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"Los Angeles
Rams footballer Roosevelt Grier helped to disarm Sirhan Sirhan following
the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy (6/6/1968). He joined the
DANIEL BOONE cast for the final season (1969-1970) as Gabe Cooper,
a big, burly, sweet-spirited runaway slave who finds solace-and
equality!-in Boonesborough." So observes Syracuse University professor
Douglas Brode in this entertaining, informative, and amply illustrated
publication, which highlights more than 450 actors, both the famous
and the lesser known, who appeared in TV Westerns from the 1940s
to the 21st century.
Among the actors Professor Brode discusses are Nick Adams (THE REBEL),
Amanda Blake (GUNSMOKE), Richard Boone (HAVE GUN-WILL TRAVEL; HEC
RAMSEY), David Carradine (KUNG FU), Chuck Connors (THE RIFLEMAN;
BRANDED), Linda Cristal (THE HIGH CHAPARRAL), Gail Davis (ANNIE
OAKLEY), Clint Eastwood (RAWHIDE), Dale Evans (THE ROY ROGERS SHOW),
Lorne Greene (BONANZA), Christopher Jones (THE LEGEND OF JESSIE
JAMES), Brian Keith (THE WESTERNER), Steve McQueen (WANTED: DEAD
OR ALIVE), Terry Moore (EMPIRE), Hugh O'Brian (THE LIFE AND LEGEND
OF WYATT EARP), Timothy Olyphant (DEADWOOD), Jane Seymour (DR. QUINN,
MEDICINE WOMAN), Jay Silverheels (THE LONE RANGER), and Barbara
Stanwyck (THE BIG VALLEY). Brode asserts that THE BIG VALLEY, which
ran from 1965-1969, provided "an alternative to BONANZA," because
it posited "matriarchy for the first time in a TV Western. Stanwyck
played Victoria Barkley, running a ranch in San Joaquin Valley near
Stockton and keeping several sons and one daughter in line while
proving a woman in charge could succeed." Moreover, Brode contends
that THE LEGEND OF JESSIE JAMES, which aired 1965-1966, was "a TV
whitewashing of the gang leader during the post-Civil War years…The
single-season show remains noteworthy as the precursor to BONNIE
AND CLYDE (1967), romanticizing outlaws of the past as metaphors
for the then-emerging Youth Movement."
A number of Texans, of course, appear in Professor Brode's book.
These include Tioga's Gene Autry (THE GENE AUTRY SHOW), De Kalb's
Dan Blocker (BONANZA), Snyder's Powers Boothe (DEADWOOD), Beaumont's
L. Q. Jones (CHEYENNE; RAWHIDE; THE VIRGINIAN), San Saba's Tommy
Lee Jones (LONESOME DOVE), Houston's Dewey Martin (DANIEL BOONE),
Kingston's Audie Murphy (WHISPERING SMITH), and Fort Worth's Fess
Parker (DAVY CROCKETT; DANIEL BOONE). Furthermore, some of the Westerns
Brode discusses were set in the Lone Star State. For example, TEMPLE
HOUSTON, which ran from 1963-1964 on NBC and featured "The Yellow
Rose of Texas" as its opening theme, starred Jeffrey Hunter as Sam
Houston's son, a frontier attorney.
Western actor Harry Carey, Jr., calls SHOOTING STARS OF THE SMALL
SCREEN "a gem of a book: one that can be used for reference or just
read for pleasure. It's a must for all the Western movie and TV
buffs who want to know about their heroes. It's a wonderful job
of work painstakingly researched and well written." Agreed. In short,
fans of TV oaters will relish this insightful and comprehensive
volume. "Hi-Yo, Silver! Away!"
Review by Dr.
Kirk Bane, Central Texas Historical Association
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