Ripcord (1962)

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Actors

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

Notable Guest Stars

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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.