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Frontier (1955 TV Series)
''Frontier'' is an anthology Western television series, described as having "authentic" and "based-on-fact" stories, which premiered on NBC on September 25, 1955, and ran through September 1956. It was created by Morton S. Fine and David Friedkin. This was the second television anthology Western series, after ''Death Valley Days'', and as such had no regular cast members, except that each episode was introduced and narrated by Walter Coy. Episode directors included Sidney Lumet, Don Siegel and Worthington Miner. The series ran for 31 episodes. Cast As an anthology series, the cast changed from week to week. Walter Coy served as the narrator each week to introduce the story, and following the ''Death Valley Days'' format, he also occasionally appeared as a guest actor. Guest stars included Jack Kelly, Leo Gordon, Tom Tryon, Phyllis Coates, Jack Elam, John Dehner, Denver Pyle, Strother Martin, James Best, Chuck Connors, Rhodes Reason, Alan Hale Jr., Mike Connors, Robe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of fiction typically Setting (narrative), set in the American frontier (commonly referred to as the "Old West" or the "Wild West") between the California Gold Rush of 1849 and the closing of the frontier in 1890, and commonly associated with Americana (culture), folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. The frontier is depicted in Western media as a sparsely populated hostile region patrolled by cowboys, Outlaw (stock character), outlaws, sheriffs, and numerous other Stock character, stock Gunfighter, gunslinger characters. Western narratives often concern the gradual attempts to tame the crime-ridden American West using wider themes of justice, freedom, rugged individualism, manifest destiny, and the national history and identity of the United States. Native Americans in the United States, Native American populations were often portrayed as averse foes or Savage ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Dehner
John Dehner (DAY-ner; born John Dehner Forkum; November 23, 1915February 4, 1992), also credited Dehner Forkum, was an American stage, radio, film, and television character actor. From the late 1930s to the late 1980s, he amassed a long list of performance credits, often in roles as sophisticated con men, shady authority figures, and other smooth-talking villains. His credits just in feature films, televised series, and in made-for-TV movies number almost 300 productions. Dehner worked extensively as a radio actor during the latter half of that medium's "golden age," accumulating hundreds of additional credits on nationally broadcast series. His most notable starring role was as Paladin on the radio version of the television Western '' Have Gun – Will Travel'', which aired for 106 episodes on CBS from 1958 to 1960. He continued to work as a voice actor in film, such as narrating the film '' The Hallelujah Trail''. Earlier in his career, Dehner also worked briefly for Wal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catherine McLeod
Catherine McLeod (July 2, 1921 – May 11, 1997) was an American actress who made over 60 television and movie appearances between 1944 and 1976. She memorably portrayed the one woman whom James Garner's character Bret Maverick wanted to marry on the 1957 ABC/Warner Brothers television series ''Maverick'' in the episode " Rage for Vengeance". Early years McLeod was born in Santa Monica, California. Her schooling came in an Alhambra convent. She acted in a Los Angeles little theater and studied in the Bliss-Hayden drama workshop. She worked in a movie theater in Reno and later became a chorus girl in musicals. Career Film McLeod's films included the leading role as a concert pianist in Frank Borzage's '' I've Always Loved You'' (1946), ''Courage of Lassie'' (1946), '' The Fabulous Texan'' (1947), Borzage's ''That's My Man'' (1947), '' Old Los Angeles'' (1948), '' My Wife's Best Friend'' (1952), ''A Blueprint for Murder'' (1953), William Witney's ''The Outcast'' (1954 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Boone
Richard Allen Boone (June 18, 1917 – January 10, 1981) was an American actor who starred in over 50 films and was notable for his roles in Westerns, including his starring role in the television series ''Have Gun – Will Travel''. Early life Boone was born in Los Angeles, California, the middle child of Cecile (née Beckerman) and Kirk E. Boone, a corporate lawyer and great-great-great-great-grandson of Squire Boone, frontiersman Daniel Boone's brother.The Kelsay Family from the Ancestry.com, Ancestry website; accessed April 11, 2017. His mother was Jewish, the daughter of immigrants from Russia. Richard Boone graduated from Herbert Hoover High School (Glendale), Hoover High School in Glendale, California. He att ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coleen Gray
Coleen Gray (born Doris Jensen; October 23, 1922 – August 3, 2015) was an American actress. She was best known for her roles in the films '' Nightmare Alley'' (1947), '' Red River'' (1948), and Stanley Kubrick's '' The Killing'' (1956). Early years Born to Danish parents in Staplehurst, Nebraska, Gray grew up on a farm. After graduating from Hutchinson High School as Doris Jensen, she studied art, literature, and music at Hamline University, and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts. She travelled to California, and worked as a waitress in a restaurant in La Jolla. After several weeks there, she moved to Los Angeles and enrolled at UCLA. She also worked in the school's library and at a YWCA while a student. Stage She had leading roles in the Los Angeles stage productions ''Letters to Lucerne'' and ''Brief Music'', which won her a 20th Century Fox contract in 1944.Magers, p. 94. Film appearances After playing a bit part in ''State Fair'' (1945), she beca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Claude Akins
Claude Aubrey Akins (May 25, 1926 – January 27, 1994) was an American character actor. He played Sonny Pruit in '' Movin' On'', a 1974–1976 American drama series about a trucking team; Sheriff Lobo on '' The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo'', a 1979–1981 television series; and in a variety of other roles on television as well as in feature films. Early years Akins was born in Nelson, Georgia, and grew up in Bedford, Indiana, the son of Maude and Ernest Akins. Although film reference books gave his age at death as 75, Akins' son said his father was born in 1926, which is supported by public records. He was part Cherokee. Akins served in the Pacific with the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War II. After the war, he graduated from Northwestern University in 1949, where he had majored in theatre arts and was trained in Shakespeare. He began his theatrical career at the Barter Theater in Abington, Virginia. He became an actor on Broadway in the late 1940s, and ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Crenna
Richard Donald Crenna (November 30, 1926 – January 17, 2003) was an American actor and television director. Crenna starred in such motion pictures as '' Made in Paris'' (1966), '' Marooned'' (1969), '' Breakheart Pass'' (1975), '' The Evil'' (1978), '' The Flamingo Kid'' (1984), '' Summer Rental'' (1985) and '' Sabrina'' (1995). His first success came on radio in 1948 as high school student Walter Denton co-starring with Eve Arden and Gale Gordon in the series ''Our Miss Brooks''. Crenna continued with the comedy in its 1952 move into television. He also starred as Luke McCoy in the television series '' The Real McCoys'' (1957–1963). In 1985, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for his portrayal of the title role in '' The Rape of Richard Beck'' (1985). He gained further notoriety for his role as Colonel Samuel Richard "Sam" Trautman in the first three '' Rambo'' films (1982–1988). Early life Crenna was born ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Vaughn
Robert Francis Vaughn (November 22, 1932 – November 11, 2016) was an American actor and political activist, whose career in film, television and theater spanned nearly six decades and who was best known for his role as secret agent Napoleon Solo on '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' (1964–68). He was a Primetime Emmy Award winner, and was nominated for the Academy Award, the BAFTA Award, two Laurel Awards, and four times for the Golden Globe Award. Vaughn also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Vaughn had his breakthrough role as disabled, drunken war veteran Chester A. Gwynn in '' The Young Philadelphians'', earning him a 1960 Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He subsequently appeared in scores of films, notably as gunman Lee in ''The Magnificent Seven'' (1960), Walter Chalmers in ''Bullitt,'' Major Paul Krueger in ''The Bridge at Remagen'' (1969), the voice of Proteus IV in '' Demon Seed'' (1977) and Ross Webster in '' Superman III'' (1983). To televis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Connors
Krekor Ohanian (August 15, 1925 – January 26, 2017), known professionally as Mike Connors, was an American actor. He was best known for playing private detective Joe Mannix in the CBS television series ''Mannix'' from 1967 to 1975. This role earned him a Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe Award in 1970, the first of six straight nominations, as well as four consecutive Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Emmy nominations from 1970 to 1973. He starred in the short-lived series ''Tightrope!'' (1959–1960) and ''Today's FBI'' (1981–1982). Connors' acting career spanned 56 years. In addition to his work on television, he appeared in numerous films, including ''Sudden Fear'' (1952), ''Good Neighbor Sam'' (1964), ''Situation Hopeless... But Not Serious'' (1965), ''Stagecoach (1966 film), Stagecoach'' (1966), ''Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die'' (1966), and ''Too Scared to Scream'' (1985), which he also produced. Early life Connors was born Krekor Oh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Hale Jr
Alan Hale Jr. (born Alan Hale MacKahan; March 8, 1921 – January 2, 1990) was an American actor and restaurateur. He was the son of actor Alan Hale Sr. His television career spanned four decades, but he was best known for his secondary lead role as Captain Jonas Grumby, better known as The Skipper, on the 1960s CBS comedy series ''Gilligan's Island'' (1964–1967), a role he reprised in three ''Gilligan's Island'' television films and two spin-off cartoon series. Hale appeared in more than 200 films and television roles from 1941. He appeared primarily in Westerns, portraying the Sundance Kid in '' The Three Outlaws'' (1956) opposite Neville Brand as Butch Cassidy, performing with Kirk Douglas in '' The Big Trees'' (1952), Audie Murphy in '' Destry'' (1954), Ray Milland in '' A Man Alone'' (1955), Robert Wagner in '' The True Story of Jesse James'' (1957), and Hugh Marlowe in '' The Long Rope'' (1961). He also appeared in musical comedies opposite Don DeFore in '' It Happ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhodes Reason
Rhodes Reason (April 19, 1930 – December 26, 2014) was an American actor who appeared in more than 200 roles in television, film, and stage. Film and television career Reason was born in Glendale in Los Angeles County, California, the son of Rex G. Reason and the former Jean Robinson. The younger brother of actor Rex Reason, Rhodes Reason made his acting start at the age of 18 in a production of ''Romeo and Juliet'' directed by Charles Laughton. Among his starring roles were parts in ''King Kong Escapes'' (1967); 39 episodes of the British television series ''White Hunter (TV series)'', (1957); and as Sheriff Will Mayberry in the ABC drama series ''Bus Stop''. Reason was cast as Chuck Wilson in "Rodeo Round-Up" in 1956 and as Kinnard in "Dust of Destruction", episodes of the Western aviation adventure series, ''Sky King'', episode "Conflict" in the "Rifleman" as Ben Kendrick. Reason had a major part in an episode of the ABC/Warner Bros. Western series, ''Sugarfoot'' in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chuck Connors
Kevin Joseph "Chuck" Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have played in both Major League Baseball ( Brooklyn Dodgers 1949, Chicago Cubs, 1951) and the National Basketball Association (Boston Celtics 1946–48). With a 40-year film and television career, he is best known for his five-year role as Lucas McCain in the highly rated ABC series '' The Rifleman'' (1958–63). Early life and education Connors was born on April 10, 1921, in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City to Marcella (; 1894–1971) and Alban Francis "Allan" Connors (1891–1966), immigrants of Irish descent from Newfoundland and Labrador."Fifteenth Census of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
