Samuel Anthony Peeples (September 22, 1917 – August 27, 1997) was an American writer. He published several novels in the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

genre, often under the pen name Brad Ward, before moving into American series television after being given a script assignment by

Frank Gruber Frank Gruber (born February 2, 1904, Elmer, Minnesota, died December 9, 1969, Santa Monica, California) was an American writer of short stories, novels, and screenplays. Included in his work are stories for pulp fiction magazines, dozens of ...

. In addition to writing Western television scripts, he created several Western series, notably ''Lancer'' (1968),

Frontier Circus ''Frontier Circus'' is an American Westerns on television, Western television series about a traveling circus roaming the American West in the 1880s. Filmed by Revue Productions, the program originally aired on CBS from October 5, 1961, until Sep ...

(1961), The Tall Man (1961), and co-created the series ''Custer'' (1967). Peeples was a literary science fiction enthusiast who also occasionally wrote science fiction for Television, starting by providing advice and reference material to friend and colleague

Gene Roddenberry Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter and producer who created the science fiction series and fictional universe ''Star Trek.'' Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up ...

as the latter created what became the original ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'' series. Peeples was one of three writers selected to write a proposed second pilot for the series, and his script, "

Where No Man Has Gone Before "Where no man has gone before" is a phrase made popular through its use in the title sequence of the original 1966–1969 ''Star Trek'' science fiction television series, describing the mission of the starship ''Enterprise''. The complete int ...

" (1965), was filmed and sold the series. He contributed the first aired episode of the animated ''

'' series, " Beyond the Farthest Star" (1973). He also worked with Roddenberry on the script for the 1977 TV movie (and unsuccessful series pilot) ''

Spectre Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to: Religion and spirituality * Vision (spirituality) * Apparitional experience * Ghost Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writt ...

''. Peeples wrote an unused alternative script, ''Worlds That Never Were'', for the second ''Star Trek'' motion picture. The name of one character from his draft, Doctor Savik, would eventually get reused for the character Lieutenant

Saavik Saavik is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' universe. She first appeared in the film '' Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'' (1982) played by Kirstie Alley. Robin Curtis took over the role for '' Star Trek III: The Search for Spock'' (198 ...

. Peeples wrote a number of episodes for

Filmation Filmation Associates was an American production company founded by Lou Scheimer, Hal Sutherland and Norm Prescott in 1962, before closing by Group W Productions on February 3, 1989. Located in Reseda, California, Filmation produced animated ...

's live action ''

Space Academy ''Space Academy'' is an American science fiction television series produced by Filmation that originally aired Saturday mornings on the CBS television network, from September 10 to December 17, 1977. (Repeats ran on and off until September 1, 197 ...

'' and ''

Jason of Star Command ''Jason of Star Command'' is a 1978–79 live action television series by Filmation. The series revolves around the exploits of space adventurer Jason (Craig Littler) and his colleagues, including Professor E.J. Parsafoot (Charlie Dell) and the po ...

'' series and wrote the script for their animated TV movie and seven first-season episodes of the ''Flash Gordon'' series that resulted from it. Peeples died of cancer on August 27, 1997, at age 79, just one month short of his eightieth birthday.

Novels

* ''The Dream Ends in Fury'' (1949) (paperback title: ''Outlaw Vengeance'') * ''The Hanging Hills'' (as Brad Ward) (1952) * ''Johnny Sundance'' (as Brad Ward) (1953) * ''The Marshal Of Medicine Bend'' (as Brad Ward) (1954) * ''The Baron of Boot Hill'' (as Brad Ward) (1954) * ''The Lobo Horseman'' (1955) aka (''The Lobo Horseman: Was he the last threat to Dynamite Valley?'') * ''The Call of the Gun'' (1955) * ''The Man from Andersonville'' (1956) (as Brad Ward) * ''Terror at Tres Alamos'' (1956) * ''Doc Colt'' (1957) * ''Frontier Street'' (as Brad Ward) (1958) * ''The Man Who Died Twice'' (1976) * ''Why I Am A Gangster'' (1978)

Films

* '' Advance to the Rear'' (with

William Bowers William Bowers (January 17, 1916 – March 27, 1987) was an American reporter, playwright, and screenwriter. He worked as a reporter in Long Beach, California and for ''Life Magazine, Life'' magazine, and specialized in writing Comedy Western, ...

) 1967 * ''Final Chapter: Walking Tall'' (with Howard B. Kreitzek) 1977

Television series, as creator

* '' The Tall Man'' 1960 * ''

Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point ...

'' 1967 * ''

Lancer A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used for mounted warfare in Assyria as early as and subsequently by India, Egypt, China, Persia, Greece, and Rome. The weapon was widely used throughout Eurasia during the M ...

'' 1968, and wrote the pilot "High Riders"

Television scripts

Tales of Wells Fargo ''Tales of Wells Fargo'' is an American Westerns on television, Western television series starring Dale Robertson in 201 episodes that aired from 1957 to 1962 on NBC. Produced by Revue Productions, the series aired in a half-hour format until i ...

** “The Most Dangerous Man Alive” 1958 * '' Wanted: Dead or Alive'' 1958 ** "The Bounty" ** "Rawhide Breed" ** "Bounty for a Bride" * ''

The Rifleman ''The Rifleman'' is an American Western television series starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the fictional town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show ...

'' 1958 ** "The Angry Gun * ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...

'' 1959 ** "The Saddle Stiff" * ''

Have Gun – Will Travel ''Have Gun – Will Travel'' is an American Westerns on television, Western television series that was produced and originally broadcast by CBS on both television and radio from 1957 through 1963. The television version of the series starring Ri ...

'' ** "Fight at Adobe Wells" 1960 * ''

Overland Trail The Overland Trail (also known as the Overland Stage Line) was a stagecoach and wagon trail in the American West during the 19th century. While portions of the route had been used by explorers and trappers since the 1820s, the Overland Trail w ...

'' 1960 * '' Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre(TV series)'' 1958 ** "Medal of Valor" 1958 ** "Daughter of the Sioux" ** "First Stage to Denver" ** "High Bridge" ** "The Most Dangerous Gentleman" ** "Vigilantes of Montana" ** "Westbound Stage" * '' Burke's Law'' 1963 * '' The Rogues'' 1964 ** "Our Men in Marawat" * ''

A Man Called Shenandoah ''A Man Called Shenandoah'' is an American Western television series that aired Monday evenings on ABC-TV from September 13, 1965 to May 16, 1966. It was produced by MGM Television. Some of the location work for the 34 half-hour black and white ...

'' 1965 * '' The Legend of Jesse James'' 1965 * ''

'' 1966 ** "

" * ''

'' 1972 ** " The Saddle Stiff" * ''

'' 1973 ** " Beyond the Farthest Star" * ''

'' 1978 ** season 1, episodes 1 to 6

TV movies

* ''

'' (with

) 1977 * ''

A Real American Hero ''G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' (also known as Action Force in Finland, Sweden and the UK) is a military-themed line of action figures and toys in Hasbro's G.I. Joe franchise. The toyline lasted from 1982 to 1994, producing well over 500 fig ...

'' 1978 * '' Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All'' 1982

References

External links

* *
Samuel A. Peeples
biography at Answers.com
Samuel Anthony Peeples papers
are archived at the

American Heritage Center The American Heritage Center is the University of Wyoming's repository of manuscripts, rare books, and the university archives. Its collections focus on Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain West (including politics, settlement, Native Americans, and W ...

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Peeples, Samuel A. 1917 births 1997 deaths 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American television writers American male television writers American male screenwriters 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters