Shooting Stars of the Small Screen: Encyclopedia of TV Western Actors, 1946-present

385 Pages·2009·5.78 MB·English

by  Douglas Brode

Shooting Stars
of the
Small Screen
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Ellen and Edward Randall Series
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Encyclopedia of TV Western Actors
(1946--P(cid:2) resent)
Douglas Brode
University of Texas Press Austin

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Copyright © 2009
by the University of Texas Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First edition, 2009
Requests for permission to reproduce LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-
material from this work should be PUBLICATION DATA
sent to: Brode, Douglas, 1943–
Permissions Shooting stars of the small screen : encyclo-
University of Texas Press pedia of TV western actors (1946–present) /
P.O. Box 7819 by Douglas Brode ; foreword by Fess Parker.
Austin, TX 78713-7819 — 1st ed.
www.utexas.edu/utpress/about/ p. cm.
bpermission.html Includes indexes.
ISBN 978-0-292-71849-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
The paper used in this book meets the 1. Western television programs—United
minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO States. 2. Television actors and actresses—
Z39.48-1992 (R1997) (Permanence of Paper). United States—Biography—Dictionaries.
I. Title.
Designed by Lindsay Starr PN1992.8.W4B76 2009
791.4502'8092273—dc22
Frontispiece [B]
THE END OF THE TRAIL: Clint Eastwood 2008053319
(center) and the drovers from Rawhide’s
fi nal season. Courtesy of CBS.
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To my grandson
Tyler Reese Brode
Keepin’ the legends alive!
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FROM CONFRONTATION TO COMMUNICATION: The Saga of Andy Burnett starred
Jerome Courtland (left) and Jeff York. Actress unknown. Courtesy Walt Disney Television/
Buena Vista Releasing.
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CONTENTS
ix Foreword by Fess Parker
xi Author’s Note
1 Introduction: Our Heroes Have
Always Been Cowboys
17 Encyclopedia of Actors
347 Index of Names
363 Index of Shows
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KING OF THE WILD FRONTIER: Virtual unknown Fess Parker skyrocketed to superstar-
dom in 1954 as Davy Crockett, the fi rst signifi cant Western hero to be created entirely by the
new medium of television. A decade later, Parker produced his own Daniel Boone series.
Courtesy Walt Disney Television/Buena Vista Releasing.
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FOREWORD
FESS PARKER
IN
the early 1950s I’d ney shows—Gunsmoke, The Life and
headed to Hollywood in Legend of Wyatt Earp, and Cheyenne—
hopes I might fi nd suc- premiered, all successful. Within a
cess as an actor. At fi rst I had small year, the TV Western had tied situa-
(even bit) parts. Even so, I got to tion comedies and game shows as the
work with such luminaries as Gary most popular fare on the air. Though
Cooper, John Wayne, and Randolph related to theatrical Westerns, particu-
Scott. Finally came the big break: larly of the B order, the TV Western
Walt Disney picked me to play Davy soon emerged as a genre unto itself.
Crockett during Disneyland’s fi rst sea- For the next ten years, I con-
son on the air (ABC; 1954–1955). All centrated mostly on fi lms for Mr.
of us knew we were part of some- Disney and other producers. Then
thing special. I don’t think, though, in 1964 I returned to TV with Dan-
that anyone had a sense while shoot- iel Boone, which I also executive-
ing those shows of the immediate produced. The show ran for six years
impact our three hour-long episodes on NBC. When Boone came to an
would have. For they set off a nation- end in 1970, the TV Western was
al craze. One year later, it became in decline and would shortly all but
evident that even if this phenomenon disappear, owing to changes in the
had started to fade, something else world around us and what an audi-
had emerged from it. ence looks for in its popular culture.
In addition to two more Crocketts Bonanza and a few others did remain
for the Disney hour, a trio of non-Dis- in place for a little while longer. Since
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