Paul Colt's Blog - Posts Tagged "action-adventure"
Law of the Plainsman
Michael Ansara played Apache U. S. Marshal Sam Burkhart in Law of the Plainsman. I like most anything Ansara did; but the premise for Law of the Plainsman strained credulity in several respects even by Hollywood standards.
According to the show, Apache Sam Burkhart nursed a wounded cavalry officer. The officer recovered and out of gratitude, provided money for the Apache’s education when he passed away two years later. Burkhart used the money to attend Harvard. Following graduation he became a U.S. marshal and returned to Arizona, where he lived in a boarding house run by Martha Commager played by Nora Marlowe. A thematic conflict to the series portrayed Burkhart’s lack of acceptance by both whites and his own people. That’s about as much credibility as one could extract from the series premise.
First you have an Apache nursing a wounded cavalry officer. Mostly the Apache and cavalry weren’t exactly on ‘nursing’ terms. Next comes the prospect of a late nineteenth century Apache being admitted to Harvard, let alone graduating. Then you have that Apache gaining political appointment to a U.S. marshal’s office, never mind accepting it. Top that off with an Apache named Sam Burkhart, living in a boardinghouse run by a white woman. While we’re at it, Apache were mostly mountain people. How might one come to be known as a plainsman?
All that aside, Law of the Plainsman had a good pedigree. It originated in two episodes of The Rifleman opposite Chuck Connors as Lucas McCain, which became pilots for the series. The show was picked up by Dick Powell’s Four Star Productions, a bold move for a show with a Native American lead in that day. Four Star had a quality track record including Big Valley and Wanted Dead or Alive to go along with the four part syndication of The Westerner.
Law of the Plainsman debuted on NBC for the ’59-’60 season. Those 30 episodes were the extent of its run. In addition to Ansara and the regular cast, guests included Denver Pyle, Robert Vaughn and Wayne Rogers later known for his costarring role in M*A*S*H*. So with all that going for the series, what happened? Truth is I don’t know other than to conclude the ’59-’60 season was tough on westerns.
Next Week: The Dakotas
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Paul
According to the show, Apache Sam Burkhart nursed a wounded cavalry officer. The officer recovered and out of gratitude, provided money for the Apache’s education when he passed away two years later. Burkhart used the money to attend Harvard. Following graduation he became a U.S. marshal and returned to Arizona, where he lived in a boarding house run by Martha Commager played by Nora Marlowe. A thematic conflict to the series portrayed Burkhart’s lack of acceptance by both whites and his own people. That’s about as much credibility as one could extract from the series premise.
First you have an Apache nursing a wounded cavalry officer. Mostly the Apache and cavalry weren’t exactly on ‘nursing’ terms. Next comes the prospect of a late nineteenth century Apache being admitted to Harvard, let alone graduating. Then you have that Apache gaining political appointment to a U.S. marshal’s office, never mind accepting it. Top that off with an Apache named Sam Burkhart, living in a boardinghouse run by a white woman. While we’re at it, Apache were mostly mountain people. How might one come to be known as a plainsman?
All that aside, Law of the Plainsman had a good pedigree. It originated in two episodes of The Rifleman opposite Chuck Connors as Lucas McCain, which became pilots for the series. The show was picked up by Dick Powell’s Four Star Productions, a bold move for a show with a Native American lead in that day. Four Star had a quality track record including Big Valley and Wanted Dead or Alive to go along with the four part syndication of The Westerner.
Law of the Plainsman debuted on NBC for the ’59-’60 season. Those 30 episodes were the extent of its run. In addition to Ansara and the regular cast, guests included Denver Pyle, Robert Vaughn and Wayne Rogers later known for his costarring role in M*A*S*H*. So with all that going for the series, what happened? Truth is I don’t know other than to conclude the ’59-’60 season was tough on westerns.
Next Week: The Dakotas
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Paul
The Dakotas
When Clint Walker’s Cheyenne came to trail's end mid-way through the ’62-’63 season, ABC had a replacement waiting in the wings. Warner Brother’s production, The Dakotas fit right into the Cheyenne time slot.
The Dakotas starred Larry Ward as U.S. Marshal Frank Ragan and his battle to bring law and order to the Black Hills and badlands of Dakota Territory. A no nonsense lawman, Ragan was often tested to bend law to fit the order needed. He was assisted by a trio of deputies, J. D. Smith played by Jack Elam as a reformed gunfighter, Mike Green as Vance Porter and Chad Everett as Del Stark. Everett later played Dr. Joe Gannon on the hit series Medical Center.
To this day The Dakotas is critically acclaimed for its fast paced, hard hitting western action. From theme song to cast to one hour black and white episodes the series got high marks and good ratings. So what derails a winner after half a season and nineteen episodes? Sanctuary at Crystal Springs, that’s what.
Episode 18 by that title aired May 6, 1963. Ragan and Smith are on the trail of a vicious pair of murderous brothers. The brothers take sanctuary in a church with the pastor as hostage. Consistent with the series’ signature intense action, the standoff ends in a fiery gun battle with the bad guys gunned down in the church. These days such an ending would be seen for just cause and we move on. Not so in 1963. The fact the characters debated the moral dilemma of the action they took on haloed ground made no difference. Public outcry over the sacrilegious spectacle of violence in a church became so strident ABC had no choice but to cancel the show a week later.
Next Week: Sidekicks
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The Dakotas starred Larry Ward as U.S. Marshal Frank Ragan and his battle to bring law and order to the Black Hills and badlands of Dakota Territory. A no nonsense lawman, Ragan was often tested to bend law to fit the order needed. He was assisted by a trio of deputies, J. D. Smith played by Jack Elam as a reformed gunfighter, Mike Green as Vance Porter and Chad Everett as Del Stark. Everett later played Dr. Joe Gannon on the hit series Medical Center.
To this day The Dakotas is critically acclaimed for its fast paced, hard hitting western action. From theme song to cast to one hour black and white episodes the series got high marks and good ratings. So what derails a winner after half a season and nineteen episodes? Sanctuary at Crystal Springs, that’s what.
Episode 18 by that title aired May 6, 1963. Ragan and Smith are on the trail of a vicious pair of murderous brothers. The brothers take sanctuary in a church with the pastor as hostage. Consistent with the series’ signature intense action, the standoff ends in a fiery gun battle with the bad guys gunned down in the church. These days such an ending would be seen for just cause and we move on. Not so in 1963. The fact the characters debated the moral dilemma of the action they took on haloed ground made no difference. Public outcry over the sacrilegious spectacle of violence in a church became so strident ABC had no choice but to cancel the show a week later.
Next Week: Sidekicks
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Paul
Smiley Burnette
Lester Alvin (Smiley) Burnett (the ending e came later) was a brilliant song writer with over four hundred titles to his credit. He could play about any instrument you could name and a few you couldn’t name because he invented them. He did it all by ear. He couldn’t read a note of music. Burnett went to work at a small radio station in downstate Illinois where his professional persona began to emerge. He needed a character for an on-air kids program. He decided on Smiley, based on a character in Mark Twain’s Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. The moniker stuck.
Smiley’s musical ability in country radio got him discovered by Gene Autry. In 1933 Autry hired him to play the accordion on his National Barn Dance program on WLS in Chicago. The following year Gene and Smiley signed to do musical parts in two Ken Maynard films for Mascot Pictures. Their return to country radio was short lived when Mascot offered the pair 10 year film contracts. Gene and Smiley would go on to make sixty-four films together.
“Frog Millhouse” evoked a lovable, folksy, down-home, ‘awe-shucks’ comfortability that was Smiley Burnette. With a frog-in-the-throat for a voice, Smiley topped it off in a battered black hat with a turned up front brim, tablecloth checked shirt and baggy britches. Throw in a ring-eyed white horse and you had an unforgettable comedic package.
In 1936 Smiley met and married Dallas MacDonnell. The couple would raise four adopted children. The union would last the remainder of Smiley’s life.
World War II separated Gene and Smiley. Burnette went on to do nine films as Roy Rogers’ sidekick before paring with Charles Starrett from 1945 to 1952 in fifty-four Durango Kid series films. Columbia signed Burnette once again reuniting him with Gene Autry. With the decline of the B Western feature, Smiley turned to touring and personal appearances while pursuing his musical career. In the mid-sixties he appeared in the CBS TV comedy series Petticoat Junction as the railroad engineer Charlie Pratt.
Following his run on Petticoat Junction, Smiley Burnette was taken ill. He died of leukemia in February 1967. Smiley’s signature hat and shirt are part of the Cowboy Hall of Fame Museum collection. You can find his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Next Week: Slim Pickens
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Smiley’s musical ability in country radio got him discovered by Gene Autry. In 1933 Autry hired him to play the accordion on his National Barn Dance program on WLS in Chicago. The following year Gene and Smiley signed to do musical parts in two Ken Maynard films for Mascot Pictures. Their return to country radio was short lived when Mascot offered the pair 10 year film contracts. Gene and Smiley would go on to make sixty-four films together.
“Frog Millhouse” evoked a lovable, folksy, down-home, ‘awe-shucks’ comfortability that was Smiley Burnette. With a frog-in-the-throat for a voice, Smiley topped it off in a battered black hat with a turned up front brim, tablecloth checked shirt and baggy britches. Throw in a ring-eyed white horse and you had an unforgettable comedic package.
In 1936 Smiley met and married Dallas MacDonnell. The couple would raise four adopted children. The union would last the remainder of Smiley’s life.
World War II separated Gene and Smiley. Burnette went on to do nine films as Roy Rogers’ sidekick before paring with Charles Starrett from 1945 to 1952 in fifty-four Durango Kid series films. Columbia signed Burnette once again reuniting him with Gene Autry. With the decline of the B Western feature, Smiley turned to touring and personal appearances while pursuing his musical career. In the mid-sixties he appeared in the CBS TV comedy series Petticoat Junction as the railroad engineer Charlie Pratt.
Following his run on Petticoat Junction, Smiley Burnette was taken ill. He died of leukemia in February 1967. Smiley’s signature hat and shirt are part of the Cowboy Hall of Fame Museum collection. You can find his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Next Week: Slim Pickens
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Paul
Max Terhune
Max Terhune was a multi-talented fellow. He got his start in vaudeville as a whistler who did barnyard animal imitations. If that resume doesn’t sound like a passport to film success it was good enough to get him a gig on the WLS Chicago radio program National Barn Dance. Barn. Get it? Oh the star of that show was a guy named Gene Autry. Guess where that goes.
Gene Autry introduced Max and his wooden pal Elmer Sneezeweed to Republic pictures. Republic cast him in their popular B western series The Three Mesquiteers as Lullaby Joslin. He made twenty-one pictures paired with Ray “Crash” Corrigan, Robert Livingston and later John Wayne. Those Mesquiteer films are my earliest recollection of Wayne as Stony Brooks before he became the iconic Duke we remember today.
Following the Mesquiteer series, Max signed with Monogram for The Range Busters series, again with Ray Corrigan. At Monogram Max morphed his Lullaby character into a character known as Alibi who would complete twenty-four pictures in The Range Busters series. Alibi would go on from there to work with Gene Autry at Republic before returning to Monogram to do eight films with Johnny Mack Brown.
Beyond his film career, Max continued his comedic work making personal appearances with Elmer. An accomplished magician, Terhune applied his skills to entertain with illusion.
Off screen, Max Terhune was a genuine good guy. In the category of lovable sidekicks, Max was a top hand. He married Maude Cassady and together they raised three children, two boys and a girl. He died of a heart attack in Cottonwood Arizona at age eighty-two.
Next Week: Fuzzy Q. Jones
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Gene Autry introduced Max and his wooden pal Elmer Sneezeweed to Republic pictures. Republic cast him in their popular B western series The Three Mesquiteers as Lullaby Joslin. He made twenty-one pictures paired with Ray “Crash” Corrigan, Robert Livingston and later John Wayne. Those Mesquiteer films are my earliest recollection of Wayne as Stony Brooks before he became the iconic Duke we remember today.
Following the Mesquiteer series, Max signed with Monogram for The Range Busters series, again with Ray Corrigan. At Monogram Max morphed his Lullaby character into a character known as Alibi who would complete twenty-four pictures in The Range Busters series. Alibi would go on from there to work with Gene Autry at Republic before returning to Monogram to do eight films with Johnny Mack Brown.
Beyond his film career, Max continued his comedic work making personal appearances with Elmer. An accomplished magician, Terhune applied his skills to entertain with illusion.
Off screen, Max Terhune was a genuine good guy. In the category of lovable sidekicks, Max was a top hand. He married Maude Cassady and together they raised three children, two boys and a girl. He died of a heart attack in Cottonwood Arizona at age eighty-two.
Next Week: Fuzzy Q. Jones
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Paul
Fuzzy Q. Jones
Al St. John got his start in silent films in 1912. His uncle Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle recommended the young man to Mack Sennett Studios where he joined his uncle and Buster Keaton in Sennett’s iconic Keystone Cops cast. Part vaudevillian, part slap-stick stunt man, facial expressionist, St. John fit a variety of comedic short roles. The Keystone Cops all but trademarked chaotic slap-stick comedy. He stacked up in the lesser known second tier of silent film stars behind his uncle, Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.
Al first got his boots dirty in Western work in a 1928 pair of oaters with Tom Mix. St. John hit his sidekick stride with the advent of talkies. His roles evolved to a crotchety, crusty, unkempt comedic character that collected the moniker Fuzzy Q. Jones along the way. He appeared in a Billy the Kid series opposite one of my favorite B Western stars, Bob Steele. He played Fuzzy in the Lone Rider series and in Billy the Kid/Billy Carson series with Buster Crabbe.
Crabbe and St. John made thirty-six films together, all low budget westerns. When Crabbe left PRC in a contract dispute he was cast as sidekick to a rising young Western star and favorite of many readers of these pages, Lash LaRue.
St. John is credited with creating the character Stony Brooks for the film The Law of .45’s. That character later appeared in the popular The Three Mesquiteers B Western series from Republic Pictures played by another up and comer, young John Wayne. Stony Brooks was my favorite Mesquiteer as a kid and my earliest recollection of John Wayne.
St. John’s last film released in 1952. He remained a popular celebrity, making personal appearances at rodeos and fairs. He died in 1963 of a heart attack while touring with a Wild West show.
Next Week: Tonto
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Al first got his boots dirty in Western work in a 1928 pair of oaters with Tom Mix. St. John hit his sidekick stride with the advent of talkies. His roles evolved to a crotchety, crusty, unkempt comedic character that collected the moniker Fuzzy Q. Jones along the way. He appeared in a Billy the Kid series opposite one of my favorite B Western stars, Bob Steele. He played Fuzzy in the Lone Rider series and in Billy the Kid/Billy Carson series with Buster Crabbe.
Crabbe and St. John made thirty-six films together, all low budget westerns. When Crabbe left PRC in a contract dispute he was cast as sidekick to a rising young Western star and favorite of many readers of these pages, Lash LaRue.
St. John is credited with creating the character Stony Brooks for the film The Law of .45’s. That character later appeared in the popular The Three Mesquiteers B Western series from Republic Pictures played by another up and comer, young John Wayne. Stony Brooks was my favorite Mesquiteer as a kid and my earliest recollection of John Wayne.
St. John’s last film released in 1952. He remained a popular celebrity, making personal appearances at rodeos and fairs. He died in 1963 of a heart attack while touring with a Wild West show.
Next Week: Tonto
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Paul
Tonto
Tonto and the Lone Ranger are fictional characters that have enjoyed multiple creative expressions. The Lone Ranger first appeared on WXYZ radio in Detroit in 1933. Tonto first appears in episode eleven. His part on the radio program was voiced by John Todd over the next twenty-one years. A book series followed along with movies, TV and comic books. Lone Ranger films cast various actors as Tonto, most recently Disney cast a dead crow wearing Johnny Depp in the role. For most of us though Tonto is personified by Jay Silverheels, who played the character through the long running TV series opposite Clayton Moore.
The origin of the relationship between Tonto and the masked man comes in two versions. By the original radio script Tonto was to be the fall guy in a mine swindle murder scheme foiled by the Lone Ranger. In the later version, Tonto comes upon a band of Texas Rangers ambushed and left for dead by the Butch Cavendish gang. Five rangers are indeed dead. One clings to life. Tonto nurses him back to health. They dig a sixth grave and the Lone Ranger dons his mask. Way better than the original, that story stuck.
Radio Tonto rode a horse named White Fella. Republic Pictures cast the horse as a paint in 1938, thinking two white horses confusing. It worked. White Fella became a paint, called Scout. Tonto had some Native American detractors for pidgin English some found demeaning. Somebody always does.
With all due respect to all those other fine actors who played the part, Jay Silverheels owns the character. A Mohawk, Silverheels was born Harold Preston Smith in Canada on Indian land near Hagersville Ontario. An accomplished Lacrosse player, his Silverheels stage name is adapted from his Lacrosse nickname. His film career played support to some of the brightest lights in feature film in the fifties and sixties; but the role that defined his career is sidekick to, “Who was that masked man?”
Next Week: Pancho
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Paul
The origin of the relationship between Tonto and the masked man comes in two versions. By the original radio script Tonto was to be the fall guy in a mine swindle murder scheme foiled by the Lone Ranger. In the later version, Tonto comes upon a band of Texas Rangers ambushed and left for dead by the Butch Cavendish gang. Five rangers are indeed dead. One clings to life. Tonto nurses him back to health. They dig a sixth grave and the Lone Ranger dons his mask. Way better than the original, that story stuck.
Radio Tonto rode a horse named White Fella. Republic Pictures cast the horse as a paint in 1938, thinking two white horses confusing. It worked. White Fella became a paint, called Scout. Tonto had some Native American detractors for pidgin English some found demeaning. Somebody always does.
With all due respect to all those other fine actors who played the part, Jay Silverheels owns the character. A Mohawk, Silverheels was born Harold Preston Smith in Canada on Indian land near Hagersville Ontario. An accomplished Lacrosse player, his Silverheels stage name is adapted from his Lacrosse nickname. His film career played support to some of the brightest lights in feature film in the fifties and sixties; but the role that defined his career is sidekick to, “Who was that masked man?”
Next Week: Pancho
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Paul
Pancho
Pancho’s pairing with the Cisco Kid was something of a late arrival. The character we know as the Cisco Kid is based on an O. Henry short story The Caballero’s Way. He starts out as an outlaw killer without a sidekick. Short of being Hispanic, any resemblance to the Cisco we know ends there. Hollywood picked up the character for a 1914 silent film and turned him into a good guy. There is a controversy over who played the original part.
Cisco sidekicks first turn up in a 1939 film, The Return of the Cisco Kid, starring Warner Baxter with Cesar Romero as one sidekick “Lopez” and Chris-Pin Martin as “Gordito” (Fatty) the other. Romero later took over the Cisco role paired with Martin’s Gordito. They did six films before WW II interrupted.
In 1945 Monogram brought Cisco back in The Cisco Kid Returns with Duncan Renaldo and introduced “Pancho” played by Martin Garralaga. Some speculate the name may have its roots in the revolutionary bandit, Francisco Pancho Villa. “Cisco” is a diminutive sometimes given to the Hispanic name Francisco. Who better than to pair with a Cisco than a “Pancho”. Renaldo took a break; but returned to the Kid role in the late forties at age 46. He was paired with Leo Carrillo cast as the Pancho we came to know. They made five films with Cisco clad in what became the character’s signature fancy black duds in the last.
The Cisco Kid and Pancho rode our TV screens for 156 episodes from 1950 – 1956. It must have been the black suit or maybe Diablo, the black and white overo paint Cisco rode; because with all that going for it the TV series was the first to be shot in color. Leo Carrillo became the iconic sidekick we know as Pancho at the age of 70. I guess there’s hope for some of us yet. He rode a beautiful palomino horse named Loco when star quality mounts typically belonged to the sidekick’s hero.
Carrillo’s family roots ran deep in eighteenth century old Spanish California. He wed Edith Haeselbarth in 1913. They had one daughter and remained together until her death in 1953. Carrillo died of cancer in 1961 at age 81. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for film and one for TV.
Next Week: Pat Buttram
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Cisco sidekicks first turn up in a 1939 film, The Return of the Cisco Kid, starring Warner Baxter with Cesar Romero as one sidekick “Lopez” and Chris-Pin Martin as “Gordito” (Fatty) the other. Romero later took over the Cisco role paired with Martin’s Gordito. They did six films before WW II interrupted.
In 1945 Monogram brought Cisco back in The Cisco Kid Returns with Duncan Renaldo and introduced “Pancho” played by Martin Garralaga. Some speculate the name may have its roots in the revolutionary bandit, Francisco Pancho Villa. “Cisco” is a diminutive sometimes given to the Hispanic name Francisco. Who better than to pair with a Cisco than a “Pancho”. Renaldo took a break; but returned to the Kid role in the late forties at age 46. He was paired with Leo Carrillo cast as the Pancho we came to know. They made five films with Cisco clad in what became the character’s signature fancy black duds in the last.
The Cisco Kid and Pancho rode our TV screens for 156 episodes from 1950 – 1956. It must have been the black suit or maybe Diablo, the black and white overo paint Cisco rode; because with all that going for it the TV series was the first to be shot in color. Leo Carrillo became the iconic sidekick we know as Pancho at the age of 70. I guess there’s hope for some of us yet. He rode a beautiful palomino horse named Loco when star quality mounts typically belonged to the sidekick’s hero.
Carrillo’s family roots ran deep in eighteenth century old Spanish California. He wed Edith Haeselbarth in 1913. They had one daughter and remained together until her death in 1953. Carrillo died of cancer in 1961 at age 81. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for film and one for TV.
Next Week: Pat Buttram
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Paul
Pat Buttram
Maxwell Emmett “Pat” Buttram planned to follow his father’s footsteps into the Methodist ministry. While in college, a little amateur acting and local radio led him down a different path. That path took him to the National Barn Dance program on WLS in Chicago where he too performed with Gene Autry. National Barn Dance might have been ‘Sidekick U’ for all the careers it launched into film. We may have to revisit the program at the end of this series.
The 40’s found Buttram in Hollywood cast as sidekick to Roy Rogers. Roy had no shortage of sidekicks in those days. Pat didn’t last long. He caught on with Barn Dance buddy Gene Autry and did more than forty films with the singing cowboy. When Gene moved to TV, Pat went along. Together they did more than one hundred episodes of the Gene Autry Show. Gene also had a radio show, Melody Ranch with a spot for Pat.
Buttram closed out his acting career playing Eustace Haney on the CBS sitcom Green Acres. The show ran from ’65 – ’71. He also did some animated voice work for Disney, capitalizing on a voice that by Pat’s lights, never finished puberty.
Pat married twice, the first ending in divorce after ten years. His second marriage to actress Sheila Ryan lasted until her death. They had one daughter. Active in Republican politics, Pat did some speech writing for fellow actor, Ronald Reagan. Pat Buttram died in 1994 at 78. He made it home to the Methodist Church near his family home in Alabama where he is buried. You can find his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Next Week: Dub Taylor
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The 40’s found Buttram in Hollywood cast as sidekick to Roy Rogers. Roy had no shortage of sidekicks in those days. Pat didn’t last long. He caught on with Barn Dance buddy Gene Autry and did more than forty films with the singing cowboy. When Gene moved to TV, Pat went along. Together they did more than one hundred episodes of the Gene Autry Show. Gene also had a radio show, Melody Ranch with a spot for Pat.
Buttram closed out his acting career playing Eustace Haney on the CBS sitcom Green Acres. The show ran from ’65 – ’71. He also did some animated voice work for Disney, capitalizing on a voice that by Pat’s lights, never finished puberty.
Pat married twice, the first ending in divorce after ten years. His second marriage to actress Sheila Ryan lasted until her death. They had one daughter. Active in Republican politics, Pat did some speech writing for fellow actor, Ronald Reagan. Pat Buttram died in 1994 at 78. He made it home to the Methodist Church near his family home in Alabama where he is buried. You can find his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Next Week: Dub Taylor
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Dub Taylor
Walter Clarence Taylor Jr. collected his ‘Dub’ moniker as a kid when his pals cut him a ‘Walter-break’, calling him double-u for short. Short eventually shortened to Dub. Who knows, if he’d scored a ‘Dub-ya’, he might have been president. Dub got his acting start in vaudeville. He took a trip to L.A. in 1938 to play in the Rose Bowl as a member of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team and decided to stay after the game to try his hand at film.
In 1939 he was cast in a role for the film, Taming of the West that would define his early career. Cannonball began as comic sidekick to Bill Elliott’s Wild Bill Saunders, later Wild Bill Hickok. The pairing would go on to do thirteen films together before Tex Ritter moved it as Elliott’s co-star for the film King of Dodge City. Dynamics of the Cannonball role changed with that pairing. Dub moved on, taking Cannonball with him.
Dub next found Cannonball paired with Charles Starrett’s Durango Kid at Columbia. Dub and Cannonball would move on to Monogram Pictures in 1947 for a two year run of sixteen films. Dub’s filmography lists fifty-two films in which he played Cannonball. No doubt the sidekick we fondly remember.
The fifties saw Dub appear in film and on television. In film you could find him in a variety of Western character roles ranging from clerks to cooks and a couple semi-sober sawbones. His TV appearances included a run as Alan Hale Jr.’s fireman on Casey Jones. Hale would later go on to skipper the S.S. Minnow on Gilligan’s Island. Other TV appearances included episodes of 26 Men, Cheyenne, Death Valley Days and The High Chaparral.
In the sixties Dub caught on with Sam Peckinpah for Major Dundee (’65), The Wild Bunch, Junior Bonner, The Getaway and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. The little screen brought comedic appearances on The Andy Griffith Show, I love Lucy, Hazel, The Cosby Show and Hee Haw.
Dub Taylor fathered Buck Taylor who sidekicked for Matt Dillon as Newly O’Brien on Gunsmoke. Dub Taylor passed away in 1994 after suffering a heart attack.
Next Week: Edgar Buchanan
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In 1939 he was cast in a role for the film, Taming of the West that would define his early career. Cannonball began as comic sidekick to Bill Elliott’s Wild Bill Saunders, later Wild Bill Hickok. The pairing would go on to do thirteen films together before Tex Ritter moved it as Elliott’s co-star for the film King of Dodge City. Dynamics of the Cannonball role changed with that pairing. Dub moved on, taking Cannonball with him.
Dub next found Cannonball paired with Charles Starrett’s Durango Kid at Columbia. Dub and Cannonball would move on to Monogram Pictures in 1947 for a two year run of sixteen films. Dub’s filmography lists fifty-two films in which he played Cannonball. No doubt the sidekick we fondly remember.
The fifties saw Dub appear in film and on television. In film you could find him in a variety of Western character roles ranging from clerks to cooks and a couple semi-sober sawbones. His TV appearances included a run as Alan Hale Jr.’s fireman on Casey Jones. Hale would later go on to skipper the S.S. Minnow on Gilligan’s Island. Other TV appearances included episodes of 26 Men, Cheyenne, Death Valley Days and The High Chaparral.
In the sixties Dub caught on with Sam Peckinpah for Major Dundee (’65), The Wild Bunch, Junior Bonner, The Getaway and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. The little screen brought comedic appearances on The Andy Griffith Show, I love Lucy, Hazel, The Cosby Show and Hee Haw.
Dub Taylor fathered Buck Taylor who sidekicked for Matt Dillon as Newly O’Brien on Gunsmoke. Dub Taylor passed away in 1994 after suffering a heart attack.
Next Week: Edgar Buchanan
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Paul
Edgar Buchanan
Edgar Buchanan was a dentist by training. He met his wife Mildred in dental school. He stumbled out of amateur acting into the role of a dentist for the film Texas (’41). That finished him as a molar-mechanic. One hundred films later, he never looked back.
Thirty-six of his films were westerns. They included some high profile classics. He appeared in Shane, Destry, The Comancheros, Ride the High Country and McLintock!, among others. It seems he suited roles casting him as a doctor and a judge as those occupations show up again and again in his filmography.
Buchanan did a lot of TV in addition his role as Red Connors, sidekicking for William Boyd’s Hoppalon Cassidy. He had the title role in the Judge Roy Bean series. See what I mean about playing a judge. He made guest appearances in a host western series including, Wanted Dead or Alive, Bat Masterson, Wagon Train, Bonanza, Maverick, The Rifleman, Have Gun Will Travel, Gunsmoke and The Virginian to name a few.
Edgar Buchanan might be best remembered as Uncle Joe Carson on Petticoat Junction (222 episodes), Green Acres (17 episodes) and the Beverly Hillbillies (3 episodes). Buchanan passed away April 4, 1979 at age 76.
Next Week: Raymond Hatton
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Paul
Thirty-six of his films were westerns. They included some high profile classics. He appeared in Shane, Destry, The Comancheros, Ride the High Country and McLintock!, among others. It seems he suited roles casting him as a doctor and a judge as those occupations show up again and again in his filmography.
Buchanan did a lot of TV in addition his role as Red Connors, sidekicking for William Boyd’s Hoppalon Cassidy. He had the title role in the Judge Roy Bean series. See what I mean about playing a judge. He made guest appearances in a host western series including, Wanted Dead or Alive, Bat Masterson, Wagon Train, Bonanza, Maverick, The Rifleman, Have Gun Will Travel, Gunsmoke and The Virginian to name a few.
Edgar Buchanan might be best remembered as Uncle Joe Carson on Petticoat Junction (222 episodes), Green Acres (17 episodes) and the Beverly Hillbillies (3 episodes). Buchanan passed away April 4, 1979 at age 76.
Next Week: Raymond Hatton
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Ride easy,
Paul
