black Lagoon and played Martha Howard on The Jimmy Stewart Show, Ann Rorchek on Code Red, and Eve Simpson on Murder, She Wrote) plays bank owner and widow Wilma White. Ross Elliott (Freddie the director on The Jack Benny Show and Sheriff Abbott on The Virginian) plays her suitor Mayor Cosgrove. Don Kennedy (voice of Tansut on Space Ghost Coast to Coast) plays Sheriff Jim Vaughn. Richard Webb (Captain Midnight on Captain Midnight and Deputy Chief Don Jagger on Border Patrol) plays hotel owner Jim Manton.

Season 3, Episode 20, "Guatemala City": Suzanne Storrs (Janet Halloran on Naked City) plays Bret's love interest Ellen Johnson. Tudor Owen (Joe Ainsley on Mayor of the Town and Elihu Snow on Captain David Grief) plays his sea-faring friend Sim. Linda Dangcil (Sister Ana on The Flying Nun) plays Guatemala street urchin Angelita. Patric Knowles (starred in The Adventures of Robin Hood, How Green Was My Valley, and The Wolf Man) plays investigator Sam Bishop. Robert Carson (Mr. Maddis on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show) plays a hotel clerk. Paul "Mousie" Garner (Mousie on Surfside 6) plays a newspaper boy.

Season 3, Episode 21, "The People's Friend": John Litel (starred in Back in Circulation, On Trial, Murder in the Blue Room, four Nancy Drew films, and eight Henry Aldrich films and played the Governor on Zorro and Dan Murchison on Stagecoach West) plays candidate Ellsworth Greeley. Merry Anders (shown on the left, played Joyce Erwin on The Stu Erwin Show, Val Marlowe on It's Always Jan, Mike McCall on How to Marry a Millionaire, and Policewoman Dorothy Miller on Dragnet 1967) plays his daughter Penelope. John Zaremba (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 his supporter Gantry. R.G. Armstrong (Police Capt. McAllister on T.H.E. Cat and Lewis Vendredi on Friday the 13th) plays his rival Wellington Cosgrove. Francis de Sales (Lt. Bill Weigand on Mr. & Mrs. North, Ralph Dobson on The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, Sheriff Maddox on Two Faces West, and Rusty Lincoln on Days of Our Lives) plays Silverdale Mayor Culpepper. 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 Silverdale Sheriff Burke. Dick Wilson (Dino Barone on McHale's Navy and George Whipple in Charmin toilet paper commercials) plays card cheat Crenshaw.

Season 3, Episode 22, "A Flock of Trouble": 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 rancher Verne Scott. Myrna Fahey (shown on the right, played Katherine "Kay" Banks on Father of the Bride) plays his fiance Dee Cooper. Donnelly Rhodes (appeared in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and played Dutch Leitner on Soap, Charlie on Report to Murphy, Art Foster on Double Trouble, Dr. Grant Roberts on Danger Bay, Harry Abramowitz on The Heights, R.J. Williams on Street Legal, Det. Leo Shannon on Da Vinci's Inquest, and Dr. Sherman Cottle on Battlestar Gallactica) plays his henchman Cain. Tim Graham (Homer Ede on National Velvet) plays sheep-herder Jensen.

Season 3, Episode 23, "Iron Hand": Susan Morrow (starred in Gasoline Alley, Problem Girls, and Cat-Women of the Moon) plays cattle rancher Connie Coleman. Robert Redford (shown on the left, starred in Barefoot in the Park, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, and All the President's Men) plays her brother Jimmy. Lane Chandler (see "The Marquesa" above) plays lawman Marshal Richter. Terry Frost (Sgt. Moore/Morse/Morris on Highway Patrol) plays cattle buyer Purdy. Glenn Strange (played Frankenstein's monster in House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula, and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein and played Sam Noonan on Gunsmoke) plays the Abilene marshal.

Season 3, Episode 24, "The Resurrection of Joe November": Charles Maxwell (Special Agent Joe Carey on I Led 3 Lives and was the voice of the radio announcer on Gilligan's Island) plays German shyster Baron Thor von Und Zu Himmelstern. Joanna Barnes (Lola on 21 Beacon Street and Katie O'Brien on The Trials of O'Brien) plays his partner Felice de Lasignac. Forrest Lewis (Mr. Peavey on The Great Gildersleeve) plays riverboat Captain Nelson. Don "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 bartender Willie Saffron. Nita Talbot (Marya on Hogan's Heroes, Judy Evans on Here We Go Again, Delfina on General Hospital, and Rose on Starting From Scratch) plays his girlfriend Bessie Bison. Harry Cheshire (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Lawman) plays church keeper Brother Ambrose. Kelly Thordsen (Colorado Charlie on Yancy Derringer) plays a police captain.

Season 3, Episode 25, "The Misfortune Teller": Kathleen Crowley (Terry Van Buren on Waterfront and Sophia Starr on Batman) plays Bret's old friend Melanie Blake. Alan Mowbry (appeared in A Study in Scarlet, Berkeley Square, Topper, and The Man Who Knew Too Much and played Stewart Styles on Dante) plays astrological lawyer Luke Abigor. Emory Parnell (Hawkins on The Life of Riley and Hank the bartender on Lawman) plays bar owner Fred Grady. Chubby Johnson (Concho on Temple Houston) plays jailer Jud. Hank Patterson (Fred Ziffel on Green Acres and Petticoat Junction and Hank on Gunsmoke) plays a whittling man. Mickey Simpson (Boley on Captain David Grief) plays bartender Charlie Turple.

Season 3, Episode 26, "Greenbacks, Unlimited": John Dehner (shown on the right, 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 safe-cracker Ed Murphy. Patrick Westwood (Mian Rukn Din on The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling) plays his accomplice London Louie Latimer. Gage Clarke (see "The Cruise of the Cynthia B" above) plays Bret's old friend Foursquare Farley. Sammy Jackson (Will Stockdale on No Time for Sergeants) plays card player Junior Kallikak. Forest Taylor (starred in True Nobility, Big Calibre, Too Much Beef, and The Lost Planet and played Doc Brannon on Man Without a Gun) plays a card player. Luis Delgado (Jack Kelly's and then James Garner's stand-in on Maverick, Officer Billings on The Rockford Files, and Shifty Delgrado on Bret Maverick) plays a card player. Roy Engel (Doc Martin on Bonanza, the police chief on My Favorite Martian, and President Ulysses S. Grant on The Wild, Wild West) plays Denver Marshal Ratcliffe.

Season 4, Episode 1, "The Bundle From Britain": Robert Caspar (Barry Wisegarten on Room 222 and Dr. J. Stanley Mattick on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) plays wealthy heir Freddie Bognor. Robert Douglas (appeared in The Fountainhead, Kim, Ivanhoe, and The Prisoner of Zenda and directed multiple episodes of 77 Sunset Strip, 12 O'Clock High, The F.B.I., and Baretta amongst many others) plays kidnapping ringleader Herbert. Max Baer, Jr. (shown on the left, played Jethro and Jethrine Bodine on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays henchman Brazos. Mickey Simpson (see "The Misfortune Teller" above) plays henchman Pecos. Clancy Cooper (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Lawman) plays ranch owner McGee.

Season 4, Episode 2, "Hadley's Hunters": Edgar Buchanan (Uncle Joe Carson on The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and Petticoat Junction, Red Connors on Hopalong Cassidy, Judge Roy Bean on Judge Roy Bean, Bob/Doc Dawson on Tales of Wells Fargo, Doc Burrage on The Rifleman, and J.J. Jackson on Cade's County) plays small-town kingpin Sheriff Hadley. Howard McNear (Floyd Lawson on The Andy Griffith Show and Jansen the Plumber on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show) plays his biographer Copes. Robert J. Wilke (appeared in Best of the Badmen, High Noon, The Far Country, and Night Passage and played Capt. Mendoza on Zorro) plays his deputy McCabe. 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 Cavanuagh on Sarge, Bumper Morgan on The Blue Knight, and Carter McKay on Dallas) plays his deputy Jones. James Gavin (Sheriff Frank Madden on The Big Valley) plays his deputy Smith. Herb Vigran (Judge Brooker on Gunsmoke) plays bartender Pender. 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 the father of a wanted man's girlfriend. John Russell, Peter Brown, Will Hutchins, Clint Walker, and Ty Hardin all have cameos as their respective Warner Brothers western characters. Edd Byrnes (77 Sunset Strip) has a cameo as a stable boy.

Season 4, Episode 3, "The Town That Wasn't There": Richard Hale (starred in Abilene Town, Kim, San Antone, Red Garters, and To Kill a Mockingbird) plays railroad acquisition agent Wilber Shanks. Alexander Campbell (see "Cruise of the Cynthia B." above) plays his boss Horatio Cromwell. Jon Lormer (Harry Tate on Lawman, various autopsy surgeons and medical examiners in 12 episodes of Perry Mason, and Judge Irwin A. Chester on Peyton Place) plays ranch owner Sam Bradford. Merry Anders (see "The People's Friend" above) plays his daughter Maggie. John Astin (shown on the right, appeared in That Touch of Mink, The Wheeler Dealers, Move Over, Darling, Viva Max, and Freaky Friday and played Harry Dickens on I'm Dickens, He's Fenster, Gomez Addams on The Addams Family, Rudy Pruitt on The Phyllis Diller Show, Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Sherman on Operation Petticoat, Ed LaSalle on Mary, Buddy Ryan on Night Court, Radford on Eerie, Indiana, and Prof. Albert Wickwire on The Adventures of Briscoe County, Jr.) plays sheep rancher Joe Lambert. Lane Chandler (Lane Chandler, see "The Marquesa" above) plays lawman Sheriff Crane. Hank Patterson (see "The Misfortune Teller" above) plays a wagon driver. Forrest Lewis (see "The Resurrection of Joe November" above) plays an old-timer riding the stagecoach.

Season 4, Episode 4, "Arizona Black Maria": Alan Hale, Jr. (shown on the left, played Biff Baker on Biff Baker U.S.A., Casey Jones on Casey Jones, Sculley on The Texan, and The Skipper on Gilligan's Island) plays prison wagon driver Capt. Jim Pattishall. Joanna Barnes (see "The Resurrection of Joe November" above) plays his prisoner Daphne Tolliver. Don "Red" Barry (see "The Resurrection of Joe November" above) plays prisoner Dishonest Abe. Terence de Marney (Case Thomas on Johnny Ringo and Counsellor Doone on Lorna Doone) plays prisoner Fingers Louie. Harry Swoger (Harry the bartender on The Big Valley) plays outlaw Rufus.

Season 4, Episode 5, "Last Wire From Stop Gap": Robert Cornthwaite (Professor Windish on Get Smart) plays businessman Wembley. Don C. Harvey (Collins on Rawhide) plays the Stop Gap sheriff. Olive Sturgess (Carol Henning on The Bob Cummings Show) plays telegraph owner's daughter Phyllis Hulett. Jimmie Horan (Trooper Hogan on F Troop) plays a nosy kibitzer. Richard Reeves (Mr. Murphy on Date With the Angels) plays a drunken prospector.

Season 4, Episode 6, "Mano Nera": Frank Wilcox (shown on the right, played Henry Van Buren on Waterfront, Beecher Asbury on The Untouchables, Mr. Brewster on The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction, and the judge 8 times on Perry Mason) plays New Orleans police chief Thomas Rawlins. Paul Bryar (Sheriff Harve Anders on The Long, Hot Summer) plays police Officer Noonan. 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 vineyard owner Giovanni Marchese. Myrna Fahey (see "A Flock of Trouble" above) plays his sister Carla. 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 mobster Giacommo Beretti. Nesdon Booth (Frank the bartender on Cimarron City) plays a hotel house detective.

Season 4, Episode 7, "A Bullet for the Teacher": Kathleen Crowley (see "The Misfortune Teller" above) plays showgirl Flo Baker. Bing Russell (Deputy Clem Foster on Bonanza) plays casino employee Luke Storm. Brad Johnson (Deputy Sheriff Lofty Craig on Annie Oakley) plays St. Joseph Constable Jim Reardon. 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 Garnet, NM sheriff and mayor Ephrim Burch. Joan Tompkins (Trudy Wagner on Sam Benedict, Mrs. Brahms on Occasional Wife, and Lorraine Miller on My Three Sons) plays his wife Mary. Max Baer, Jr. (see "The Bundle From Britain" above) plays cowboy Chuck. Tom London (starred in Six-Shootin' Sheriff, Song of the Buckaroo, and Riders in the Sky) plays a farmer. John Harmon (hotel clerk Eddie Halstead on The Rifleman) plays a station agent.

Season 4, Episode 8, "The Witch of Hound Dog": Anita Sands (Elaine on The Tab Hunter Show) plays reputed witch Nancy Sutliff. Sheldon Allman (Norm Miller on Harris Against the World) plays her brother Ox. Wayde Preston (shown on the left, played Christopher Colt on Colt .45) plays physician Luke Baxter. Phil Tully (Charlie the bartender on The Deputy) plays Hound Dog sheriff Cyrus.

Season 4, Episode 9, "Thunder From the North": Richard Coogan (Marshal Matthew Wayne on The Californians) plays trading post cheat Hank Lawson. Robert Warwick (starred in Alias Jimmy Valentine, The Supreme Sacrifice, The Heart of a Hero, and Against All Flags) plays Chief Standing Bull. Gary Conway (Det. Tim Tilson on Burke's Law and Capt. Steve Burton on Land of the Giants) plays an army orderly.

Season 4, Episode 10, "The Maverick Line": 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 stage robber Rumsey Plumb. Will Wright (Ben Weaver on The Andy Griffith Show) plays estate attorney Atherton Flayger. 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 ranch owner Polly Goodin. Chubby Johnson (see "The Misfortune Teller" above) plays stage driver Dutch Wilcox.

Season 4, Episode 11, "Bolt From the Blue": Will Hutchins (shown on the left, appeared in No Time for Sergeants, Spinout, Clambake, and The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington and played Tom "Sugarfoot" Brewster on Sugarfoot, Woodrow Banner on Hey, Landlord, and Dagwood Bumstead on Blondie) plays a novice cowboy lawyer. Tim Graham (see "A Flock of Trouble" above) plays horse-thief Ebenezer Bolt. Fay Spain (starred in Dragstrip Girl, Al Capone, and The Gentle Rain) plays sister of wronged fiance Angelica Garland. Owen Bush (Ben on Shane, John Belson on Sirota's Court, and Crimshaw on Our House) plays horse-thief Benson January. Percy Helton (Homer Cratchit on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays posse member Bradley. Richard Hale (see "The Town That Wasn't There" above) plays hanging Judge Hookstratten.

Season 4, Episode 12, "Kiz": Kathleen Crowley (see "The Misfortune Teller" above) plays eccentric millionaire Kiz Bouchet. Peggy McCay (see "The Maverick Line" above) plays her cousin Melissa Bouchet. Tristram Coffin (Lt. Doyle on The Files of Jeffrey Jones and Capt. Tom Rynning on 26 Men) plays Melissa's fiance Dr. Pittman. Whit Bissell (shown on the right, 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 newspaper reporter Clement Samuels. Claude Stroud (Rudy Cromwell on The Duke and Hobert Nalven on The Ted Knight Show) plays hotel manager Henry. Max Baer, Jr. (see "The Bundle From Britain" above) plays ticket-taker Ezra. Chuck Hicks (LaMarr Kane on The Untouchables) plays boxer Gentleman Jim Bartlett.

Season 4, Episode 13, "Dodge City or Bust": Diana Millay (shown on the left, played Laura Collins on Dark Shadows) plays defrauded property owner Diana Dangerfield. Peter Whitney (Sergeant Buck Sinclair on The Rough Riders and Lafe Crick on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays bounty hunter Ollie Brock. Howard McNear (see "Hadley's Hunters" above) plays the sheriff. 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 his deputy Ben Nevers. Dick Elliott (Officer Murphy on Dick Tracy and Mayor Pike on The Andy Griffith Show) plays odd poker player George.

Season 4, Episode 14, "The Bold Fenian Men": Arch Johnson (see "A Bullet for the Teacher" above) plays U.S. Cavalry Col. Gaylord Summers. Arthur Shields (starred in The Plough and the Stars, National Velvet, and The Corn is Green and played Boles on The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure) plays Irish revolutionary Terence Fogarty. Herb Vigran (see "Hadley's Hunters" above) plays hotel clerk Ed Cramer.

Season 4, Episode 15, "Destination Devil's Flat": 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 Crenshaw, KS Sheriff Dan Trevor. Richard Reeves (see "Last Wire From Stop Gap" above) plays his accomplice Bull Crumpett. Patrick Westwood (see "Greenbacks, Unlimited" above) plays his accomplice Snake Rundall. Chubby Johnson (see "The Misfortune Teller" above) plays his deputy Oscar. Frank Ferguson (Gus Broeberg on My Friend Flicka, Eli Carson on Peyton Place, and Dr. Barton Stuart on Petticoat Junction) plays storefront mission Deacon Curt Eaker. Merry Anders (see "The People's Friend" above) plays his niece Marybelle McCall. Harry Swoger (see "Arizona Black Maria" above) plays a train conductor.