Mister Ed (1961)

Today it is fondly remembered as an animal-themed situation comedy that appealed equally to adults and children, but Mister Ed also set the mold for some of the most popular and regrettable comedies of the 1960s and offered a profound perspective on man's relationship with other animals as well as himself.

The show's origins have been much documented, if somewhat inconsistently. According to the human star of the show, Alan Young, in his memoir Mister Ed and Me, director, producer, and creator Arthur Lubin first tried to recruit Young for the lead role in 1952 after selling his rights to the Francis the Talking Mule feature films, which Lubin also directed. By 1952 Lubin had directed three Francis features starring Donald O'Connor as a soldier who can hear Army mule Francis talking, but nobody else can. However, Lubin would go on to direct three more Francis pictures from 1953-55, so it is unclear what Lubin's stake in the Francis series was during this time. Young appears to have misremembered a few other details about the series, so it is possible he is mistaken here as well. Another source claims that Lubin wanted to bring the Francis idea to television but did not own the rights. In any case, his secretary, Sonia Chernus is credited with having told him about a series of stories about a talking horse named Mister Ed written by Walter R. Brooks and published in magazines beginning in 1937. Lubin was able to acquire the TV rights to these stories, which are listed as the inspirational source on the credits for each episode of the TV series.

Though Young turned down Lubin's initial offer, Lubin was able to secure the financial backing of George Burns, who also served as executive producer. Burns and Lubin filmed a pilot called "The Wonderful World of Wilbur Pope" in 1958, but none of the networks were interested in picking it up. When they brought on producer Al Simon, he suggested key changes. They also decided to change the main human's last name from Pope to Post to avoid any religious connotations. The original pilot was edited down to a 15-minute presentation, which was used to get Young to sign on and was shown to the D'Arcy Advertising Agency, whose chief loved it. Though they knew they would be unable to get any of the networks to take on a show they had already rejected, advertising agency head Steve Mudge took the mini-pilot to one of his clients, the Studebaker automobile company, and in a novel arrangement in which local dealers across the country chipped in a small amount from each car sale, they agreed to sponsor it as a syndicated program, with each dealer again buying airtime on their local station. Young misremembers that Studebaker had hoped to use the show as a way to promote their newest and most innovative model, the Avanti, but the Avanti wasn't introduced until 1962, and all the automobiles shown in the first season are variations of the Studebaker Lark.

The show was an immediate hit with the viewers but the Studebaker Lark was not, and Studebaker had to pull out as sponsor after the show's initial 26-episode season. Young recounts that fortunately Al Simon and Filmways Studios head Marty Ransohoff were having lunch at the same restaurant where CBS executives were meeting to discuss programming for the upcoming fall season. CBS programming director James Aubrey walked in and casually asked Simon and Ransohoff what was new. When they told him their dilemma, he immediately replied that he was looking to fill a spot on his Sunday night schedule, and just like that Mister Ed made the transition from syndication to network TV. Though Young describes this chain of events as happening at the end of the show's first season, whose last episode aired July 2, 1961, TV Guide reported the move to CBS as a done deal in its May 6 issue. The same issue revealed the secret that trainer Les Hilton used to make Ed appear to talk--inserting a nylon thread under his lip so that he would move it to try to get rid of the thread. Young claims in his memoir that this secret was not revealed until many years after the show had stopped airing and that he had helped spread a rumor that Hilton used peanut butter rather than nylon thread. Young says that eventually Hilton was able to dispense with the thread because Ed knew he would be prompted to speak whenever Young stopped talking.

Though it never topped the ratings, Mister Ed was popular enough to serve as the template for many zany-themed comedies later in the decade--My Favorite Martian, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, and, less successfully, My Mother the Car. Each of these series features a magical being whose powers or existence is known to a single individual who derives some benefit from the magical being but must go to great lengths to disguise the being's true nature. The comedy from each series springs primarily from the character privy to the magic trying to hide it from "normal" characters. In Mister Ed, the magical power is obviously the horse's ability to talk, and not only talk, but think and feel like an intelligent human. Ed chooses to talk to only Wilbur because he says he likes him. Wilbur comes to own Ed in the series' first episode "The First Meeting" (January 7, 1961) when newlyweds Wilbur and Carol Post buy a house that comes with a backyard stable in which Ed resides. The previous owner left Ed behind for the new owner to do with as he pleases. Wilbur quickly realizes that no one will believe him if he tells them his horse can talk, particularly when the horse refuses to talk whenever anyone but Wilbur is around. However, Ed does talk on the telephone since the party on the other end of the line can't tell that he's a horse, and in one episode, "Kiddy Park" (January 26, 1961), he talks to a small child because he says that no one will believe the child.

But what makes Mister Ed more profound than other zany comedies is that it depicts an animal as the intellectual equal of a human. In fact, Ed is often superior to his human counterparts. In "The Contest" (June 18, 1961), Ed is able to correctly answer geography questions from a radio quiz show when Wilbur and the Addisons cannot. He proves himself a skilled songwriter in "Ed, the Songwriter" (April 6, 1961) and "Mister Ed's Blues" (November 19, 1961). And he turns out to be adept at selling real estate over the phone in "Ed, the Salesman" (December 3, 1961). Meanwhile, Wilbur, while a skilled architect, is a poor magician, as seen in "Little Boy" (May 11, 1961), and generally a fumbling klutz, as depicted when he tries to fix the Addison's floor lamp in "Ed, the Redecorator" (October 22, 1961). Carol Post is a stereotypical housewife of the era, fixing meals for Wilbur and shopping or getting her hair done, though she does also volunteer for the Humane Society in "Ed, the Stoolpigeon" (April 13, 1961) and goes on television in a voter turnout effort in "Ed, the Voter" (November 5, 1961). Roger Addison is a retired real estate developer who doubles as a greedy cheapskate, while his wife Kay is a shopaholic. Ed, meanwhile, has a heart of gold, rescuing his mother from a life of hard labor in "Ed's Mother" (March 23, 1961), saving a little girl on a runaway horse in "Ed, the Hero" (November 26, 1961), sticking up for a bullied little boy in "Little Boy," and helping a hired cook finally get the marriage proposal she has waited for in "A Man for Velma" (April 27, 1961). In short, Ed has the most well-adjusted personality of any of the main characters.

It's also somewhat poignant that Wilbur appears like a lunatic to his family and friends merely for attending to the needs and desires of his companion animal. When Wilbur says that Ed can't go on a trip to a mountain resort because of his fear of heights, Roger Addison assumes he is nutty and refers him to a psychoanalyst in "Psychoanalyst Show" (April 20, 1961), but Wilbur uses the session with the psychoanalyst to find a way to cure Ed of his acrophobia. Even Wilbur occasionally needs a lesson in how to treat an animal when he is riding Ed in the park and digs his heels into Ed's ribs to get him to speed up, only to have Ed remark, "How would you like it if I did that to you?" This comment and others like it during 1961 episodes emphasize that Ed the horse deserves to be treated with the same respect as a human being, and even though this sentiment is played for laughs, the primary narrative of the series is that Ed is Wilbur's closest companion. Other animal-themed shows from the era--Lassie, Flipper, and Daktari portray a positive image of animals, but they often are given a subservient role, as a helper to their more heroic human counterparts. But on Mister Ed, there is no mistake that Ed is Wilbur's equal.

And while it's easy to think that Ed might deserve equal treatment because he's a special animal, the episode "Hunting Show" (November 12, 1961) suggests that all animals deserve more humane treatment. In this story Wilbur and Roger plan a hunting trip, initially without their wives until Carol tricks Wilbur into thinking that she needs the fresh air outside the city, and once Carol is invited Kay has to come along, too. But before Wilbur and Roger set out to shoot ducks, a cute duckling wanders through their camp and Carol asks Wilbur how he could think of shooting an adult duck that might be this duckling's parent. Wilbur isn't dissuaded, yet, but once they are out in the brush with Ed as their packhorse, Ed repeatedly foils Roger's attempts to get off a shot by bumping him or swishing his tail in his face. The wandering duckling shows up again, and Wilbur is finally convinced to give up the hunt, but Roger, always the more callous of the two, vows to stay and get his money's worth from his new $375 shotgun. After Ed stages a stunt with some ketchup as fake blood in a ruse to get Wilbur to take him back home, Wilbur not only swears off hunting forever when he thinks that Ed was hit by a stray shot from another hunter, but he demands that Roger throw both of their guns in the lake. Again, though the scenes are always played for laughs, the question remains, if a horse can be your best companion simply because he chooses to talk to you, how can you shoot another animal for sport? 

Ed shows that he can communicate with other humans through other methods such as tapping out a license plate number with his hoof in "Ed, the Witness" (March 16, 1961), thereby convincing a Mexican judge that a con man ran into Wilbur's trailer and then charged him to repair it. In "The Horsetronaut" (October 8, 1961) he convinces an army scientist of his intelligence by circumventing the scientist's test, which would have shocked him if he had picked the wrong one of two carrots. After the scientist describes how the test works to an army private, Ed unplugs the test machine and then eats the carrot. Within the logic of this TV series, how can you assume an animal is less intelligent than yourself when it may just be a case of the animal not communicating with you in a way that you can understand?

The humor in the series derives from overturning man's position as ruler of the animal kingdom. Ed is usually able to get what he wants by outwitting Wilbur and other humans. Humans like Roger Addison find this idea ridiculous--they cannot believe any other species has the power to communicate with us and to believe that they can is madness. But perhaps we are the ones who are insane for believing that we are so uniquely gifted and isolated above all other species. Though it has always been considered a kind of screwball comedy, Mister Ed also addressed issues we are still wrestling with about our place in the natural world.

The memorable theme song for Mister Ed, which did not include lyrics until the show's 8th episode, was written by the Songwriters Hall of Fame team of Ray Evans and Jay Livingston, who provided the singing in the vocal version. The duo first met and began collaborating while students at the University of Pennsylvania. Evans was a high school valedictorian and played clarinet in the school band. He graduated from Penn's prestigious Wharton School of Business with a degree in Economics. After playing together in the university's dance orchestra, the two continued their collaboration after graduation and got their first big break when their song "G'Bye Now" was used in Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson's 1939 Broadway revue Hellzapoppin'. In 1946 they signed with Paramount Studios in Hollywood and over the next decade won three Academy Awards for "Buttons and Bows" (1948), "Mona Lisa" (1950), and "Que Sera Sera" (1956). They were also nominated but did not win the following year for "Tammy's in Love" from Tammy and the Bachelor. They wrote the Christmas standard "Silver Bells" in 1951, initially intended for the 1951 Bob Hope film The Lemon Drop Kid, wrote the instrumental theme song for the TV series Bonanza, and collaborated with Henry Mancini on "Dear Heart" in 1964. Livingston also co-wrote "The Twelfth of Never" with Paul Francis Webster. Livingston passed away at age 86 on October 17, 2001, and Evans died February 15, 2007 at age 92. 

The complete series has been released on DVD by Shout!Factory.

The Actors

Alan Young

Angus Young was born in North Shields, Northumberland in northern England, the son of a shipyard bookkeeper and sometime midwife. After relocating the family to Edinburgh, Scotland, his father decided to move them to Canada. After a harrowing passage that included their ship running aground on Anticosti Island, they finally landed in Quebec City, from which they took a train to British Columbia. At first they settled in the tiny town of Caulfied, but when his father had difficulty finding work, they then moved to West Vancouver. As a child Young suffered from asthma and was forced to remain indoors for months every year, but he used the time wisely, reading voraciously and devouring radio comedies such that he was able to repeat the skits verbatim. This talent got him a spot in a talent show hosted by the local Scottish Caledonia Society, which in turn led to a regular spot on Vancouver's CJOR radio station and eventually his own show on the national Canadian station CBC. There he was heard by a New York-based agent who hired him as a summer replacement for Eddie Cantor. When the summer ended, he was given a regular spot and was able to hire his own writers and actors, one of whom was Jim Backus. But Young wanted to try other things as well and after a failed joke using 20th Century Fox's Daryl F. Zanuck's name and a subsequent apology and plug for Fox's newest film, Young got a screen test, which didn't go well but introduced him to a producer who agreed to film a 5-minute sketch he had written that turned out to be his ticket to Hollywood. His first film, Forever Amber, flopped, but his next one, Margie, was a hit, leading to more major roles in Chicken Every Sunday and Mr. Belvedere Goes to College. When Hollywood studios began shrinking in the late 1940s, he returned to radio, hosting his own show and playing a supporting role on Jimmy Durante's radio show. When he was dropped from both, he tried the theater circuit with his comedy show, but that also didn't pan out. So he returned to Hollywood and auditioned at CBS for his own live TV show, which went on the air in 1950. The show ran for three seasons and garnered two Emmys, but the strain of writing and performing a live, sketch-based weekly program wore Young down, and when he saw other TV comics, like Jack Benny and Lucille Ball, switching to film, he demanded the same and was turned down. Fortunately, he had just signed a contract with Paramount Pictures and returned to feature films. But his first picture, Aaron Slick From Punkin Crick, bombed and the next one, Androcles and the Lion, failed to live up to the hype, which left him in search of work again, which he found as a guest star on a series of TV programs. He was given his own show back in England, but it did not last long, simply because British programs have much shorter seasons. However, he was able to bounce back in the George Pal-directed MGM musical Tom Thumb in 1958 and struck gold playing opposite Rod Taylor in another Pal production, The Time Machine in 1960.

After Mister Ed was canceled in 1966, Young tried Broadway, but his one production was savaged by the critics and he left entertainment to work for the Christian Science Church, which also turned out to be a disillusioning experience. Eventually he was able to return to Hollywood as a voice actor, first producing a record album for Disney titled Mickey's Christmas Carol and then as the voice of Scrooge McDuck in a variety of productions, most notably the TV series DuckTales. He also provided voices for Battle of the Planets, The Incredible Hulk, The Dukes, Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Smurfs, and The Ren and Stimpy Show. He has also logged occasional guest appearances on programs such as The Love Boat, Murder, She Wrote, Doogie Howser, M.D. and ER as well as a regular role playing Ed Pepper on Coming of Age in 1988-89. He continues to provide the voice of Scrooge McDuck for Disney video games and currently resides, at age 95, in Woodland Hills, California.

Connie Hines

Constance Faith Hines was born into a family of performers in Dedham, Massachusetts. Her mother was an actor as was her father, who also taught acting and staged theatrical performances. She said she caught the acting bug after playing her father's daughter in a Boston production of Life With Father when she was 5 years old. Though she failed to land a part in her high school senior play, she was voted the most popular girl in school and elected class secretary. A teenage marriage to an insurance salesman had her move to Jacksonville, Florida, where she modeled and acted on radio and in theatrical productions. After a divorce, she moved to New York and trained with the Helen Hayes Equity Group. In 1958 she became a regular contestant on the game show Dotto and was later called to testify about being coached to give correct answers when the show was found to have been rigged. However, her appearances on the show caught the attention of a movie studio, revealed when host Jack Narz presented her with a telegram live on the air. She soon thereafter appeared in the British TV series Rendezvous and then landed a string of guest appearances on American TV shows such as Whirlybirds, Bachelor Father, Coronado 9, Perry Mason, Sea Hunt, and Shotgun Slade, as well as a starring role in the stock-car-themed feature film Thunder in Carolina before landing the role of Carol Post on Mister Ed.

After Mister Ed's cancelation in 1966, Hines made only a few TV guest appearances on shows such as Bonanza, Love, American Style, and Mod Squad before retiring from acting after marrying producer and entertainment lawyer Lee Savin in 1970. In 1989 she and Savin moved to Dana Point, California on the recommendation of Alan Young. There she hosted an animal rescue TV show on a local cable access channel. She and Young performed in the theatrical production Love Letters in Irvine, CA in 1996. Savin died in 1995. Hines passed away from a heart condition at the age of 78 on December 18, 2009.

Larry Keating

Lawrence Keating was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1896. Though little is known of his early years other than being the nephew of heavyweight boxing champion Tommy Burns, Keating became a radio announcer for NBC in the 1940s and toured with Bob Hope on his military camp shows during World War II. In 1945 he moved to ABC Radio as the announcer for This Is Your FBI and remained with the show until 1953. During that period he also began appearing in feature films such as Whirlpool, I Was a Shoplifter, The Mating Season, When Worlds Collide, and Francis Goes to the Races, which introduced him to future Mister Ed director Arthur Lubin. In 1953 he took over the role of George Burns and Gracie Allen's neighbor Harry Morton on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show and continued the role when Allen retired in 1958 on The George Burns Show. Since Burns was also an executive producer on Mister Ed, Keating was an easy choice for Wilbur Post's peptic neighbor Roger Addison, a role somewhat similar to his earlier Harry Morton. Keating contracted leukemia in early 1963 but continued working on Mister Ed until a week before his death, his last appearance being on the Season 4 premier. He died August 26, 1963 in Hollywood at the age of 67 and posthumously appeared in 1964 in the Don Knotts feature film The Incredible Mr. Limpet about a man who morphs into a talking fish. The film was directed by, of course, Arthur Lubin.

Edna Skinner

Born in Washington, D.C., but growing up in Oregon, Edna Skinner began her show business career after graduating from the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts by appearing in vaudeville and Manhattan night clubs before moving over to radio, where she did a number of character and animal voices as well as sound effects. Her big break came when she was hired by Rodgers & Hammerstein to replace Celeste Holm as Ado Annie in their original Broadway production of Oklahoma! During World War II she helped organize War Bond rallies and made her feature film debut in 1948 in the Frank Sinatra/Kathryn Grayson vehicle The Kissing Bandit. She appeared in Easy to Love and The Long, Long Trailer in 1953 before landing the role of Maggie the cook on the TV version of Topper that same year. She appeared in guest roles on a few more TV shows and the feature films The Second Greatest Sex and Friendly Persuasion in the mid-1950s before being cast as Kay Addison on Mister Ed in 1961.

When Larry Keating died suddenly in 1963, the Mister Ed  producers contemplated keeping her character on the show as a widow living with her brother Paul Fenton, played by Jack Albertson, but decided to get rid of the character at the end of Season 4, leaving her out of a job. She had guest spots on single episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies and Daniel Boone in 1964 but then retired from acting. She became a renowned angler, editing an outdoor magazine and representing two fishing tackle companies with her companion of 40 years Jean Fish. She wrote over 280 articles on fly fishing for a variety of publications and was awarded a trophy by the Newport Harbor Yacht Club in 1962 for catching a 31-pound albacore the previous year. Skinner and Fish retired to the southern Oregon coast in the 1970s, and Skinner published a memoir and history of the area The Heart of Lakeside in 1978. She died of heart failure in North Bend, Oregon at the age of 82 on August 8, 2003.

Allan Lane

Harry Leonard Albershart was born in Mishikawa, Indiana and according to some reports grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. According to one account, he attended Notre Dame University and lettered in football, baseball, and basketball but left school to join a Cincinnati repertory theater group. However, Notre Dame has no record of his having been there. He also founded his own photography company and did some modeling, all by age 20. He was discovered by a talent scout from Fox Studios in 1929 and moved to Hollywood, appearing in his first feature film that same year, Not Quite Decent. When he couldn't rise above supporting, often uncredited roles, he left Hollywood in 1932 and apparently played semi-pro football but returned in 1936 and began getting better parts, such as in Shirley Temple's Stowaway. By 1937 he left Fox for Republic Studios and won the lead role in The Duke Comes Back. But Lane found his first great success playing Mountie Dave King in the serial King of the Royal Mounted in 1940, followed by The Yukon Patrol and King of the Mounties over the next two years. He also began appearing in westerns such as The Law West of Tombstone in 1938, Daredevils of the West in 1943, Sheriff of Sundown in 1944, and The Topeka Terror in 1945. In 1946 he played Red Ryder in the first of seven features produced over the next two years. And in 1947 he began his period of greatest success starring as Allan "Rocky" Lane with his horse Black Jack in a string of 39 feature films from The Wild Frontier in 1947 to El Paso Stampede in 1953. He returned to the role of Red Ryder for the TV series of the same name in 1956, but it lasted only a single season and his career began to wane, perhaps in part due to his reputation as an egotistical scene-stealer who was hard to work with. As Alan Young tells it, Lane was crashing at Mister Ed trainer Lester Hilton's modest ranch when Young, Hines and the producers stopped by for some publicity photos with the newly acquire palomino that would be the star of the upcoming series. When Lane called out to Hilton, "Hey, Lester, where do you keep the coffee?" Young and the producers knew that they had found the voice for their talking horse.

At first Lane was embarrassed about being a horse's voice and demanded that he not be listed in the credits. When the show proved wildly popular, he asked to be listed, but the die had been cast and the producers refused to list Lane's name but gave him a raise instead. Because of Lane's prickly personality, the producers at one point considered replacing him, but despite auditioning several other voices, they felt that no one but Lane could fill the bill. Young says he doesn't know whether Lane was aware of this attempt to replace him but afterword he seemed to smooth off his rough edges when interacting with the rest of the crew. His work on Mister Ed was the last of his entertainment career. He died of cancer at the age of 64 on October 27, 1973.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 1, Episode 2, "The Ventriloquist": Peter Leeds (Tenner Smith on Trackdown and George Colton on Pete and Gladys) plays Roger's friend Hal Robbins.

Season 1, Episode 3, "Busy Wife": Donna Douglas (shown on the left, played Barbara Simmons on Checkmate and Elly Mae Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays model Jane Parker. 

Season 1, Episode 4, "Kiddy Park": James Flavin (Lt. Donovan on Man With a Camera and Robert Howard on The Roaring 20's) plays stable owner Mr. Kramer. Richard Reeves (Mr. Murphy on Date With the Angels) plays the kiddy park owner. Dorothy Konrad (Mrs. Trilling on The Last Resort) plays a mother at the park. Bobby Buntock (Harold Baxter on Hazel) plays her son.

Season 1, Episode 5, "Stable for Three": Olan Soule (Aristotle "Tut" Jones on Captain Midnight, Ray Pinker on Dragnet (1952-59), and Fred Springer on Arnie) plays Wilbur's client Mr. Goodwin.

Season 1, Episode 6, "Sorority House": Carol Byron (Kitty Mathews on Oh, Those Bells) plays sorority sister Linda Rutledge. Reva Rose (Marcy on That Girl, Nurse Mildred McInerny on The New Temperatures Rising Show, and Blanche Fedders on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) plays sorority sister Sandy Crane. Norma Varden (appeared in National Velvet, Strangers on a Train, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Witness for the Prosecution, and Doctor Doolittle and played Harriet Johnson on Hazel) plays the sorority mother Mrs. Davis. Kip King (voice of Shecky on The Biskitts and played Ronald Sandler on Charlie & Co. and Tailor Smurf on The Smurfs) plays fraternity brother Norman Howard.

Season 1, Episode 7, "Ed, the Lover": Les Tremayne (shown on the right, starred in The War of the Worlds (1953), The Story of Ruth, The Slime People, and The Fortune Cookie and played Inspector Richard Queen in The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen) plays film director Fred Briggs.

Season 1, Episode 8, "The Pageant Show": William Fawcett (Clayton on Duffy's Tavern, Marshal George Higgins on The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, and Pete Wilkey on Fury)plays  veterinarian Dr. Connors. Sid Tomack (Jim Gillis on The Life of Riley) plays phone repairman Hibbs. 

Season 1, Episode 9, "The Aunt": Eleanor Audley (shown on the left, played Mother Eunice Douglas on Green Acres and Mrs. Vincent on My Three Sons) plays Wilbur's Aunt Martha. 

Season 1, Episode 10, "The Missing Statue": Gage Clarke (Mr. Botkin on Gunsmoke)  plays antiques store owner Mr. Phillips. Bill Erwin (Joe Walters on My Three Sons and Glenn Diamond on Struck by Lightning) plays customer Mr. Wood.

Season 1, Episode 11, "Ed, the Witness": Natividad Vacio (Fronk on Father Knows Best) plays Mexican mechanic Arturo. Roberto Contreras (Pedro on The High Chapparal) plays policeman Miguel.

Season 1, Episode 12, "Ed's Mother": Henry Norell (Henry Slocum on Oh, Those Bells) plays farm owner Mr. Dowd. 

Season 1, Episode 13, "Ed, the Tout": John Eldredge (starred in The Woman in Red, The Murder of Dr. Harrigan, and The Black Cat and played Harry Archer on Meet Corliss Archer) plays racetrack steward Mr. Gray.

Season 1, Episode 14, "Ed, the Songwriter": Jack Albertson (shown on the right, starred in Days of Wine and Roses, Kissin' Cousins, The Flim-Flam Man, and Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and played Lt. Harry Evans on The Thin Man, Walter Burton on Room for One More, Lt. Cmdr. Virgil Stoner on Ensign O'Toole, and Ed Brown on Chico and the Man) plays Kay Addison's brother Paul Fenton. Kelton Garwood (Beauregard O'Hanlon on Bourbon Street Beat and Percy Crump on Gunsmoke) plays beatnik musician Fuzzy. 

Season 1, Episode 15, "Ed, the Stoolpigeon": Ralph Sanford (Mayor Jim Kelley on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays a policeman.

Season 1, Episode 16, "Psychoanalyst Show": Richard Deacon (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Dick Van Dyke Show) plays psychoanalyst Bruce Gordon. Jack LaLanne (world famous exercise guru) plays himself. William Boyett (Sgt. Ken Williams on Highway Patrol and Sgt. MacDonald on Adam-12) plays annoyed boyfriend Fred. 

Season 1, Episode 17, "A Man for Velma": Elvia Allman (Aunt Vera on I Married Joan, Jane on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Cora Dithers on Blondie, Mrs. Montague on The Bob Cummings Show, Elverna Bradshaw on The Beverly Hillbillies, and Selma Plout on Petticoat Junction) plays cook Velma. 

Season 1, Episode 18, "Ed's New Shoes": John Qualen (starred in The Three Musketeers (1935), His Girl Friday, The Grapes of Wrath, Angels Over Broadway, Casablanca, Anatomy of a Murder, and A Patch of Blue) plays stable worker Axel. James Flavin (see "Kiddy Park" above) plays his boss Mr. Kramer.

Season 1, Episode 19, "Little Boy": Virginia Christine (was the Folger's Coffee woman in commercials, starred in The Mummy's Curse, The Killers, and Night Wind, and played Ovie Swenson on Tales of Wells Fargo) plays new neighbor Margaret Burch. 

Season 1, Episode 20, "Ed Agrees to Talk": Doris Packer (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays Humane Society investigator Mrs. Adams. 

Season 1, Episode 22, "The Other Woman": Tom Fadden (Duffield on Broken Arrow, Silas Perry on Cimarron City, and Ben Miller on Green Acres and Petticoat Junction) plays photographer Charley Woods. 

Season 1, Episode 23, "Ed Cries Wolf": Rolf Sedan (Mr. Beasley the Postman on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show and Mr. Briggs the Postman on The Addams Family) plays jewelry store owner Pierre. 

Season 1, Episode 24, "The Contest": Lyle Talbot (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet) plays radio quizmaster George Hausner. Joe Conley (Ike Godsey on The Waltons) plays photographer Charley Grant.

Season 1, Episode 25, "Pine Lake Lodge": William Bendix (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on Overland Trail) plays lodge owner Bill Parker. Coleen Gray (starred in Kiss of Death, Nightmare Alley, The Killing, The Vampire, The Leech Woman, and The Phantom Planet and played Muriel Clifford on McCloud) plays his daughter Ann. Nancy Kulp (Pamela Livingstone on The Bob Cummings Show, Jane Hathaway on The Beverly Hillbillies, Mrs. Gruber on The Brian Keith Show, and Mrs. Hopkins on Sanford and Son) plays housekeeper Martha. Elvia Allman (see "A Man for Velma" above) plays charity chairwoman Ida Brenner. John Qualen (see "Ed's New Shoes" above) plays Parker's friend Milo. Will Wright (Ben Weaver on The Andy Griffith Show) plays miserly landowner Mr. Thompson. John Bryant (Dr. Carl Spaulding on The Virginian) plays forest ranger Jerry. Marjorie Bennett (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays a birdwatcher.

Season 1, Episode 26, "Wilbur Sells Ed": Frank Wilcox (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 jewelry store owner real estate developer Fred Gilbert. 

Season 2, Episode 2, "The Horsetronaut": Francis de Sales (shown on the right, played 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 shopping center developer Mr. Mencken. 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 an Army base guard. Stanley Clements (Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie in 6 Bowery Boys feature films) plays Army private Charley. Hazel Shermet (the voice of Henrietta Hippo on New Zoo Revue) plays Wilbur's secretary Miss Culbertson.

Season 2, Episode 3, "Ed's Ancestors": 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 farmer Fred Higgins. Reed Howes (one-time Arrow Collar Man model and silent film leading man in features such as High Speed Lee, Lightning Romance, The Snob Buster, and Romantic Rogue) plays a policeman.

Season 2, Episode 4, "Ed, the Redecorator": Hayden Rorke (shown on the right, starred in Father's Little Dividend, When Worlds Collide, and Pillow Talk and played Steve on Mr. Adams and Eve, Col. Farnsworth on No Time for Sergeants, Dr. Alfred Bellows on I Dream of Jeannie, and Bishop on Dr. Kildare) plays interior decorator Beverly Cavell.

Season 2, Episode 5, "Ed, the Jumper": Alan Hale, Jr. (shown on the left, played Biff Baker on Biff Baker U.S.A., Casey Jones on Casey Jones, and The Skipper on Gilligan's Island) plays Wilbur's college friend Karl Dickinson. Donna Douglas (shown on the right, see "Busy Wife" above) plays his wife Blanche. 

Season 2, Episode 6, "Ed, the Voter": Charles Meredith (starred in The Perfect Woman, Beyond, and The Cave Girl and played Secretary of Space Drake on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger and Dr. LeMoyne Snyder on The Court of Last Resort) plays the mayor. 

Season 2, Episode 8, "Mister Ed's Blues": Jack Albertson (see "Ed, the Songwriter" above) returns as Paul Fenton. Reed Howes (see "Ed's Ancestors" above) plays horse owner Harvey Wells.

Season 2, Episode 9, "Ed, the Hero": Addison Richards (shown on the left, starred in Boys Town, They Made Her a Spy, Flying Tigers, and The Deerslayer and played Doc Calhoun on Trackdown and Doc Landy on The Deputy) plays millionaire developer Mr. Thorndyke. Eddie Quillan (starred in The Grapes of Wrath, Mandarin Mystery, Mutiny on the Bounty, and Hi, Good Lookin'! and played Eddie Edson on Julia and Poco Loco on Hell Town) plays a newspaper photographer.
 

 Season 2, Episode 11, "Ed and the Elephant": Henry Corden (shown on the right, played Carlo on The Count of Monte Cristo, and Babbitt on The Monkees and did voicework on The Flintstones, Jonny Quest, The Atom Ant Show, The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, and Return to the Planet of the Apes) plays magician The Great Mordini.

Overland Trail (1960)

Veteran square-jawed actor William Bendix, in an interview that appeared in the March 13, 1960 edition of the TV supplement for the Chicago Daily News, speculated that if his new series Overland Trail were not well received, it might be called a bad imitation of Wagon Train. TV Guide, in a July 23, 1960 feature on co-star Doug McClure, described the series as "just one more hour-long filmed Western." Both descriptions suggest that the show was highly derivative in the western genre, and they were correct, though a more accurate description might be Tales of Wells Fargo meets The Deputy, as it features stories about running a cross-state stage line and includes an older, wilier character tricking a younger, less-experienced character into doing his bidding. For NBC, the hope was that the new mid-season replacement series, which debuted on February 7, would provide more formidable competition against Maverick on ABC and Dennis the Menace and Lassie on CBS, than had Riverboat, which was moved to Monday's schedule. But the ploy did not prove successful, for NBC anyway, as Overland Trail was not renewed for the fall 1960 season.

The similarities between Overland Trail and The Deputy extend beyond Bendix's character Fred Kelly, superintendent of the Overland Stage Company, tricking his younger protege, McClure's Frank "Flip" Flippen, out of an anticipated vacation in the show's very first episode, "Perilous Passage" (February 7, 1960) or a stopover in Topeka in the next episode, "The O'Mara's Ladies" (February 14, 1960). As in the majority of episodes on The Deputy, several Overland Trail episodes feature the older supervisory character only at the beginning and ending of the story, with the younger, less experienced character going it alone during the bulk of the narrative. On The Deputy this device was employed to minimize the amount of time Henry Fonda was required to put in on the television series so that he could pursue other opportunities in film and on the stage. For Overland Trail, this structure was simply a ploy by the producer to give McClure more screen time. In the series' third episode, "West of Boston" (February 21, 1960), Flippen intends to take his eastern-bred fiance on a stage ride to Flint Ridge, where they plan to settle down, until Kelly tells them there is a school teacher opening in Rock Point, a destination to which he wants to extend his stage line. Before Flippen and fiance set out, Kelly says he has business in another town and will catch with them at Mesa Flats. The rest of the episode details the many indignities and discomforts Flippen's fiance has to endure in the rugged west, only to learn when they reach Rock Point that there is no school or teacher's position there; it was merely another of Kelly's tricks. However, by this time Flippen's fiance has decided to head back east, with or without him. In "Sour Annie" (May 8, 1960), Flip volunteers to stay behind with seriously wounded prospector Annie Tatum, who is not expected to survive a fall she took from her horse, while Kelly and a few others ride off to corral a herd of mustangs in a nearby canyon. Flip not only nurses Annie back to health but helps her trudge across the desert and back to civilization when their camp is attacked by Indians. In the last scene Flip is reunited with Kelly and they head off on another stage run while Flip gives an exaggerated account of his adventures with Annie. And in "Escort Detail" (May 22, 1960), Flip volunteers to accompany U.S. Cavalry Lt. Adam King in escorting Crazy Horse's wife back to her village to deliver a treaty between the U.S. government and the Sioux, while Kelly continues operating the Overland until Flip's assignment has been successfully completed. The formula is inverted, however, in the series' final episode, "Most Dangerous Gentleman" (June 6, 1960), wherein Flip is left to run the Overland while Kelly helps his war buddy General William Palmer win the railroad franchise from Denver going west.

The interplay between the two starring characters is also similar to the give-and-take between the main characters in The Deputy with constant joking and insults thrown back and forth to gloss over how the two men really care for each other. The back story for Kelly and Flip is spelled out in the first few episodes: Flip's parents were killed by the Cheyenne, who then raised him until Kelly rescued him and brought him up from a young boy to a young man of 21 or so. Flip's Indian upbringing is mentioned in at least the first half dozen episodes, where he is given assignments that utilize his Indian-taught skills. Thereafter his Indian background is never mentioned again, even in an episode like "Escort Detail," which involves negotiating with and fighting against different Indian factions. Kelly's background is less fleshed out, though we learn early on that he has the street smarts and toughness that comes from growing up in Brooklyn. However, it may be an anachronism that Brooklyn translated into toughness back in the 1870s. Another curiosity about Kelly is his apparent disinterest in women. While the younger Flip easily has his head turned by any pretty face, often to his disadvantage, Kelly is only interested in business. Even when he has the opportunity to flirt with the beautiful Nitro Nell in "Fire in the Hole" (April 17, 1960) in her attempt to make her boyfriend Jumbo jealous, Kelly can only think about the possibility that the game might make Jumbo refuse to dig the tunnel he needs to win a mail route franchise against a competing stage line. There is no mention of any past marriage or romance in Kelly's life; he is a virtually sexless business-minded automaton.

While many westerns of the era dealt with the issues of Native American dignity and the rights of women with a slightly progressive slant, Overland Trail in its earlier episodes seems to take a more conservative perspective. Indians are generally vicious savages--one young chief is even named "Bloody Hand" in the episode "Daughter of the Sioux" (March 20, 1960), which tells the story of a young woman named Diana born to a white trapper and his Sioux wife. Diana's father has allowed her to be raised amongst the Sioux so that she prefers their culture and spurns her white heritage. She is, in fact, betrothed to Bloody Hand. But when her father forcibly brings her to Kelly and pays him to take her to a white finishing school in St. Louis so that she can learn the manners of a white woman, she resists until Flip shows her some kindness and then is nearly killed by Bloody Hand. Then she can see the brutality of the Sioux and she rejects them and accepts her position in the white world. Regarding the place of women, Kelly takes a rather chauvinistic view in "The Vigilantes of Montana" (April 3, 1960) when he says of the Banic sheriff's daughter that a woman has her place, comforting though it is, but this, meaning dealing with a tough situation, isn't it. And "Lawyer in Petticoats" (March 27, 1960) tells the story of a woman named Helen Jackson seemingly established in a traditionally male profession, but we learn that she is really only interested in recovering legal control of a mine half owned by her supposedly deceased father. When she finds out that he is still alive, she seems more interested in keeping it quiet so that she can still gain control of his riches rather than rejoicing that her father is still living. In other words, she is, or soon plans to be, a gold digger.

But later in the series, both attitudes shift. "Escort Detail" makes the point that not all Indians are war-mongering killers. Crazy Horse and his wife both desire peace with the white man, even if some younger braves in their tribe wish to maintain hostilities. And Lt. King, who at the beginning of the episode characterizes all Indians as killers due to his bitterness from having his brother killed at the Battle of Little Big Horn, eventually finds reconciliation with Crazy Horse despite initially planning to kill him on sight. Women come in for better treatment, too. The titular character in "Sour Annie" is a better mustang herder than any of her male counterparts. In "Most Dangerous Gentleman" railroad baron Palmer's secretary Jennifer Dean is the voice of women's liberation, providing a foil for the chauvinistic construction engineer Mike Day, who at one point says, "Next thing you'll be asking for the right to vote," to which Jennifer replies "We already have." Since many other aspects of the series were derived from other westerns of the day, it only makes sense that these themes would be brought more into the mainstream on a show struggling to find viewers and win a regular spot in the NBC lineup.

The theme music for Overland Trail and the scores for at least two episodes were composed by Jeff Alexander, born Myer Goodhue Alexander in Seattle, WA. Alexander's musical career began as a singer and dancer in vaudeville shows while in his teens. In 1939 he moved to New York City and found work composing and directing big bands for radio shows such as Benny Goodman's Camel Caravan and Amos 'n' Andy. In 1947 he relocated to Los Angeles and began working in film and television. His most noted film scores include The Tender Trap, Jailhouse Rock and three more Elvis Presley features, and Support Your Local Sheriff!. Besides Overland Trail, his TV credits included Bachelor Father, The Lieutenant, Valentine's Day, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, and Julia. He died from cancer at the age of 79 on December 23, 1989.

The complete series has been released on DVD by TimelessMedia Group.

The Actors

William Bendix

Though his tough-guy characters often brandished a Brooklyn accent, William Bendix was actually born in Manhattan, and other than a brief appearance in a silent 1911 Lillian Walker film at age 5, he did not take up an acting career in earnest until age 30, after the grocery business he managed with an assist from his father-in-law fell victim to the Great Depression. But even in his grocery days Bendix would occasionally perform in nightclubs, was once a singing waiter, and as a boy was a batboy for the New York Yankees, where he claims to have seen at least 100 of Babe Ruth's home runs. He reportedly was fired after fetching the Babe a large order of hot dogs and soda before a game that made the Bambino unable to play that day. Ironically, one of his best-remembered lead roles was playing Ruth in the 1948 film The Babe Ruth Story. But Bendix first made his name on the stage. His performance in a 1939 production of William Saroyan's The Time of Your Life got the attention of film producer Hal Roach, and Bendix began appearing in films in 1942, including Woman of the Year and The Glass Key, which earned him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor. Bendix's filmography throughout the 1940s and 50s was prolific, usually in supporting tough, blue collar or thug roles, though he took a comedic turn in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Other notable appearances during this era included Lifeboat, The Blue Dahlia, Streets of Laredo, Detective Story, and Macao. In 1944 he also began appearing on radio as aircraft plant worker Chester A. Riley in the comedy The Life of Riley, which ran for 8 years. He also played the role in the feature-length film version in 1949, but when the series was adapted for television that same year, Bendix was contractually unable to take the role and Jackie Gleason was cast in his place, though Gleason's portrayal was unsuccessful and the show lasted only one season. But once Bendix's contractual situation cleared up, a second version of the series was brought back to TV in 1953 and ran for five successful seasons.

Bendix continued to be active in both TV and film after Riley's cancellation until he was cast in the short-lived Overland Trail. After that show's demise, he continued to find work with guest appearances on Mister Ed, Follow the Sun, and Burke's Law as well as appearing in films such as Boys' Night Out, Johnny Nobody, and The Phony American until he contracted a stomach ailment that led to malnutrition and pneumonia, eventually killing him at age 58 on December 14, 1964. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame--one for radio and one for television.

Doug McClure

Born in Glendale, California, Douglas Osborne McClure was the son of an accountant and a newspaper woman. His older brother Reed also worked for the same Santa Monica newspaper that his mother did. McClure attended high school in Los Angeles, where he was quarterback of the football team and a swimmer. He also had a part in a school play that spurred him to study acting at Santa Monica College and later UCLA. While a junior at UCLA he had his first television appearance in a soap commercial, which led to additional commercial work and bit roles on TV. He also scored occasional minor film roles, sometimes uncredited, in movies such as Friendly Persuasion, The Enemy Below, South Pacific, and Gidget. One of his TV roles was on a 1959 episode of Schlitz Playhouse titled "Ivy League" in which William Bendix played a former Marine going to college on the GI bill and McClure played a student he took under his wing. When NBC was casting Overland Trail Bendix says that McClure's name popped into his head while reading a script and he recommended the young actor for the role of Flip Flippen. Producer Samuel A. Peeples liked McClure enough to start scheduling entire episodes around his character only a few shows into the season.

Though Overland Trail lasted less than a season, McClure was immediately snapped up to play the role Jed Sills on the crime drama Checkmate on CBS beginning in the fall of 1960. And after that show ended its two-year run, he didn't wait long for his next role, being cast for the part of Trampas when The Virginian debuted in the fall of 1962, a role he kept during the series' entire 8-year run. The 1970s were scarcely less busy: in 1972 he was cast as C.R. Grover  in Search, which ran for one season, and by 1975 he landed on Barbary Coast in the role of Cash Conover. He was also appearing in films such as The Land That Time Forgot and The People That Time Forgot as well as At the Earth's Core and the miniseries Roots. The 1980s brought a series of guest star appearances on a variety of shows, including five turns on The Fall Guy, and more film work in Cannonball Run II, 52 Pickup, and Prime Suspect. He earned another regular role as mayor Kyle X. Applegate on the 1987-91 series Out of This World and continued working into the mid-1990s. However, he contracted lung cancer as a lifelong smokes and collapsed  while filming an episode for the series One West Waikiki, after which doctors discovered that his cancer had spread. His last public appearance was at the unveiling of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994. He died at age 59 on February 5, 1995.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 1, Episode 1, "Perilous Passage": Harry Guardino (shown on the left, starred in Houseboat, Pork Chop Hill, The Five Pennies, Hell Is for Heroes, Madigan, Dirty Harry, and The Enforcer and played Danny Taylor on The Reporter, Monty Nash on Monty Nash, and Hamilton Burger on The New Perry Mason) plays driver Johnny Caldwell. Robert J. Wilke (appeared in Best of the Badmen, High Noon, The Far Country, and Night Passage and played Capt. Mendoza on Zorro) plays outlaw Cole Younger. Lynn Bari (starred in Always Goodbye, Sun Valley Serenade, and The Magnificent Dope and played Gwen Allen on Boss Lady) plays outlaw Belle Starr. Gregory Walcott (starred in Badman's Country and Plan 9 From Outer Space and played Det. Roger Havilland on 87th Precinct) plays gang member Reed. Tyler McVey (Gen. Maj. Norgath on Men Into Space) plays a U.S. marshal.

Season 1, Episode 2, "The O'Mara's Ladies": Sean McClory (shown on the right, played Jack McGivern on The Californians and Myles Delaney on Bring 'Em Back Alive) plays casino owner Tim O'Mara. Maggie Pierce (Barbara Crabtree on My Mother the Car) plays one of his dealers Kathy Dale. Della Sharman (Nurse Betty Johnson on Dr. Kildare) plays another of his employees Belle Malone. Tony Young (Cord on Gunslinger) plays outlaw The Sabine Kid. Joe Flynn (starred in Lover Come Back, The Love Bug, and The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and played Frank on The Joey Bishop Show, Capt. Wallace B. Binghamton on McHale's Navy, and Herbert T. Kenworth on The Tim Conway Show) plays hotel clerk Eddie. Eddy Waller (Deputy Marshal Rusty Lee on Steve Donovan, Western Marshal, Red Rock Smith on Casey Jones, Mose Shell on Laramie, and Matt Krebbs on Lassie) plays station master Trinidad. Robert Foulk (Ed Davis on Father Knows Best, Sheriff Miller on Lassie, Joe Kingston on Wichita Town, Phillip Toomey on The Rifleman, and Mr. Wheeler on Green Acres) plays the leader of a band of miners. 

Season 1, Episode 3, "West of Boston": Kenneth Tobey (starred in Angel Face, The Thing From Another World, and It Came From Beneath the Sea and played Chuck Martin on Whirleybirds and Russ Conway on I Spy) plays bank robber Wyatt Cady. Frank de Kova (shown on the left, played Chief Wild Eagle on F Troop and Louis Campagna on The Untouchables) plays a Shoshone chief. Carolyn Craig (starred in Giant, House on Haunted Hill, and Studs Lonigan and played Cynthia Allison on General Hospital) plays Flip's fiancé Priscilla Cabot. Adrienne Marden (Mary Breckenridge on The Waltons) plays her aunt Jean. Arthur Hunnicutt (starred in The Red Badge of Courage, The Last Command, The Cardinal, and Cat Ballou) plays buffalo hunter Reb Haslett. Bob Steele (starred in Breezy Bill, Of Mice and Men, and The Big Sleep, played Billy the Kid in 6 westerns and Tucson Smith in 19 others, and played Trooper Duffy on F Troop) plays an unnamed station master. Guy Mitchell (popular singer backed by Mitch Miller who appeared in Those Redheads From Seattle, Red Garters, and The Wild Westerners and played George Romack on Whispering Smith) plays stage driver Murdock.

Season 1, Episode 4, "The High Bridge": 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 renegade Matt Dooley. Rayford Barnes (Ike Clanton on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays his brother Tom. Robert McQueeney (Conley Wright on The Gallant Men) plays convicted killer Jim Arville. Whitney Blake (Dorothy Baxter on Hazel) plays his alleged accomplice Kate Maxwell. Arthur Space (appeared in Black Beauty, The Cockeyed Miracle, and Target Earth and played Herbert Brown on National Velvet and Dr. Frank Weaver on Lassie) plays the judge who sentences them. John Anderson (Virgil Earp on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Dr. Herbert Styles on Dallas, and Harry Jackson on MacGyver) plays the Lodestone marshal. Nora Marlowe (Martha Commager on Law of the Plainsman, Sara Andrews on The Governor and J.J., and Mrs. Flossie Brimmer on The Waltons) plays his deputy Mary. Linda Lawson (Renee on Adventures in Paradise, Pat Perry on Don't Call Me Charlie, and Laura Fremont on Ben Casey) plays saloon girl Ruby. Burt Mustin (Foley on The Great Gildersleeve, Mr. Finley on Date With the Angels, Gus the fireman on Leave It to Beaver, Jud Fletcher on The Andy Griffith Show, and Justin Quigley on All in the Family) plays High Bridge station master Len Mullen.

Season 1, Episode 5, "Westbound Stage": Adam West (shown on the right, played Det. Sgt. Steve Nelson on The Detectives, Bruce Wayne on Batman, Captain Rick Wright on The Last Precinct, and Dr. Noah Goddard on Black Scorpion) plays sheriff Wild Bill Hickock. Edward Platt (The Chief on Get Smart) plays fugitive doctor John Manderly. Ed Kemmer (Commander Buzz Corry on Space Patrol) newlywed Jody Cabel. Suzanne Lloyd (Raquel Toledano on Zorro) plays army wife Ann Cambers. Hank Patterson (Fred Ziffel on Green Acres and Petticoat Junction and Hank on Gunsmoke) plays an old codger. Alan Carney (played Mike Strager in a series of RKO comedies in the 1940s and appeared in The Absent-Minded Professor, Son of Flubber, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, and Herbie Rides Again) plays saloon owner Darby James. Mark Stevens (Martin Kane on Martin Kane and Steve Wilson on Big Town) plays James' saboteur Wade.

Season 1, Episode 6, "All the O'Mara's Horses": Sean McClory (see "The O'Mara's Ladies" above) returns as casino owner Tim O'Mara. Roy Barcroft (Col. Logan on The Adventures of Spin and Marty and Roy on Gunsmoke) plays the Carson City marshal. Mary Tyler Moore (shown on the left, played Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show, Mary Richards on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Mary Brenner on Mary, and Annie McGuire on Annie McGuire) plays rancher's daughter Joan Ransom. Dan Sheridan (Summers on Lawman) plays an O'Mara gunman. Jack Reitzen (Chopstick Joe on Terry and the Pirates and Flores on Not for Hire) plays former Kelly employee Jarvis. Kelly Thordsen (Colorado Charlie on Yancy Derringer) plays wanted outlaw Chino. Karen Sharpe (Laura Thomas on Johnny Ringo) plays saloon girl Kathy.

Season 1, Episode 7, "Daughter of the Sioux": Harry Guardino (see "Perilous Passage" above) returns as Johnny Caldwell. Frank Ferguson (Gus Broeberg on My Friend Flicka, Eli Carson on Peyton Place, and Dr. Barton Stuart on Petticoat Junction) plays fur trader Jason Coolidge. Mario Alcalde (Yellow Hawk on The Texan and Chuck Atwell on Peyton Place) plays Sioux chief Bloody Hand. Gilman Rankin (Deputy Charlie Riggs on Tombstone Territory) plays the elder Sioux chief. 

Season 1, Episode 8, "Lawyer in Petticoats": George Tobias (shown on the right, starred in Sergeant York, This Is the Army, and Yankee Doodle Dandy and played Pierre Falcon on Hudson's Bay, Trader Penrose on Adventures in Paradise, and Abner Kravitz on Bewitched) plays miner Hardrock Jackson. Dianne Foster (starred in Night Passage, The Last Hurrah, and The Deep Six) plays his daughter Helen. Barton MacLane (starred in The Prince and the Pauper, High Sierra, The Maltese Falcon, and Treasure of the Sierra Madre and played Marshal Frank Crane on Outlaws and Gen. Peterson on I Dream of Jeannie) plays his partner Big Jed Braddock. Read Morgan (Sgt. Hapgood Tasker on The Deputy) plays Braddock's brother Phil. Denver Pyle (Ben Thompson on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Grandpa Tarleton on Tammy, Briscoe Darlingon 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 the Hastings sheriff. Olan Soule (Aristotle "Tut" Jones on Captain Midnight, Ray Pinker on Dragnet (1952-59), and Fred Springer on Arnie) plays a traveling photographer. 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 stage clerk Sam Morton. John Qualen (starred in The Three Musketeers(1935), His Girl Friday, The Grapes of Wrath, Angels Over Broadway, Casablanca, Anatomy of a Murder, and A Patch of Blue) plays the circuit judge.

Season 1, Episode 9, "The Vigilantes of Montana": Walter Coy (Zoravac on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger and the narrator on Frontier) plays Banic Sheriff Plummer. Myrna Fahey (shown on the right, played Katherine "Kay" Banks on Father of the Bride) plays his daughter Harriet. Werner Klemperer (shown on the left, starred in Five Steps to Danger, Operation Eichmann, and Judgment at Nuremberg and played Col. Klink on Hogan's Heroes) plays store owner Arnold Braun. Sherwood Price (Gen. Jeb Stuart on The Gray Ghost) plays stage robber Sam Kemp. Charles Maxwell (Special Agent Joe Carey on I Led 3 Lives and the voice of the radio announcer on Gilligan's Island) plays his accomplice Tex Tobey. James Chandler (Lt. Girard on Bourbon Street Beat) plays Overland clerk Jake Horan. Alan Dexter (Frank Ferguson on Days of Our Lives) plays vigilante Ben.  

Season 1, Episode 10, "Fire in the Hole": Claude Akins (Sonny Pruett on Movin' On and Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo on B.J and the Bear and on Lobo) plays tunnel digger Jumbo. Susan Cummings (Georgia on Union Pacific) plays his girlfriend Nitro Nell. Robert Bray (Simon Kane on Stagecoach West and Corey Stuart on Lassie) plays rival stage employee Matt Peak. John Pickard (Capt. Shank Adams on Boots and Saddles and Sgt. Maj. Murdock on Gunslinger) plays miner straw-boss Cavanaugh. Lane Chandler (Tom Pike on Lawman) plays an unnamed miner. Frank Warren (Officer Simpson on Highway Patrol) plays another unnamed miner. Grace Lee Whitney (Janice Rand on Star Trek) plays a saloon girl.

Season 1, Episode 11, "Mission Into Mexico": Robert Loggia (shown on the right, starred in The Greatest Story Ever Told, Revenge of the Pink Panther, Scarface, and Big and played T. Hewitt Edward Cat on T.H.E. Cat, Admiral Yuri Burkharin on Emerald Point, N.A.S., Nick Mancuso on Mancuso, FBI, Ben Benedict on Sunday Dinner, and Judge Thomas O'Neill on Queens Supreme) plays Mexican insurgent Porfirio Diaz. Barbara Luna (Maria on One Life to Live) plays fellow insurgent Estrelita. Rodolfo Hoyos, Jr. (Luis Valdez on Viva Valdez) plays sadistic insurgent Carlos Hernandez. Ron Hayes (Wyatt Earp on Bat Masterson, Lincoln Vail on Everglades, Ben Jones on The Rounders, and Hank Johnson on Dallas) plays Overland station master Luke. John van Dreelen (starred in The Leech Woman, 13 Ghosts, and Topaz) plays hussar commander Capt. Fortesque.

Season 1, Episode 12, "First Stage to Denver": Peter Whitney (Sergeant Buck Sinclair on The Rough Riders and Lafe Crick on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays Governor George Sutcliff. Kelton Garwood (Beauregard O'Hanlon on Bourbon Street Beat and Percy Crump on Gunsmoke) plays outlaw Chisolm. Peter Brocco (Peter the waiter on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show) plays imposter Dr. Courtney.  

Season 1, Episode 13, "Sour Annie": Mercedes McCambridge (shown on the right, starred in All the King's Men, Johnny Guitar, Giant, and A Farewell to Arms and played Kate Wells on Wire Service) plays prospector Annie Tatum. Richard Devon (Jody Barker on Yancy Derringer) plays mustang catcher Harlan Deal. Slim Pickens (shown on the left, 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 mustang catcher Vince Allard. Andrew Prine (starred in The Miracle Worker, The Devil's Brigade, Bandolero!, and Chisum and played Andy Guthrie on The Wide Country, Dr. Roger Helvick on Dr. Kildare, Timothy Pride on The Road West, Dan Costello on W.E.B., and Wayne/Wyatt Donnelly on Weird Science) plays mustang catcher Hank Paulson.  

Season 1, Episode 14, "The Baron Comes Back": Gerald Mohr (narrator on 19 episodes of The Lone Ranger, Christopher Storm on Foreign Intrigue, and voice of Mr. Fantastic and Reed Richards on Fantastic 4) plays mythical con man James Addison Reavis. Denver Pyle (see "Lawyer in Petticoats" above) plays prospective farmer Jonathan Kale. Ken Lynch (appeared in I Married a Monster From Outer Space, Anatomy of a Murder, and Dead Ringer and played Lt. Thomas Brand on Checkmate, Det. Lt. Tom Handley on Arrest and Trial, Lt. Barney Keller on Honey West, and Police Sgt. Grover on McCloud) plays stage robber Quint. Michael Hinn (Luke Cummings on Boots and Saddles) plays bridge worker Jacobs. Milton Frome (starred in Pardners, The Delicate Delinquent, and The Swinger and played Lawrence Chapman on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays a bartender. Barry Kelley (starred in The Asphalt Jungle, The Manchurian Candidate, and The Love Bug and played Mr. Slocum on Pete and Gladys and Mr. Hergesheimer on Mister Ed) plays saloon owner Jake Talby.  

Season 1, Episode 15, "Escort Detail": David Wayne (starred in Adam's Rib, M, How to Marry a Millionaire, The Three Faces of Eve, and The Andromeda Strain and played Preston Norby on Norby, The Mad Hatter on Batman, Charles Dutton on The Good Life, Inspector Richard Queen on Ellery Queen, and Doctor Amos Weatherby on House Calls) plays U.S. Cavalry Lt. Adam King. Bartlett Robinson (Frank Caldwell on Mona McCluskey) plays U.S. Cavalry Maj. Evans. James Best (Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard) plays Pvt. Cullen. John Marley (starred in Cat Ballou, Love Story, and The Godfather) plays Sioux chief Crazy Horse. Pat Hogan (Black Cloud on Brave Eagle) plays renegade Sioux Running Dog. 

Season 1, Episode 16, "The Reckoning": Monica Lewis (shown on the right, popular singer who starred in Excuse My Dust, Affair With a Stranger, and The D.I.) plays blind estranged wife Anne Michaels. Harold J. Stone (John Kennedy on The Grand Jury, Hamilton Greeley on My World and Welcome to It, and Sam Steinberg on Bridget Loves Bernie) plays her estranged husband John. Denny Miller (Duke Shannon on Wagon Train and Mike McCluskey on Mona McCluskey) plays her son Jimmy. John Carradine (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 newspaper publisher Caleb Nash. Forrest Taylor (starred in True Nobility, Big Calibre, Too Much Beef, and The Lost Planet and played Doc Brannon on Man Without a Gun) plays the Laramie doctor. Stuart Randall (Sheriff Art Sampson on Cimarron City, Al Livermore on Lassie, and Sheriff Mort Corey on Laramie) plays the Laramie marshal.

Season 1, Episode 17, "Most Dangerous Gentleman": John McIntire (shown on the left, starred in Call Northside 777, The Street With No Name, Winchester '73, Psycho, and Elmer Gantry and played Lt. Dan Muldoon on Naked City, Christopher Hale on Wagon Train, Clay Grainger on The Virginian, and Dutch McHenry on Shirley) plays railroad baron Gen. William Palmer. Lang Jeffries (Skip Johnson on Rescue 8) plays his construction engineer Mike Day. Jeff Donnell (Alice on The George Gobel Show, Evelyn Driscoll on Dr. Kildare, and Mrs. Bennett on Julia) plays his secretary Jennifer Dean. Ron Randell (starred in Pacific Adventure, Bulldog Drummond at Bay, Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back, Lorna Doone, and Kiss Me Kate, was the host for The Vise and played Capt. Frank Hawthorn on O.S.S.) plays hired saboteur Bill Jordan. Robert Emhardt (Sgt. Vinton on The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.) plays rival railroad baron Jonathan Edwards. Christine White (Abigail Adams on Ichabod and Me) plays co-conspirator Miss Traynor. Onslow Stevens (starred in The Three Musketeers (1935), The Creeper, Angel on My Shoulder, Mark of the Gorilla, and Them!) plays President Ulysses S. Grant. Wesley Lau (Lt. Andy Anderson on PerryMason and Master Sgt. Jiggs on The Time Tunnel) plays Grant's bodyguard Maj. Daniels.