Supporting actors shouldered the load in some TV Westerns

Who were some of the best supporting actors who became legendary “sidekicks” in the television Westerns from the 1950s and 1960s?

One who frequently comes to mind is the jovial character Pancho (Leo Carrillo), who appeared in “The Cisco Kid” (1950-56) as the loyal companion of Cisco (Duncan Renaldo).

 

Cisco and Pancho were technically Mexican desperados wanted for unspecified crimes but viewed by the poor as “Robin Hood figures,” as they scampered about through the American Southwest, assisting the downtrodden to attain frontier justice.

 

Cisco was a charming ladies’ man, dressed in a highly embroidered black outfit, while his slightly paunchy sidekick Pancho brought humor to the series with his contrived heavily accented comments.

Pancho usually used the dialect for comic effect, liberally salting his speech with malaprops, such as: “My ears, they are para-loused!”

 

Cisco rode a black horse named “Diablo,” while Pancho rode the light-colored “Loco.” When they would travel to a new location, Pancho always exclaimed, “Let’s went!”

 

Carillo was 70 when he agreed to play the part of Pancho. As a native of Los Angeles, Carrillo attended St. Vincent’s College there (the forerunner of Loyola Marymount) as an art student. He took a job at an illustrator at the San Francisco Examiner and later performed in vaudeville and theatrical productions. 

He bonded with fellow stage performer Will Rogers, and the two became lifelong friends.

 

In the 1950s era of “shoot-’em-up Westerns, neither Cisco nor Pancho, over the course of 156 episodes, ever took a life. Instead, “they routinely outsmarted the bad guys, showing that villainy was its own worst enemy. The formula made international stars out of Renaldo and Carrillo.”

Renaldo often commented about the positive “chemistry” that existed between the two men while on the set. Renaldo was a Romanian by birth; he came to the United States at a young age. He had hoped to become an artist, specializing in portrait painting.

He later took up acting and signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1928 and was frequently cast in Latino roles. None was more significant than “The Cisco Kid.”

 

Later in the 1950s, two supporting TV Westerns actors emerged in memorable roles as “trail cooks.”

They were Frank McGrath (shown above), who played Charlie B. Wooster on “Wagon Train” (1957-65), and Paul Brinegar (shown below), who played the part of George Washington “Wishbone” Haggerty on “Rawhide” (1959-65).

 

Charlie was “the reliable, cheerful and sometimes comical camp cook. He provided steady, humanizing companionship to the trail bosses and was known for his stories and banter with other characters. He offered a comforting presence when the trail got dangerous,” one TV critic commented.

 

“On ‘Wagon Train,’ only Terry Wilson, who played the assistant wagon master Bill Hawks, and McGrath appeared in all 272 episodes of “Wagon Train” in  the series, providing continuity across all eight seasons.”

 

Charlie is remembered for his scruffy beard and his upbeat, humorous demeanor. He could get gruff at times, but he was also proven time and time again to be a real softy at heart. In many ways, he was the “heartbeat” of the wagon train.

McGrath was born in Mound City, Mo., and was featured as the U.S. Army bugler in two of the most highly acclaimed Western movies ever made, “Fort Apache” (1948) and “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” (1948). Both films showcased the talents of actor John Wayne, who performed with casts consisting of Hollywood heavyweights.

 

McGrath appeared in guest roles for several TV Westerns before being tapped to play Charlie on “Wagon Train.”

Wishbone is remembered as “the grizzled, crusty, cantankerous, bearded chuckwagon cook who was responsible for feeding the “Rawhide” cattle-drive crew, often providing comic relief along the trail.

 

He said his “signature coffee recipe” involved boiling a pound of coffee for 30 minutes, adding a horseshoe, and adding more coffee, if the horseshoe sank.

On the show, when Wishbone wasn’t whipping up food, he was whipping the character Rowdy Yates, played by Clint Eastwood, into shape, as a favor to the trail boss Gil Favor, portrayed by Eric Fleming.

 

Wishbone also got “tangled up” fairly regularly with his assistant, Harkness “Mushy” Mushgrove III, portrayed by James Murdock. Often in a grumpy mood, Wishbone would badger Mushy, which was his version of mentoring.

 

Brinegar was born in Tucumcari, N.M. For a time, he studied drama at Pasadena (Calif.) Junior College before enlisting in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He served as a chief radioman in the South Pacific.

After the war, Brinegar returned to California, where he applied his military training and experience to earn a living in the Los Angeles area as a radio repairman. He also resumed his pursuit of an acting career in his spare time, playing bit parts in movies.

During his career, Brinegar was cast in more than 100 Western films produced between 1946 and 1994, often specializing in playing “feisty cowboy sidekicks,” but he said: “Wishbone was the best job I ever had.”

 

“One of our best filmed stampedes was a real stampede,” Brinegar said of “Rawhide.” “The chuck wagons were knocked over, and it took a whole day to round up the herd.”

 

“Westerns are the only original U.S. art form,” Brinegar continued. “Outdoorsiness is a big part of the appeal of a story.”

‘Daniel Boone’ Western episodes veer from historical reality

Continuing to delve into favorite television Westerns that originated in the 1950s and 1960s, the trail leads to the homestead of legendary pioneer Daniel Boone in the settlement of Boonesborough, Ky., situated on the Kentucky River in the Inner Bluegrass region.

Here, Fess Parker’s portrayal of the title character in the “Daniel Boone” (1964-70) appealed to viewers young and old, but the show strayed considerably from depicting the “life and times” of the real Daniel Boone (1734-1820).

 

Daniel Boone was a nomadic, frontier woodsman whose hunting grounds extended from North Carolina and Virginia westward into Tennessee and Kentucky. He was particularly active during the 1770s and 1780s, just before, during and after the American Revolution.

The TV show is a collection of Boone’s adventures that occur in and around Boonesborough. Nearly all of the aspects of the show were “less than historically faithful,” which caused the Kentucky legislature to condemn the inaccuracies.

 

In 1966, state lawmakers passed a resolution declaring the show an “inexcusable farce” and “an insult” to millions of Kentuckians and the state’s history.

Parker’s supporting cast included his wife Rebecca Boone (Patricia Blair) and children Israel Boone (Darby Hinton) and Jemima Boone (Veronica Cartwright).

 

Actor Ed Ames played the role of Mingo, Boone’s half-Cherokee trail companion, who was educated in British academies.

 

One of the most controversial aspects of the TV series was Daniel Boone’s headgear.

Fess Parker’s choice of a coonskin cap appears to be a “carry over” from his days as the title character in “Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier” (1955), the American Western adventure Disney film that took the entire country by storm.

The real Dan’l Boone never wore a coonskin cap, according to Boone family descendants. Rather, Dan’l preferred a “practical, wide-brimmed felt or beaver hat to protect against sun and rain.”

 

In 1999, Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., celebrated its 150-year anniversary. An alumnus from Kentucky presented the school with this bronze statue of Daniel Boone in camp with his hunting dogs. 

The bronze sculpture was modeled and cast by the late Sherry Edwards, an art department faculty member. It was placed almost at the spot where one of Boone’s cabins once stood.

 

Fess Parker, who was born in Fort Worth, Texas, served during World War II as a radio operator with the U.S. Marine Corps and saw action in the South Pacific. After the war, he used GI Bill benefits to graduate from the University of Texas at Austin and pursue a master’s degree in theater history at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Parker began his show business career in the summer of 1951 and eventually signed a film contract with Warner Bros., which opened doors of opportunity as an actor.

After his acting days were over, Parker opened the Fess Parker Family Winery and Vineyards in Los Olivos, Calif., in 1989. 

The family business operation now includes more than 1,500 acres of vineyards as well as a tasting room and visitor center along the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail.

 

Robert Fuller: The consummate TV Westerns actor?

Robert Fuller was an immensely popular character actor, who guest-starred in dozens of Westerns and other television programs as well as films produced during the 1950s.

In 1959, he auditioned for the “role of Lorne Greene’s youngest, cocky, impish son, Joseph ‘Little Joe’ Cartwright’” on “Bonanza.” 

Robert Fuller came in second, as producers selected Michael Landon for the part.

Fuller quickly found work, however, moving into the role of Jess Harper on “Laramie” (1959-63). 

Harper was described as “an immature, hot-headed drifter” when he showed up at the Sherman Ranch, owned by Slim Sherman (John Smith).

The two actors, as co-stars, formed “an onscreen partnership that was enhanced by their off-screen friendship,” according to TV historians.

Located near Laramie, Wyo., the Sherman ranch became a key stagecoach relay station for the Great Central Overland Mail Company. Episodes generally focused on Slim Sherman and Jess Harper dealing with outlaws, land grabbers and the dangers of the frontier in the post-Civil War era.

 

Storylines took an interesting twist in 1961, when young Mike Williams (Dennis Holmes), as an orphan, joined the cast to be raised by Sherman and Harper. 

Arriving at the ranch to serve as a matronly housekeeper and surrogate grandmother for the boy was Daisy Cooper (Spring Byington).

 

Byington was 74 years old at the time. (Her final role was in 1968 as Mother General on “The Flying Nun,” starring Sally Field.)

 

After “Laramie” ended, Robert Fuller joined the cast of “Wagon Train” in 1963 as trail scout Cooper Smith, working alongside wagon master John McIntire.

 

In 1972, TV producer Jack Webb convinced Robert Fuller to move to an “urban environment” (Los Angeles) to play Dr. Kelly Brackett, head of emergency medicine at Rampart General Hospital in “Emergency!” (1972-79). 

Co-stars were Bobby Troup, Julie London and the firefighters and paramedics assigned to “Fire Station 51.”

 

Fuller’s performance in “Emergency!” cemented his legacy as a versatile television star.

 

‘Tales of Wells Fargo’ gets ‘honorable mention’

Worthy of an “honorable mention award” in the listing of the top 10 television Westerns from the 1950s and 1960s is “Tales of Wells Fargo” (1957-62).

Based on the biography of Wells Fargo undercover detective Fred J. Dodge (1854-1938), the story followed special agent Jim Hardie, who helped save Wells Fargo stagecoaches from outlaws and other violence.

 

The actor selected for the leading role was Dale Robertson, who did all his own stunts…and even provided his own horse, named Jubilee.

“Tales of Wells Fargo” was a Western anthology series set in the 1870s and 1880s and narrated by Robertson.

 

Throughout the series, Jim Hardie would travel across the West, coming in contact with historical figures and legendary outlaws, including Butch Cassidy, Doc Holliday and Billy the Kid.

Dale Robertson of Harrah, Okla., graduated from the Oklahoma Military Academy in Claremore, Okla., which prepared him to join the U.S. Army. During World War II, he was a combat engineer and tank commander, serving in North Africa and Europe. Robertson received a Purple Heart and other military honors.

After the war, Robertson made his way to Hollywood to seek his fortune as an actor. He worked his way up and was signed by 20th Century Fox. 

His movie credits began to pile up, appearing opposite artists such as Anne Baxter, Betty Grable, Virginia Mayo and Debra Paget.

 

Robertson said he enjoyed doing films but said he “found a home” with the TV series “Tales of Wells Fargo.”

Real ‘Western heroes’ got their own TV shows in the 1950s

Real heroes from the Old West – Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson – were memorialized with television Westerns that debuted in the 1950s.

“The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp” (1955-61) featured actor Hugh O’Brian as the “brave, courageous and bold” lawman in what is widely recognized as television’s first “adult Western.”

 

Wyatt Earp was depicted as a tough but principled frontier lawman, always carrying his trademark long-barreled Colt Buntline Special revolver, which became a symbol of the show.

 

The story followed Earp’s life, from Dodge City, Kan., to the final episodes in Tombstone in the Arizona Territory. The show included dramatizations of major historical events like the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

 

Hugh O’Brian as Wyatt Earp and Adele Mara (1961)

The TV show “Bat Masterson” (1958-61) featured actor Gene Barry in the title role. 

Sporting a derby hat, carrying a gold-topped cane and equipped with a dapper wardrobe, Masterson rode throughout the West looking for adventure…and lovely ladies who he could dazzle with his charm. (His cane was actually a weapon that contained a hidden sword.)

 Gene Kelly as Bat Masterson and Allison Hayes (1958)

In real life, Earp and Masterson worked together for a time in the late 1870s as law enforcement officers in Dodge City and forged a friendship for life. They were known for their exploits throughout the frontier lands of the Old West.

 Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (1848-1929), shown below, hailed from Monmouth, Ill., and he held various “occupations.” Some listed were: “Lawman, buffalo hunter, saloon keeper, miner, brothel keeper and boxing referee.”

Bartholemew William Barclay “Bat” Masterson (1853-1921), shown below, was born in Quebec, Ontario, Canada. His resume listed work experience as: “U.S. Army scout, lawman, buffalo hunter, gunfighter, professional gambler and journalist.”

Historians say Bat Masterson penned a column in 1908 that revealed: “Wyatt Earp is one of the few men I personally knew in the West in the early days, whom I regarded as absolutely destitute of physical fear. Wyatt Earp’s daring and apparent recklessness in time of danger is wholly characteristic; personal fear doesn’t enter into the equation.”

Wyatt…“was not one of those human tigers who delighted in shedding blood just for the fun of the thing. He never, at any time in his career, resorted to the pistol, excepting in cases where such a course was absolutely necessary. Wyatt could scrap with his fists, and he often took all the fight out of bad men, as they were called, with no other weapons than those provided by Nature.”

“There were few men in the West who could whip Wyatt in a rough and tumble fight 30 years ago, and I suspect he could give a tough youngster a hard tussle right now” (at age 60).

“He always arrayed himself on the side of law and order, and on a great many occasions, at the risk of his life, rendered valuable service in upholding the majesty of the law in those communities in which he lived. Wyatt’s reputation for courage and coolness was well known….”

“I have…always found him a quiet, unassuming man, not given to brag or bluster, but at all times and under all circumstances, a loyal friend….”

U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was a close friend of the real Bat Masterson, who received a federal appointment as a deputy U.S. Marshal for the southern district of New York. His job was to “keep the peace in the grand jury room whenever the U.S. Attorney in New York held session.”

Actor Hugh O’Brian was born in Rochester, N.Y., and joined the Marines during World War II. He became a drill instructor at age 17. After the war, he was living in Hollywood and was discovered by director Ida Lupino.

She asked O’Brian to read lines for an actor who had failed to show up for a rehearsal, which led to a contract with Universal Pictures.

O’Brian had a long and productive career appearing in a variety of television shows and films. He established the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Foundation in 1958 to benefit high school scholars. It continues in operation today.

 

Gene Barry, a native of New York City, earned a voice scholarship to attend the Chatham Square School of Music in Greenwich Village and proceeded to make his Broadway debut in 1942. He transitioned to television and movie roles in the early 1950s.

In 1955, Barry joined the cast of the TV situation comedy “Our Miss Brooks” as the high school physical education teacher Gene Talbot, a character who had a romantic interest in the series star Eve Arden, an English teacher. The show embellished Barry’s reputation as an actor with expensive tastes who saw himself a ladies’ man.