Diagnosis: Unknown (1960)

The synopsis of this series is based on viewing only a single episode. Given the show's obscurity and short lifespan, it is unlikely that additional episodes will be made available, but if they are, this synopsis will be updated with the additional information.

Diagnosis: Unknown was a summer replacement series for The Garry Moore Show, appearing first on July 5, 1960 in an episode entitled "The Case of the Radiant Wine." Because it was pre-empted for the political conventions, the second episode did not appear until August 2, and only 9 episodes in all were aired, the last showing on September 20. Despite its short run, Diagnosis: Unknown, like Checkmate, was ahead of its time, foreshadowing the plethora of CSI and other forensic-based shows that blanket programming schedules today. The series centered on pathologist Dr. Daniel Coffee (Patrick O'Neal), who runs a hospital lab with assistants Doris Hudson (Phyllis Newman) and teenager Link (Martin Huston), as well as visiting doctor Motital Mookerji (Cal Bellini) from India. Coffee and his assistants are often pulled in to help solve criminal cases by Captain Ritter (Chester Morris), though Dr. Coffee claims he is not interested in solving crimes, only using his scientific skills to explain what has happened.

Though the initial episode boasted guest stars including Larry Hagman and Tom Bosley well before they appeared in their career-defining roles, later episodes were a bit short on star power. Zachary Scott and songstress Gretchen Wyler appeared in the third episode, "A Sudden Stillness" (August 9, 1960), and Telly Savalas starred in episode 7, "Gina, Gina" (September 6, 1960), but the other episodes had casts that were largely forgettable. The show also wasn't helped by a less-than-favorable review by Frank DeBlois in the August 13 issue of TV Guide. DeBlois derisively refers to O'Neal's character as "Dr. Beatnik" because of his wispy beard, claims to be confused by what the producer had in mind for the show, and concludes that it is "tiresome." Still, based on the first episode, the show seems no more tiresome than any of the other crime dramas of the period, even fan favorites like Perry Mason. And it seems more plausible for a pathologist to be drawn into criminal cases than a defense attorney or a freelance photographer (as in Charles Bronson's Man With a Camera). This was a series that deserved a longer run, and one can only hope that somewhere in the future someone like Timeless Media Group will see fit to issue all 9 episodes on DVD.

The music for "The Case of the Radiant Wine" was provided by Irwin Kostal, who worked on the music for the Broadway productions of The Music Man and West Side Story. He also worked on the music for the film of West Side Story, for which he won his first Oscar. His second Oscar came from his work on The Sound of Music, and he was nominated three more times, for Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and Pete's Dragon. He was also nominated for two Emmys for The Julie Andrews Show and a TV production of Doctor Jekyl and Mr. Hyde.

At this time, the first episode is available in its entirety on youtube.com, though the video quality is substandard.

The Actors

Patrick O'Neal

Born in Ocala, FL, O'Neal graduated from the University of Florida and during World War II made training films while a member of the Air Force. After the war, he moved to New York and attended The Actor's Studio and Neighborhood Playhouse. His first breakthrough was as Tony Randall's replacement in the Broadway show Oh Men! Oh Women! and he later drew positive reviews playing opposite Bette Davis in Tennessee Williams' Night of the Iguana. However, when the play was adapted to film, Richard Burton was given O'Neal's part. He began appearing on TV in 1952 on shows like Kraft Theatre and made his first feature-film appearance in the Vincent Price vehicle The Mad Magician in 1954. His first starring TV role was playing Dick Starrett in the 1957-58 comedy Dick and the Duchess. His film work continued throughout the 60s and 70s in movies such as Alvarez Kelly, Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?,  and The Kremlin Letter. He returned to TV as Sam Bennett in Kaz (1978-79) and played Harlan Adams on Emerald Point N.A.S. in 1983. One of his last film roles before his death in 1994 was in Steven Seagal's Under Siege.

Aside from acting, he co-owned with his wife and brother several restaurants in New York, including The Ginger Man, O'Neal's Balloon, and the Landmark Tavern.

Phyllis Newman

From Jersey City, NJ, Newman broke into musical theatre on Broadway in 1952 in Wish You Were Here. She beat out Barbara Streisand for the Tony in 1962 for her performance in Subways Are for Sleeping and was nominated for another Tony in 1987 for her role in Broadway Bound. Her TV and film career began in 1955, including an uncredited appearance in Picnic and a major role in the teen exploitation B movie Let's Rock in 1958. After Diagnosis: Unknown she made occasional appearances on shows like Burke's Law, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and The Wild, Wild West, but she was a regular panelist on game shows like To Tell the Truth and What's My Line and she was the first female to fill in for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show in 1962. In 1988, she had a regular role as Ginny Hale in Coming of Age and played Sarah Rifkind on the drama 100 Centre Street in 2001-2002. In 1995, she founded The Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative as part of the Actor's Fund of America and in 2009 received a special Tony Award for her humanitarian work.

Cal Bellini

Cal Bellini is the stage name of Khalid Ibrahim, born in Singapore of Malaysian descent. His role on Diagnosis: Unknown was his first professional role as an actor, and he continued making supporting appearances in TV shows, usually as a Native American or other non-white ethnic type, in shows such as The Mod Squad, The Streets of San Francisco, and Hawaii Five-O. His last appearance was on the show Riptide in 1986.

Martin Huston

By the time he played Link on Diagnosis: Unknown at age 19, Huston was a veteran TV performer. In 1953, he played the title role of Jeep Allison in My Son Jeep, and two years later he was cast as Skipper in the series Jungle Jim, which ran from 1955-56. After Diagnosis: Unknown, Huston's television appearances were few: he appeared in single episodes of Way Out (1961), Coronet Blue (1967), and Lancer (1970). He also appeared in the film Calliope in 1971, his last appearance on either the large or small screen. Huston also performed on Broadway, beginning in 1959. His most notable role was the title character in the play Norman, Is That You?, which opened in 1970, considered the first comedy to deal with homosexuality. Huston died from cancer August 1, 2001 at the age of 60.

Chester Morris

John Chester Brooks Morris, the son of a stage actor and a comedienne, appeared in his first film at age 17 and his first Broadway role at age 18. It was Broadway that first made him a star in the 1920s, allowing Morris to claim that he was "the youngest leading man in the country." He did not truly become a regular film actor until the advent of talking pictures and was nominated for Best Actor for his role in Alibi in 1930, the second year the yet-to-be-named Oscars were awarded. That year also saw him appear in his most famous movie role in The Big House. His career waned at the end of the decade but was revived in the 1940s when he was cast in the lead role in a series of low-budget Columbia films featuring detective Boston Blackie. Morris also played the role on an NBC radio series that aired around the same time. He was also an avid and successful magician and would often perform a complete act when he toured the country to promote his movies. During World War II, he regularly performed at USOs and army camps and was recognized by having a bomber named after him and his wife. He moved into television in the 1950s, making guest appearances on a variety of programs, including Suspense, Danger, and The Red Skelton Hour. His role as Captain Ritter on Diagnosis: Unknown  was his only recurring role in TV. He continued guest appearances throughout the 60s and appeared in the film The Great White Hope in 1970. That same year, diagnosed with cancer, he took his life by overdosing on barbituates on September 11, 1970 at the age of 69.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 1, Episode 1, "The Case of the Radiant Wine": Larry Hagman (starred in Fail-Safe, The Eagle Has Landed, and Primary Colors and played Tony Nelson on I Dream of Jeannie, Albert Miller on The Good Life, Richard Evans on Here We Go Again, J.R. Ewing on Dallas and Knots Landing, Judge Luther Charbonnet on Orleans, and Burt Landau on Nip/Tuck) plays the murder victim's boyfriend Don Harding. Tom Bosley (shown on the left, played Bob Landers on The Debbie Reynolds Show, Bert Quinn on The Sandy Duncan Show, Howard Cunningham on Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi, Sheriff Amos Tupper on Murder, She Wrote, and Father Frank Dowling on Father Dowling Mysteries) plays deli owner Freddie Ziegler. Patricia Barry (Kate Harris on Harris Against the World) plays wealthy socialite Aurora Farnum. Murray Matheson (Felix Mulholland on Banacek) plays her husband Lester.

The Real McCoys (1960)

Years before the arrival of The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, Petticoat Junction, and even The Andy Griffith Show, the mold for southern, country-flavored situation comedies was set by the Walter Brennan/Irving Pincus collaboration The Real McCoys, which ran from 1957-1963. Like the characters on The Beverly Hillbillies, the McCoys are a rural Appalachian family who move to California to start a new life. The McCoys hail from the fictional Smoky Corners, West Virginia and inherit farmland in the San Fernando Valley in California, where the family takes up "dirt farming," though they appear to make most of their income from selling eggs. Also like the Beverly Hillbillies, and like an increasing number of families in situation comedies during the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, the family has an untraditional structure, consisting of grandfather Amos McCoy (Walter Brennan), grandchildren Luke (Richard Crenna), Hassie (Lydia Reed), and Little Luke (Michael Winkelman), and elder Luke's newly married wife Kate (Kathy Nolan). The grandchildren's parents are nowhere in evidence, nor are they even mentioned once by seasons 3 and 4, which comprise the episodes that aired in calendar year 1960. The explanation for the two brothers both named Luke was that their parents were so excited at the birth of their second boy that they named him Luke, forgetting that they already had a boy with that name.

When the McCoy family moved to California and inherited their farm, they also inherited the services of musically inclined Mexican ranch hand Pepino Garcia (Tony Martinez). And several episodes also feature the recurring characters of their neighbors George McMichael (Andy Clyde) and his sister Flora (Madge Blake).

Most of the episodes revolve in some way around Brennan's character Amos McCoy, who as the patriarch of the family feels that he is entitled to run everyone else's affairs. He is intended to be seen as a comedic character, though he is opinionated, domineering, under-handed, and has an over-inflated sense of importance and abilities. In other words, he could have served as the model for Fred Flintstone. However, to the show's credit, Amos is sometimes proven wrong and has to admit it, while at others he is shown as a clever man who can outsmart those inside or outside his family. The other family members largely serve as his foils, though occasionally other characters have an episode dedicated to them, as in Luke's obsession with losing his hair in "Baldy" (December 8, 1960) or Little Luke learning a lesson about sharing his wealth in "One for the Money" (August 10, 1960).

It has been said that the themes depicted in the show reflected Brennan's values, which were extremely conservative (see his profile below). That conservatism is nowhere more evident than in the episodes that take a male chauvinist view of women, a topic touched on in three of the year 1960's 28 episodes. In "Once There Was a Man" (February 8, 1960), the McCoys are visited by their cousin Charlie, who was once a hell-raising independent character but now is newly married and completely subservient to his wife Ethel, who has just read a new book arguing for equality between the sexes in domestic responsibilities. Amos and Luke spend the episode prodding Charlie to assert himself and preventing Kate from being influenced by Ethel's ideas. By the end of the episode Ethel has been made to see the error of her ways and is ready to submit to her husband.

In "Beware a Smart Woman" (October 13, 1960), Kate, who never finished high school, decides to take an adult education class in English at the high school and drags Luke along, even after Amos has warned him that a woman with an education will only use it to make her husband feel stupid. Luke quickly sees this in action as he is made the laughingstock of the class to the embarrassment of Kate. When Kate tries to study for the final exam, Amos first tries to interrupt her, then tells her that his wife was a very smart woman because she never made him feel stupid. Kate ends up intentionally failing the exam to preserve her husband's fragile ego.

And finally in "Executive Wife" (October 20, 1960), Kate wins a blue ribbon at the state fair for her picalilly preserves and is presented a lucrative contract to market the recipe by the contest's corporate sponsor. Amos and Luke bristle at the prospect of a woman becoming the family's primary breadwinner but are ultimately saved because Kate's recipe proves to be too complex and costly to be profitable, and the corporate sponsor cancels the contract.

Another theme that comes in for regular treatment is pride in the family name of the McCoys, though it isn't clear what the family has accomplished to warrant such sentiment. Amos often uses the family name as a way to exclude others, as in the episode "A House Divided" (March 14, 1960) where Hassie tries to go around Kate's authority by asking Amos if she can go riding in her boyfriend's new car after Kate had already forbad it. Amos reminds Kate that she is not a "real McCoy" and decides to take over supervision of the two younger grandchildren. But Luke has to remind him, through a series of flashbacks, of the disastrous consequences the last time they tried the arrangement, and by episode's end Kate's authority is restored and Amos claims that she is, after all, a "real McCoy." A similar exclusion is levied on Pepino in "Pepino McCoy" (October 27, 1960) when he tries to contribute to the family's financial difficulties. After the family learns that he has secretly taken a second job as a singer in a local restaurant and chipped in all of his earnings to the family cookie jar, Amos relents and claims that he, too, is a "real McCoy."

One of the more interesting topics covered in the show deals with attitudes toward the aged. Though he is 69 years old, Amos believes that he is as capable, if not more so, than anyone younger than he. In "Father and Son Day" (November 19, 1960), he insists on competing as a teammate with Little Luke in a series of father-and-son contests being held locally and even claims that he and Little Luke will win all the prizes. But after his suggestions for old timey games like bobbing for apples are turned down and he has to train for what he calls "muscle games" like tug-of-war and baseball, he comes up lame and has to let Luke serve as Little Luke's partner. And in "Smothered in Love" (December 1, 1960), Amos resents what he calls "molly-coddling" by Luke and Kate after they are guilt-stricken after visiting the family friend Mr. Albright in his luxurious retirement home. Amos argues that when people are so attentive and try to do everything for him, it only makes him feel older than he already is.

Eventually, the success of its descendant, The Beverly Hillbillies, was a key factor in the cancellation of The Real McCoys. Despite a January 23, 1960 cover story in TV Guide that depicted the show's cast as a mutual admiration society, Nolan left the show after the 1961-62 season in a contract dispute (her character was killed off), and the series was dropped by ABC but picked up for one more season by CBS as simply The McCoys. Reed's and Winkelman's characters were also written out of the series, and when the show's ratings sagged when matched up against Bonanza, ABC did not bring it back for the fall of 1963. But The Real McCoys paved the way for some of the more memorable comedy series of the 1960s.

The theme song for the show is sung by country music legend Jimmie Rodgers and was composed by longtime show-tune icon Harry Ruby, who teamed with Bert Kalmar to write such hits as "Who's Sorry Now?", "I Want to Be Loved by You," and "Three Little Words." However, no credit is given for the composer of the score for each show. Besides Ruby, only music supervisor E.C. Norton receives credit at the end of each episode.

The first four seasons have been released on DVD by Infinity Entertainment.

The Actors

Walter Brennan

Brennan is the only actor to have won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor three times, including the very first time the honor was awarded in 1936 for his role in Come and Get It. He was driven to film acting after losing a fortune during the Great Depression on real estate he had acquired in 1920s California. He had started his entertainment career with some early work in vaudeville before listing in the military in World War I. Though he was not wounded during the war, exposure to poison gas damaged his vocal chords, leaving with the high-pitched tone that became his trademark and led to his being cast in old-man roles while still in his 30s. As an up-and-coming actor in 1925, he was befriended by Gary Cooper and the two would often appear at casting offices as a team. They would memorably star together in the 1940 film The Westerner and again in Sergeant York the following year.

Politically, Brennan was an ultra-conservative, backing former Alabama governor and segregationist George Wallace in the 1968 presidential election because he felt that Richard Nixon was too liberal. He believed that the anti-war and civil rights movements in the 1960s were the work of communists and reportedly was delighted by the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. After The Real McCoys ended its run, he starred in the western drama The Guns of Will Sonnett from 1967-69 and played the role of Andy Pruitt on the series To Rome With Love during 1970-71. He died from emphysema at the age of 80 on September 21, 1974.

Richard Crenna

Crenna grew up in Los Angeles, the son of a pharmacist and a hotel manager, and graduated from USC with a degree in Theatre Arts. His dramatic career at age 11 when he appeared on the radio series Boy Scout Jamboree, one of several radio shows he did. The last of these was Our Miss Brooks, which Crenna stayed with when it transitioned to television in 1952. After The Real McCoys ended, he starred in the series Slattery's People during its two seasons in 1964-65 and received two Emmy nominations. He also won an Emmy for his role in the TV movie The Rape of Richard Beck as well as a Golden Globe nomination. He also appeared in a number of films, including The Sand Pebbles, Wait Until Dark, and as Colonel Sam Trautman in the first three Rambo movies. From the 1970s through the 1990s, he starred in such TV shows as All's Fair, It Takes Two, and Pros and Cons, as well as the mini-series Centennial. He was playing the role of Jared Duff in the Tyne Daly series Judging Amy at the time of his death in 2003.

Kathy Nolan

Born Jocelyn Schrum in St, Louis, MO, Nolan broke into television acting at the age of 20 appearing in the role of Cousin Liz on the show Jamie in 1953. After the show ended in 1954, she had a handful of appearances on other shows and an occasional movie before landing the role of Kate on The Real McCoys. As mentioned above, she left the show after the fifth season due to a contract dispute, but re-emerged in 1964 as Lt. Anne Morgan on Broadside. Thereafter, her appearances were steady, if not plentiful, on a host of other shows, but she distinguished herself by being elected the first female president of the Screen Actors Guild in 1975. Her most recent acting appearance was on an episode of Cold Case in 2008.

Lydia Reed

A child actress born in Mitchell Field, NY, Reed first appeared on TV at age 8 in 1952 in the TV movie Doctor Serocold. She made other occasional TV appearances and acted in feature films The Seven Little Foys, High Society, and the B-movie horror film The Vampire before landing the role of Hassie on The Real McCoys. After the show ended, she left acting, married, and became a mother, living, ironically enough, in the San Fernando Valley in California.

Michael Winkelman

A child actor, like Reed, Winkelman first appeared on the show The Great Gildersleeve at age 9 in 1955. He mixed a series of acting appearances on TV and in films like The Big Knife, The Indian Fighter, and Ride Out for Revenge throughout the 1950s before landing the role of Little Luke on The Real McCoys. After the show ended, his appearances were few, on The Danny Thomas Show and Mr. Novak in 1963, Kraft Suspense Theater in 1964, and one episode of The Munsters in 1965. He joined the Navy during the Vietnam War and later worked as a groundskeeper at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. He died July 27, 1999 at age 53.

Tony Martinez

Martinez was a mambo band leader born in San Juan, Puerto Rico who went to New York to study at the Julliard School at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. He also studied acting and made a few film appearances in the 1940s and 1950s before being pursued by producers the Pincus brothers for The Real McCoys. One of those films was Rock Around the Clock in which Martinez appeared with his band. After The Real McCoys finished its run, he appeared in single episodes of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., F Troop, and My Favorite Martian. Beginning in the mid 1960s, he appeared for nearly 40 years in the role of Sancho Panza in the Broadway production of Man of La Mancha. He also served in the 1980s as executive director of the Puerto Rican Institute of Motion Pictures. He died of natural causes at age 82 on September 16, 2002.

Andy Clyde

Scottish-born Andy Clyde, who played the role of neighbor George McMichael on The Real McCoys had an acting career that dated back to the 1920s when he appeared in silent Mack Sennett comedies and stayed with Sennett's studio through the transition to talking pictures. He moved over to Columbia Pictures in 1934, signed by Jules White, who also directed and produced The Three Stooges, and remained a comic short-film actor with the studio until 1956, outlasting every other act except the Stooges. His television career began when he appeared in the recurring role of California Carlson on Hopalong Cassidy in 1952. He also had repeat appearances on Circus Boy and The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin before landing his role on The Real McCoys. But even while playing George McMichael on The Real McCoys, he still found time to handle recurring roles as Homer Tubbs on The Texan, Pa McBean on The Tall Man, and Dr. Parkinson on Dr. Kildare. After The Real McCoys, he appeared as Grandpa Jim Anderson on the TV version of No Time for Sergeants and as farmer Cully Wilson on Lassie. He passed away at age 75 on May 18, 1967.

Madge Blake

Born in Kinsley, KS, Blake's father was a Methodist minister who disapproved of her interest in acting, but she used another family connection, being the niece of actor Milburn Stone, to help her land acting roles. During World War II, she and her husband worked in Utah on construction of the detonator for the atomic bomb and performed such jobs as testing equipment destined for the Manhattan Project. Her first film role came at age 50 in the Katherine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy comedy Adam's Rib in the uncredited role as Mrs. Bonner. She had many other film roles, most uncredited, throughout the 1950s, including playing gossip columnist Dora Bailey in Singin' in the Rain. Starting with her role as Flora McMichael on The Real McCoys, Blake had a series of memorable supporting TV roles, including Mrs. Mondello, mother of Beaver's friend Larry Mondello, on Leave It to Beaver and as Aunt Harriet Cooper on Batman. She also appeared on The Jack Benny Show as the president of his fan club, constantly interrupting his performances, and Mrs. Barnes on The Joey Bishop Show. She died at age 69 on February 19, 1969. 

Notable Guest Stars

Season 3, Episode 22, "Cousin Naomi": Verna Dalton (Hilda Crocker on December Bride and Pete and Gladys, and Mrs. Day on The Jack Benny Program) plays the McMichaels' insufferable cousin Naomi Vesper. Jimmy Cross (Jesse the Elevator Man on How to Marry a Millionaire) plays an unnamed cab driver. 

Season 3, Episode 24, "The Talk of the Town": Eddie Quillan (Eddie Edson on Julia and Poco Loco on Hell Town) plays Bert the barber. Percy Helton (Homer Cratchit on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays his customer Nathan. 

Season 3, Episode 25, "Once There Was a Man": Hal Baylor (Bill Thompson on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays cousin Charlie McCoy. Doris Singleton (Caroline Appleby on I Love Lucy, Susie on Angel, and Margaret Williams on My Three Sons) plays his wife Ethel. 

Season 3, Episode 26, "Weekend in Los Angeles": Dick Elliott (shown on the left, played Officer Murphy on Dick Tracy and Mayor Pike on The Andy Griffith Show) plays Doc Thornton, member of the Order of the Mystic Nile. 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 fellow member Sam Watkins. Addison Richards (starred in Boys Town, They Made Her a Spy, Flying Tigers, and The Deerslayer and who played Doc Calhoun on Trackdown and Doc Landy on The Deputy) plays corporate CEO R.T. Overland. Peter Leeds (Tenner Smith on Trackdown) plays jargon-spouting Mr. Wilson.

Season 3, Episode 27, "First Date": Lynette Winter (Larue on Gidget and Henrietta Plout on Petticoat Junction) plays Little Luke's date Agnes Maypole. Sherry Alberoni (Debbie Potter on The Tom Ewell Show and Sharon James on Family Affair) plays Little Luke suitor Mary Lou.

Season 3, Episode 28, "How to Discover Oil": Marjorie Bennett (starred in Kiss Me Deadly, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, Promises, Promises, and The Love God? and who played Birdie Brockway on Lassie and Mrs. Kenny on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays Amos pursuer Amanda Comstock. 

Season 3, Episode 30, "Foreman of the Jury": Max Showalter, aka Casey Adams (shown on the right, starred in Niagra, Dangerous Crossing, Indestructible Man, The Monster That Challenged the World, and How to Murder Your Wife and played Gus Clyde on The Stockard Channing Show) plays phone company lawyer Mr. Meredith. 

Season 3, Episode 31, "One for the Money": Carol Veazie (starred in The Catered Affair, Designing Woman, and Baby the Rain Must Fall and who played Mrs. Maude Endles on Norby) plays newspaper customer Mrs. Mulligan. 

Season 3, Episode 32, "That Was No Lady": John Eldredge (starred in The Woman in Red, The Murder of Dr. Harrigan, and The Black Cat and who played Harry Archer on Meet Corliss Archer) plays the reverend. Don Chastain (starred in The Black Godfather and who played Jim Thompson on The Debbie Reynolds Show and Rick on Rhoda) plays Kate's dance partner. 

Season 3, Episode 33, "The Tycoon": Robert Karnes (Max Fields on The Lawless Years and Deputy D.A. Victor Chamberlin on Perry Mason) plays egg co-op president Dave Sawyer. Mike de Anda (Ciego on The Big Valley) plays Mexican farm hand Rodriguez. 

Season 3, Episode 34, "Where There's a Will": Estelle Winwood (starred in Quality Street, This Happy Feeling, The Notorious Landlady, and Dead Ringer and who played Aunt Hilda on Batman) plays antiques dealer Hortense. 

Season 3, Episode 35, "The Jinx": Sterling Holloway (shown on the left, starred in The Merry Widow, Career Woman, and A Walk in the Sun, did voice work for many Walt Disney films like Dumbo, Bambi, Alice in Wonderland, The Jungle Book and the voice of Winnie the Pooh in various titles, and played Waldo Binney on The Life of Riley and Buck Singleton on The Baileys of Balboa) plays distant relative Orval McCoy.

Season 3, Episode 36, "The Delegates": Jon Lormer (see "Weekend in Los Angeles" above) plays lodge member Sam Hawkins. Billy Bletcher (starred in Babes in Toyland, The Wizard of Oz, and Chatterbox and who provided voice work for many cartoons) plays lodge member Willis Butterfield. 

Season 3, Episode 37, "The Gigolo": Minerva Urecal (shown on the right, played Dean Bradey/Bradley on The Ray Milland Show: Meet Mr. McNulty, Ma Bowie on The Adventures of Jim Bowie, Tugboat Annie Brennan on The Adventures of Tugboat Annie, and Mother on Peter Gunn) plays McCoy mortgage holder Bertha Spangler. Harvey Stephens (starred in Maid of Salem, Swing High, Swing Low, and Abe Lincoln in Illinois) plays lawyer Mr. Denkes. 

 

Season 3, Episode 38, "Teenage Wedding": Edward Everett Horton (shown on the left, starred in Alice in Wonderland, Top Hat, The Merry Widow, Shall We Dance, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, and Arsenic and Old Lace, played Roaring Chicken on F Troop, and was the narrator for Fractured Fairy Tales on Rocky and His Friends) plays Hassie's fiance's grandfather J. Luther Medwick. Dave Willock (starred in Let's Face It, Pin Up Girl, and The Fabulous Dorseys and who played Lt. Binning on Boots and Saddles, Harvey Clayton on Margie, and was the narrator on the animated Wacky Races) plays the courthouse clerk. 

Season 3, Episode 39, "McCoys Ahoy": Denver Pyle (shown on the right, played Ben Thompson on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Gradnpa 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 Navy shipyard commander Captain Fred Miller. 

Season 4, Episode 1, "Beware a Smart Woman": Parley Baer (Mayor Roy Stoner on The Andy Griffith Show, Darby on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Mayor Arthur J. Henson on The Addams Family, and Doc Appleby on The Dukes of Hazzard) plays English teacher Mr. Venable.

Season 4, Episode 2, "Executive Wife": Jerome Cowan (starred in Shall We Dance, Victory, High Sierra, The Maltese Falcon, Miracle on 34th Street and many Blondie movies and who played John Larsen on The Tab Hunter Show) plays Prize Foods representative Mr. Prentiss.

Season 4, Episode 3, "Pepino McCoy": Vito Scotti (Capt. Gaspar Fomento on The Flying Nun, Gino on To Rome With Love, and Mr. Velasquez on Barefoot in the Park) plays restaurant owner Carlos.

Season 4, Episode 4, "Father and Son Day": Ray Kellogg (Deputy Ollie on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp and various policemen, security guards, and bar employees on The Red Skelton Hour, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Lucy Show, Mister Ed, and many others) plays games committee member Frank. Chick Chandler (Toubo Smith on Soldiers of Fortune and Barney Hogan on One Happy Family) plays games committee member Roy. 

Season 4, Episode 5, "Farmer or Scientist": Alan Hewitt (shown on the left, starred in That Touch of Mink, Days of Wine and Roses, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, and The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and played Det. Bill Brennan on My Favorite Martian) plays science teacher Mr. Webber.

Season 4, Episode 6, "The New Librarian": Sara Seegar (shown on the right, starred in The Last Curtain, Dead Men Tell No Tales, and The Music Man and played Eloise Wilson on Dennis the Menace) plays librarian Miss Feeney.

Season 4, Episode 7, "Smothered in Love": Charles Seel (Otis the Bartender on Tombstone Territory, Mr. Krinkie on Dennis the Menace, and Tom Pride on The Road West) plays retiree Sam Albright.

Season 4, Episode 8, "Baldy": Forrest Lewis (Mr. Peavey on The Great Gildersleeve) barber Al. 

Season 4, Episode 9, "The Hermit": Elisha Cook, Jr. (shown on the left, starred in The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, The Great Gatsby (1949), and The Killing and played Francis "Ice Pick" Hofstetler on Magnum P.I.) plays Harry the Hermit. Dean Harens (SAC Bryan Durant on The F.B.I.) plays a psychiatrist who examines him.

Season 4, Episode 10, "The Legacy": Howard McNear (shown on the right, played Floyd Lawson on The Andy Griffith Show and Jansen the Plumber on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show) plays nosy mailman Joe Finnerty.

Wagon Train (1960)

Western dramas ruled the airwaves in the late 50s and early 60s, and among the most popular for the 1960-61 season was Wagon Train, which trailed only Gunsmoke and Have Gun--Will Travel in the ratings that year. The show, which debuted in 1957 and ran for eight seasons, focused on the characters and exploits of a professionally run wagon train that made its way from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento and San Francisco, California during the course of each season. Though it was not a true serial, each episode standing on its own rather than advancing a continuing story arc, the location of the stories did follow the geographical progression of the wagon train during the course of the season, with early episodes being based in Missouri, then Kansas, the desert, Colorado, and finally ending the season with a few episodes set in California. The wagon train was led by wagon master Major Seth Adams (Ward Bond) and the train's young, dashing scout Flint McCullough (Robert Horton). Rounding out the regular crew was Adams's trail-hand Bill Hawks (Terry Wilson) and cook and resident laughingstock Charlie Wooster (Frank McGrath). However, the 1960 calendar year was a momentous one for the show because co-star Ward Bond died unexpectedly of a heart attack November 5 while in Dallas to appear at half-time of a Cowboys football game. At the time of his death, there were 16 future episodes already filmed, half with Bond, since each week's episode typically focused on one of the two co-stars, Bond or Horton, with the other often not appearing in that week's show.  However, these episodes were not shown sequentially as filmed because in the last episode of 1960, "The Jeremy Dow Story," which aired December 28, Bond's name as co-star is replaced by John McIntire in the opening credits, though McIntire's character Christopher Hale does not appear in the episode. The last show to feature Bond was aired in February, 1961. There was no explanation given for the departure of his character.

The show's popularity during the 1960-61 season may have been due in part to the curiosity surrounding Bond's demise, but before he died, he had persuaded two old friends of his, director John Ford and actor John Wayne, to work on a single episode, "The Colter Craven Story," which aired November 23, 1960 and was the subject of a TV Guide cover story in the November 19 edition. The three had been fast friends, drinking buddies, and rabble rousers since Ford cast the other two men in the 1929 film Salute, and Ford finally succumbed to Bond's badgering to direct a TV episode. In the show, Wayne makes a seconds-brief appearance as Civil War general Tecumseh Sherman, never showing a close-up of his face, though his distinctive voice is unmistakable in the one line he is given. In the credits, he was billed as Michael Morris. However, there were plenty of other big-name guest stars during the season, including Mickey Rooney, George Gobel, Lee Marvin, and Ernest Borgnine, to name but a few.

Most of the episodes are titled and revolve around a person not among the four principals. Sometimes these characters are travelers in the wagon train, but they also frequently can be people encountered during the trip west, sometimes when one of the principals visits a town where the train stops along the way, such as "The Colonel Harris Story" (January 13, 1960) in which McCullough gets permission to leave the train and  go visit his friend, Colonel Harris, at Fort Young. In "The Clayton Tucker Story" (February 10, 1960), the wagon train figures only tangentially in the story, as we see Major Adams wondering about another small group of wagons that is supposed to be joining up with his larger train and the rest of the episode dealing with that small wagon group trying to make it across a scorching desert with no water. A couple of episodes center around off-shoots of the larger wagon train: In "The Jose Morales Story" (October 26, 1960) Hawks is assigned by Adams to lead a small group of three wagons up to the Dakotas where the travelers intend to take up farming, and in "Princess of a Lost Tribe" (November 2, 1960), McCullough is assigned to lead three men in search of one man's father, who disappeared in the area two years before. 

And the two supporting characters, Hawks and Wooster, each get an episode devoted mostly to them: In "The Jonas Murdock Story" (April 13, 1960), Hawks spends most of the episode tracking down the titular renegade scout and troublemaker, while in "The Charlene Brenton Story" (June 8, 1960), Wooster discovers his paternal instinct when he takes over the care of a baby whose mother has just died with no apparent relatives in sight. This scattershot focus of the various episodes seems a bit chaotic at first glance, but the overall thrust of the show and series is to offer a glimpse at the many different characters who together braved the rough conditions and tangled motivations to form the western United States we know today. Major Adams occasionally reflects on this view at end of certain episodes, as in "The Clayton Tucker Story" when Adams ends the episode by saying that the west is in good hands if it is being led by the likes of Clayton Tucker and in the two-part whodunit "Trial for Murder" (April 27-May 4) at the end of which Adams claims that the satisfactory result of the trial has brought justice to the west. 

But one episode brings Victorian England to the old west in borrowing Charles Dickens' Great Expectations for the plot of "The Tom Tuckett Story" (March 2, 1960), with the title character being the unaware benefactor of an escaped convict while pursuing a young woman whose aunt is intent on using her to avenge being left waiting at the altar decades before. There are other plots that are also familiar to those who have watched a good number of the period's dramas, as in "The Jane Hawkins Story" (November 30, 1960) in which a small town is under oppressive rule by its richest resident, Ben Mattox, until McCullough comes to town and stirs things up, finally getting the townfolk to stand up to the tyrant. And in "The Lita Foldaire Story" (January 6, 1960), a grieving husband whose wife has been murdered actually turns out to be the perpetrator.

The music scores for the individual episodes by the third and fourth seasons are split up amongst a host of composers. Jerome Moross composed the majestic string-and-harp-filled orchestral theme but did not compose the scores within the episodes. Amongst the notable composers who did are Stanley Wilson, who was musical supervisor for a great number of shows during the era, including this one, Oscar-winning (Exodus) composer Ernest Gold in "The Clayton Tucker Story" and "The Alexander Portlass Story," Oscar-winning (Pinocchio) composer Leigh Harline in "The Tracey Sadler Story," arranger Henri Rene (who worked with Harry Belafonte and Eartha Kitt) in "The Joshua Gilliam Story," and Brazilian bossa nova godfather Laurindo Almeida in "Princess of a Lost Tribe."

The first seven seasons have been released on DVD by Timeless Media Group.

The Actors

Ward Bond

As mentioned previously, Wardell Edwin Bond had a long friendship and professional relationship with director John Ford and actor John Wayne, dating back to his days on the USC football team as a teammate of Wayne's. Born in Nebraska the son of a lumberyard worker, he grew up in Denver before matriculating to Southern California. After being cast as an extra in Salute, he went on to appear in such film classics as It Happened One Night, Bringing Up Baby, Topper, Gone With the Wind, The Grapes of Wrath, Sergeant York, The Maltese Falcon, It's a Wonderful Life, The Quiet Man, The Searchers, and Rio Bravo before landing the role of Major Seth Adams on Wagon Train. However, beside his penchant for excessive drinking and fighting, he also had a reputation for arrogance and was a right-wing zealot who was Hollywood's most vocal supporter for the Communist witch-hunts of the 1950s. He also served as president of the conservative Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals. Although he was known as a merciless hurler of insults, Ford reportedly told Andy Devine at Bond's funeral, "Now you're the biggest asshole I know."

Robert Horton

Meade Howard Horton, Jr. was born July 29, 1924 in Los Angeles. After appearing in 10 films in supporting roles in the first half of the 1950s, Horton began appearing in individual TV episodes beginning with The Lone Ranger in 1954, including three appearances on Studio 57, four appearances on Matinee Theatre, and seven appearances on Alfred Hitchcock Presents. On Wagon Train, Horton's portrayal of Flint McCullough offered a younger, more romantic contrast to Ward Bond's partiarchal Major Seth Adams. But Horton left the show after the 1961-62 season to pursue a career in musical theatre, landing the lead role in David Merrick's production of The Rainmaker. However, he returned to TV for the lead role in A Man Called Shenandoah, which lasted a single season in 1965-66. After that, he appeared on TV sparingly on shows such as Police Woman and Murder, She Wrote, though he did have a recurring role as Whit McColl on As the World Turns in 1983-84. He currently lives with his third wife in Encino, California.

Terry Wilson

Born in Huntington Beach, California, Wilson got his start as a stuntman in films, also serving as John Wayne's body double in movies like Sands of Iwo Jima. He began appearing in acting roles in My Hands Are Clay in 1948, though his roles before Wagon Train were mostly uncredited. After acting in all eight seasons of Wagon Train, Wilson appeared only occasionally in TV shows, including four turns on The Virginian, though he did land supporting roles in a few films, such as Don Knotts' The Shakiest Gun in the West, Westworld, and Escape to Witch Mountain. He died March 30, 1999 at the age of 75.

Frank McGrath

Born in 1903 in Mound City, Missouri, McGrath began appearing in films in 1932, though most of his roles were uncredited, such as in The Ox-Bow Incident, Fort Apache, Hondo, and The Searchers. After his eight seasons on Wagon Train, McGrath appeared as Uncle Lucius on Tammy and reprised the role in the feature-length movie Tammy and the Millionaire. He also appeared in two Don Knotts films, The Reluctant Astronaut and The Shakiest Gun in the West with Wagon Train castmate Terry Wilson. He died before that last picture was released, on May 13, 1967 at the age of 64.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 3, Episode 14, "The Lita Foldaire Story": Dianne Brewster (Wilhemina "Steamboat Willy" Vanderveer on The Islanders and Helen Kimble on The Fugitive) plays murdered wife Lita Foldaire. Kent Smith (starred in Cat People, The Curse of the Cat People, and The Fountainhead and who played Dr. Robert Morton on Peyton Place and Edgar Scoville on The Invaders) plays her husband Jess. Richard Crane (Rocky Jones on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, Dick Preston on Commando Cody, Sky Marshal of the Universe, and Lt. Gene Plehn on Surfside 6) plays her brother-in-law Clay. Paul Birch (starred in Not of This Earth, Queen of Outer Space, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and who played Erle Stanley Gardner on The Court of Last Resort, Mike Malone on Cannonball, and Capt. Carpenter on The Fugitive) plays her father Dan Clayton. Jay Novello (Juan Greco on Zorro and Mayor Mario Lugatto on McHale's Navy) plays portrait painter Carlotti. Lurene Tuttle (Doris Dunston on Father of the Bride and Hannah Yarby on Julia) plays the minister's wife Mrs. Willoughby.

Season 3, Episode 15, "The Colonel Harris Story": John Howard (Dr. Wayne Hudson on Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal, Commander John "Pliny" Hawk on Adventures of the Sea Hawk, and Dave Welch on My Three Sons) plays Colonel Harris, whose wife is killed by Indians. James Best (Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard) plays Commanche leader Red Bow. Kenneth MacDonald (played the judge 32 times on Perry Mason, played Col. Parker on Colt .45, and appeared in several Three Stooges shorts) plays an army general. 

Season 3, Episode 16, "The Maidie Brant Story": Jean Hagen (starred in Singin' in the Rain, Adam's Rib, and The Asphalt Jungle and who played Margaret Williams on The Danny Thomas Show) plays Maidie Brant, a widow bitter about her husband's death. Edward Platt (shown on left, played the Chief on Get Smart) plays spiritual thinker Orbio de Costa. Richard Eyer (Davey Kane on Stagecoach West) plays Maidie's son Matthew. 

Season 3, Episode 17, "The Larry Hanify Story": Tommy Sands (singer who starred in Sing Boy Sing, Mardi Gras, and Babes in Toyland and who was the first husband of Nancy Sinatra) plays Larry Hanify, a young man whose father dies and leaves him in Flint McCullough's care. Orville Sherman (Mr. Feeney on Buckskin, Wib Smith on Gunsmoke, and Tupper on Daniel Boone) plays his father Joe. Wally Moon (shown on right, All-Star outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers) plays Sheriff Bender. 

Season 3, Episode 18, "The Clayton Tucker Story": Jeff Morrow (starred in Sign of the Pagan, This Island Earth, Pardners, and The Giant Claw and who played Dr. Lloyd Axton on The New Temperatures Rising Show) plays wagon leader Clayton Tucker. James Best (see "The Colonel Harris Story" above) plays disgruntled wagon owner Art Bernard. Aline Towne (Joan Gilbert on Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe) plays Bernard's wife Susan. Dorothy Green (Lavinia Tate on Tammy) plays Tucker's wife Sabrina. 

Season 3, Episode 19, "The Benjamin Burns Story": J. Carrol Naish (Charlie Chan in The New Adventures of Charlie Chan, Hawkeye in Guestward Ho!, and starred in Monster Maker and House of Frankenstein) plays crusty old scout Benjamin Burns. Jack Lambert (starred in The Harvey Girls, The Killers, and Kiss Me Deadly and who played Joshua Walcek on Riverboat) plays cynical settler Frank Owen. James Franciscus (Det. Jimmy Halloran on Naked City, Russ Andrews on The Investigators, John Novak on Mr. Novak, Mike Longstreet on Longstreet, Benjamin Elliot on Doc Elliot, and James Hunter on Hunter) plays greenhorn John Colter. Olive Sturgess (Carol Henning on The Bob Cummings Show) plays Burns' grand-daughter Cathy. 

Season 3, Episode 20, "The Ricky & Laurie Bell Story": June Lockhart (shown on left, played Ruth Martin on Lassie, Maureen Robinson on Lost in Space, and Dr. Janet Craig on Petticoat Junction) plays settler Laurie Bell. James Gregory (starred in The Silencers, Murderers' Row, The Ambushers, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, and The Love God? and who played Barney Ruditsky in The Lawless Years, Nick Hannigan on Detective School, and Inspector Frank Luger on Barney Miller) plays her wastrel husband Ricky. Ann Doran (Martha Brown on National Velvet, Mrs. Kingston on Longstreet, and Charlotte McHenry on Shirley) plays his Aunt Lizzie. 

Season 3, Episode 21, "The Tom Tuckett Story": Ben Cooper (Waverly on The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo and the Director on The Fall Guy) plays orphan Tom Tuckett. Robert Middleton (Barney Wales on The Monroes) plays his secret benefactor Ned Burkett. Josephine Hutchinson (starred in The Story of Louis Pasteur, Son of Frankenstein, and Tom Brown's Schooldays) plays spinster Miss Stevenson. Louise Fletcher (starred in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Exorcist II, and The Cheap Detective and who played Kai Winn on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) plays her niece Elizabeth. Frank Wilcox (Mr. Brewster on The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction) plays army Colonel Barkley. 

Season 3, Episode 22, "The Tracy Sadler Story": Elaine Stritch (Ruth Sherwood on My Sister Eileen, Aunt Polly on Pollyanna, Dorothy McNab on Two's Company, Sydney Brewer on The Ellen Burstyn Show, and Colleen Donaghy on 30 Rock) plays vengeful widow Tracy Sadler. Elisha Cook, Jr. (starred in The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, The Great Gatsby (1949), and The Killing and who played Francis "Ice Pick" Hofstetler on Magnum P.I.) plays her driver Cadge Waldo. Eugene Mazzola (Joey Drum on Jefferson Drum) plays her son David. Carl Benton Reid (starred in The Little Foxes, In a Lonely Place, Lorna Doone, and The Left Hand of God and who played The Man on Burke's Law) plays her father-in-law Fletcher Forest. 

Season 3, Episode 23, "The Alexander Portlass Story": Peter Lorre (shown on right, starred in M, Crime and Punishment, eight Mr. Moto movies, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, Arsenic and Old Lace, and The Beast With Five Fingers) plays fortune hunter Alexander Portlass. Morgan Woodward (Shotgun Gibbs on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, John Renko on Hill Street Blues, and Marvin Anderson on Dallas) plays his henchman Jupe. Henry Corden (extensive voice work on cartoons, including Paw Rugg on Atom Ant and The Banana Splits Hour) plays henchman Phelan. Bern Hoffman (Sam the bartender on Bonanza) plays henchman Bruto. 

Season 3, Episode 24, "The Christine Elliott Story": Phyllis Thaxter (starred in Women's Prison, Man Afraid, and Superman) plays orphan schoolmaster Christine Elliott. Kathryn Card (Mrs. McGillicuddy on I Love Lucy, Mrs. Papernow on The Charles Farrell Show, and Maw Kadiddlehopper on The Red Skelton Hour) plays her housekeeper Abigail. Donald Woods (John Brent on Tammy and Craig Kennedy on Kennedy, Criminologist) plays suitor Philip Ayres. Don Grady (shown on left, played Robbie Douglas on My Three Sons) plays eldest orphan George. 

Season 3, Episode 25, "The Joshua Gilliam Story": Dan Duryea (starred in The Little Foxes, The Pride of the Yankees, Scarlet Street, and Winchester '73 and who played China Smith in China Smith and The New Adventures of China Smith and Eddie Jacks on Peyton Place) plays alleged educator Joshua Gilliam. Irene Tedrow (Mrs. Elkins on Dennis the Menace) plays his conquest's mother Mrs. Halstadt.

Season 3, Episode 26, "The Maggie Hamilton Story": Susan Oliver (Ann Howard on Peyton Place) plays immature Maggie Hamilton. Les Tremayne (starred in The War of the Worlds (1953), The Story of Ruth, The Slime People, and The Fortune Cookie and who played Inspector Richard Queen in The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen) plays her father Horace. Leonard Nimoy (shown on right, played Mr. Spock on Star Trek, Paris on Mission: Impossible, and Dr. William Bell on Fringe) plays renegade scout Cherokee Ned.

Season 3, Episode 27, "The Jonas Murdock Story": Noah Beery, Jr. (starred in The Mutiny of the Elsinore, The Trail Beyond, Of Mice and Men, Sergeant York, and Walking Tall and who played Joey the Clown on Circus Boy, Bill Blake on Riverboat, Buffalo Baker on Hondo, Joseph "Rocky" Rockford on The Rockford Files, and Luther Dillard on The Yellow Rose) plays former scout Jonas Murdock. Lyle Talbot (starred in 20,000 Years in Sing Sing, Miracle on Main Street, Murder Is My Business, Batman and Robin(1949), and Plan 9 From Outer Space and who played The Brain on Dick Tracy, Baylor on Commando Cody: Sky Master of the Universe, Al Simon on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Paul Fonda on The Bob Cummings Show, and Joe Randolph on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet) plays settler Jameson. Bernadette Withers (Ginger on Bachelor Father) plays settler Alma Hardy. 

Season 3, Episode 28, "The Amos Gibbon Story": William Schallert (Justinian Tebbs on The Adventures of Jim Bowie, Mr. Leander Pomfritt on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Martin Lane on The Patty Duke Show, Admiral Hargrade on Get Smart, Teddy Futterman on The Nancy Walker Show, Carson Drew on The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, Russ Lawrence on The New Gidget, and Wesley Hodges on The Torkelsons) plays captive miner Miles Van Vander. John Ashley (Clipper Hamilton on Straightaway and was the narrator on The A-Team) plays captive miner Billy Collier. 

Season 3, Episode 29, "Trial for Murder, Part 1": Marshall Thompson (Mel Hunter on World of Giants, Johnny Smith on Angel, and Dr. Marsh Tracy on Daktari) plays accused murderer Brad Mason. Henry Hull (starred in Little Women, Werewolf in London, Great Expectations, High Sierra, and The Fountainhead) plays his defense attorney Mark Applewhite. Murvyn Vye (Lionel on The Bob Cummings Show) plays lead accuser Mr. Miller. Ron Hayes (Wyatt Earp on Bat Masterson, Lincoln Vail on Everglades, Ben Jones on The Rounders, and Hank Johnson on Dallas) and Jon Locke (Officer Garvey on Highway Patrol and the Sleestack Leader on Land of the Lost) play his sons. Walter Baldwin (Grandpappy Miller on Green Acres and Petticoat Junction) plays witness Eddie Blake. Dennis Rush (Howie Pruitt on The Andy Griffith Show) plays the victim's son David.

Season 3, Episode 30, "Trial for Murder, Part 2": Dianne Foster (starred in Night Passage, The Last Hurrah, and The Deep Six) plays widow Leslie Ivers. William Schallert (see "The Amos Gibbon Story" above) plays witness Elliott Drake.

Season 3, Episode 31, "The Countess Baranof Story": Taina Elg (starred in Les Girls, The 39 Steps, Watusi and Hercules in New York) plays Russian Countess Baranof. Simon Oakland (starred in Psycho, West Side Story, and Follow That Dream and who played Tony Vincenzo on Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Brig. Gen. Thomas Moore on Black Sheep Squadron, and Sgt. Abrams on David Cassidy - Man Undercover) plays her bodyguard Colonel Vasily. Peter Leeds (Tenner Smith on Trackdown) plays smitten settler Alex Foster. Ann B. Davis (shown on left, played Charmaine "Schultzy" Schultz on The Bob Cummings Show, Miss Wilson on The John Forsythe Show, and Alice Nelson on The Brady Bunch, The Brady Brides, and The Bradys) plays his wife Susan.

Season 3, Episode 32, "The Dick Jarvis Story": Tommy Nolan (Jody O'Connell on Buckskin, Officer Hubbell on Jessie, and Mick on Out of This World) plays crippled boy Dick Jarvis. Bobby Diamond (Joey Newton on Fury, Buddy McGovern on Westinghouse Playhouse, and Duncan Gillis on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays runaway orphan Joey Henshaw. Vivi Janiss (Myrtle Davis on Father Knows Best) plays Dick's mother Mrs. Jarvis. 

Season 3, Episode 33, "Dr. Swift Cloud": Rafael Campos (Ramon Diaz, Jr. on Rhoda) plays Indian-turned-doctor Swift Cloud. Dabbs Greer (Mr. Jonas on Gunsmoke, Coach Ossie Weiss on Hank, Norrie Coolidge on The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Reverend Robert Alden on Little House on the Prairie, Rev. Henry Novotny on Picket Fences, and Grandpa Fred Stage on Maybe It's Me) plays irritable settler Mr. Finley. 

Season 3, Episode 34, "The Luke Grant Story": Donald Woods (see "The Christine Elliott Story" above) plays desperate loser Luke Grant. Joan O'Brien (starred in The Alamo and It'$ Only Money) plays traveling singing group leader Vickie. Wendy Wagner (Lenore "Casey" Case on The Green Hornet) plays redhead singer Fay.

Season 3, Episode 35, "The Charlene Brenton Story": Sean McClory (Jack McGivern on The Californians and Myles Delaney on Bring 'Em Back Alive) plays Irish saloon owner Casey. Raymond Bailey (shown on right, played Milburn Drysdale on The Beverly Hillbillies, Dean Magruder on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, D.A. John Carvell on The Untouchables, and Mr. Beaumont on My Sister Eileen) plays orphan baby's grand-father Jim Brenton. Kathryn Card (see "The Christine Elliott Story" above) plays Grandma Mercer.

Season 3, Episode 36, "The Sam Livingston Story": Charles Drake (starred in Winchester '73, Harvey, It Came From Outer Space, Bonzo Goes to College, and I Was a Shoplifter and who played John Burden on Rendezvous) plays revenge-bound rich man Sam Livingston. Onslow Stevens (starred in The Three Musketeers (1935), The Creeper, Angel on My Shoulder, Mark of the Gorilla, and Them!) plays bank president Cass Fleming. 

Season 3, Episode 37, "The Shadrack Bennington Story": David Wayne (starred in Adam's Rib, M, How to Marry a Millionaire, The Three Faces of Eve, and The Andromeda Strain and who 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 elixir salesman Shadrack Bennington. Maggie Pierce (Barbara Crabtree on My Mother the Car) plays ingenue Jennifer Robertson. Charles Herbert (starred in The Fly and 13 Ghosts and who played Peter McCauley on Men Into Space) plays orphan Winfy Robertson. Henry Hunter (Doctor Summerfield on Hazel) plays a doctor at grandfather Robertson's estate.

Season 4, Episode 1, "Wagons Ho!": Mickey Rooney (shown on left, starred in Captains Courageous, Boys Town, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Words and Music, Babyface Nelson, and Breakfast at Tiffany's as well as numerous Andy Hardy movies and played Mickey Mulligan on The Mickey Rooney Show, Mickey Grady on Mickey, Oliver Nugent on One of the Boys, Henry Dailey on The New Adventures of the Black Stallion, and Talbut on Kleo the Misfit Unicorn) plays inept greenhorn Sam Evans. Ellen Corby (Henrietta Porter on Trackdown and Esther Walton on The Waltons) plays his Aunt Em. Olive Sturgess (see "The Benjamin Burns Story" above) plays his wife Melanie. Henry Corden (see "The Alexander Portlass Story" above) plays thieving Indian Black Feather.

Season 4, Episode 2, "The George Best Story": George Gobel (starred on The George Gobel Show and Hollywood Squares and who played Mayor Otis Harper, Jr. on Harper Valley) plays entrepreneurial  greenhorn George Best. Allen Jenkins (starred in I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, A Slight Case of Murder, Destry Rides Again, and The Gay Falcon and who played Johnny on The Duke, Al Murray on Hey, Jeannie!, the voice of Officer Dibble on Top Cat, and Muggsy on The Red Skelton Hour) plays wagon-maker Mr. Gillespie. Joe Flynn (shown on right, 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 grocer Edwin Crook. Ken Curtis (starred in Mister Roberts, The Searchers, and The Alamo and who played Festus on Gunsmoke, Jim Buckley on Ripcord, and Hoyt Coryell on The Yellow Rose) plays Best's former step-father Pappy Lightfoot.

 Season 4, Episode 3, "The Albert Farnsworth Story": Charles Laughton (starred in The Private Life of Henry VIII, Les Miserables, Mutiny on the Bounty, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Witness for the Prosecution, and Spartacus) plays arrogant British Colonel Albert Farnsworth. James Fairfax (Charlie on Ramar of the Jungle and Cedric, the Steward on The Gale Storm Show) plays his assistant Jeremy Oakes. Terence de Marney (Case Thomas on Johnny Ringo and Counsellor Doone on Lorna Doone) plays belligerent Irish patriarch Mike O'Toole. Robert Brown (Jason Bolt on Here Come the Brides and Cater Primus on Primus) plays O'Toole's son Tim. Gina Gillespie (Terry "Tess" Wilkins on Law of the Plainsman and Mimi Scott on Karen) plays O'Toole's grand-daughter Peggy. Jan Arvan (Nacho Torres on Zorro and Paw Kadiddlehopper on The Red Skelton Hour) plays the chief of the Cheyenne Indians.

 Season 4, Episode 4, "The Allison Justis Story": Gloria DeHaven (starred in The Thin Man Goes Home, Summer Holiday, Three Little Words, and Summer Stock and who played Irene James on Nakia and Bess Shelby on Ryan's Hope) plays Allison Justis, whose husband is killed by Flint McCullough. Michael Burns (Howie Macauley on It's a Man's World and Barnaby West in later years on Wagon Train) plays her son Billy. Dan Tobin (Terrance Clay on Perry Mason) plays Sheriff Fred Miller. Edward G. Robinson, Jr. (son of Edward G. Robinson) plays his deputy. 

Season 4, Episode 5, "The Jose Morales Story": Lee Marvin (shown on left, starred in The Big Heat, Bad Day at Black Rock, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Cat Ballou, The Dirty Dozen, and Paint Your Wagon and played Det. Lt. Frank Ballinger on M Squad) plays Mexican bandido Jose Morales. Lon Chaney, Jr. (starred in The Wolfman, Of Mice and Men, High Noon, The Ghost of Frankenstein, The Curse of Dracula, Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman, and many others, and who played Chingachgook on Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans) plays Alamo deserter Louis Roque. Clark Howat (Dr. John Petrie on The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu) plays Quaker-like preacher Aaron Oliver. Aline Towne (see "The Clayton Tucker Story" above) plays his wife Patience. Charles Herbert (see "The Shadrack Bennington Story" above) plays his son Joseph.

Season 4, Episode 6, "Princess of a Lost Tribe": Linda Lawson (shown on right, jazz singer who played Renee on Adventures in Paradise, Pat Perry on Don't Call Me Charlie, and Laura Fremont on Ben Casey) plays Lia, princess of the Aztecs. Raymond Massey (starred in The Scarlet Pimpernel, Arsenic and Old Lace, Mourning Becomes Electra, The Fountain Head, East of Eden, and Seven Angry Men and who played Anton the Spy Master on I Spy (1955-57) and Dr. Leonard Gillespie on Dr. Kildare) plays her father Montezuma IX. Edward Mallory (Bill Horton on Days of Our Lives) plays Mike Kelly, a man in search of his missing father. 

Season 4, Episode 7, "The Cathy Eckhart Story": Susan Oliver (see "The Maggie Hamilton Story" above) plays Cathy Eckhart, daughter of a murdered man. John Larch (starred in The Wrecking Crew, Play Misty for Me, and Dirty Harry and who played Deputy District Attorney Jerry Miller on Arrest and Trial, Gerald Wilson on Dynasty, and Arlen & Atticus Ward on Dallas) plays Ben Harness, the man accused of murder. Vivi Janiss (see "The Dick Jarvis Story" above) plays his wife Sarah. Martin Landau (shown on left. starred in North by Northwest, Cleopatra, The Greatest Story Ever Told, The Fall of the House of Usher, and Ed Wood and played Rollin Hand on Mission: Impossible!, Commander John Koenig on Space: 1999, Dr. Sol Gold on The Evidence, and Bob Ryan on Entourage) plays sketchy Preacher. Ron Hayes (see "Trial for Murder, Part 1" above) plays wagon driver Whitey. Gregory Walcott (starred in Badman's Country and Plan 9 From Outer Space and who played Det. Roger Havilland on 87th Precinct) plays guide Jeff Miller. 

 Season 4, Episode 8, "The Bleymier Story": Dan Duryea (see "The Joshua Gilliam Story" above) plays crochety nature-signs reader Samuel Bleymier. James Drury (The Virginian on The Virginian and Captain Spike Ryerson on Firehouse) plays Justin Claiborne, suitor for Bleymier's daughter. 

 Season 4, Episode 9, "The Colter Craven Story": Carleton Young (starred in the Dick Tracy serials, Honor of the West, Billy the Kid in Texas, and Thunderhead - Son of Flicka and who played Harry Steeger on The Court of Last Resort) plays cowardly doctor Colter Craven. Anna Lee (starred in King Solomon's Mines, How Green Was My Valley, Flying Tigers, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Sound of Music, and In Like Flint and who played Lila Quartermaine on General Hospital) plays his wife Allyris. 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 who played Gen. Joshua McCord on Branded) plays water-rights tyrant Park Cleatus. Ken Curtis (see "The Horace Best Story" above) plays his son Kyle. Dennis Rush (Howie Pruitt on The Andy Griffith Show) plays a boy named Jamie who breaks his leg. Paul Birch (see "The Lita Foldaire Story" above) plays Ulysses S. Grant. Willis Bouchey (Mayor Terwilliger on The Great Gildersleeve and the judge 23 times on Perry Mason) plays Grant's father. John Wayne (credited as Michael Morris) plays General Tecumseh Sherman.

Season 4, Episode 10, "The Jane Hawkins Story": Myrna Fahey (Katherine "Kay" Banks on Father of the Bride) plays wrongly accused Jane Hawkins. Edgar Buchanan (shown on right, played Uncle Joe Carson on The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and Petticoat Junction, Red Connors on Hopalong Cassidy, Judge Roy Bean on Judge Roy Bean, and J.J. Jackson on Cade's County) plays small-town tyrant Ben Mattox. Kathie Browne (Angie Dow on Hondo) plays his daughter Laura. Whit Bissell (starred in He Walked by Night, Creature From the Black Lagoon, I Was a Teenage Werewolf, I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, and Hud and who played Bert Loomis on Bachelor Father, Calvin Hanley on Peyton Place, and Lt. Gen. Heywood Kirk on The Time Tunnel) plays the town's Doc Hicks. 

 Season 4, Episode 11, "The Candy O'Hara Story": Joan O'Brien (see "The Luke Grant Story" above) plays scammer accomplice Candy O'Hara. Jim Davis (Matt Clark on Stories of the Century, Wes Cameron on Rescue 8, Marshal Bill Winter on The Cowboys, and Jock Ewing on Dallas) plays upright widower Gabe Henry. Teddy Rooney (son of Mickey Rooney) plays his son Luther. Robert Lowery (starred in Criminal Investigator, Revenge of the Zombies, The Navy Way, The Mummy's Ghost, and They Made Me a Killer and who played Big Tim Champion on Circus Boy and Buss Courtney on Pistols 'n' Petticoats) plays gambler and scam artist Marty. 

 Season 4, Episode 12, "The River Crossing": Charles Aidman (narrator on the 1985-87 version of The Twilight Zone) plays Indian-hating Colonel Buckner. Ron Harper (Det. Bert Kling on 87th Precinct, Jeff Conway on Wendy and Me, Paul Marshall on The Jean Arthur Show, Lt. Craig Garrison on Garrison's Gorillas, Alan Virdon on Planet of the Apes, and Uncle Jack on Land of the Lost) plays his second-in-command Lt. Beyins. X Brands (Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah on Yancy Derringer) plays a Pawnee brave. 

Season 4, Episode 13, "The Roger Bigelow Story": Robert Vaughn (shown on left, starred in Teenage Cave Man, The Magnificent Seven, The Towering Inferno, and Bullitt and played Capt. Ray Rambridge on The Lieutenant, Napoleon Solo on The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Harry Rule on The Protectors, Harlan Adams on Emerald Point N.A.S., Gen. Hunt Stockwell on The A-Team, and Albert Stroller on Hustle) plays single-minded minister Roger Bigelow. Audrey Dalton (starred in The Girls of Pleasure Island and The Monster That Challenged the World) plays his wife Nancy. Claude Akins (Sonny Pruett on Movin' On and Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo on B.J and the Bear and on Lobo) plays unreformed criminal Wes Varney. 

 Season 4, Episode 14, "The Jeremy Dow Story": Leslie Nielsen (shown on right, played Lt. Frank Drebin on Police Squad and in the Naked Gun movies; also played Vincent Markham on Peyton Place, Lt. Price Adams on The New Breed, and Harry Kleber on Dr. Kildare) plays cowardly former school teacher Jeremy Dow. Michael Burns (see "The Allison Justis Story" above) plays his son Bruce. Dal McKennon (did the voices on many cartoons, including the voices of Gumby and Pokey on The Gumby Show and who played Cincinnatus on Daniel Boone) plays a hotel proprietor. Morgan Woodward (see "The Alexander Portlass Story" above) plays illegal trapper Jubal. Jimmy Lydon (Biff Cardoza on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, Andy Boone on So This Is Hollywood, and Richard on Love That Jill) plays Clete Millikan, now married to Dow's wife.