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.