‘Hold on’, he said to Wayne over the telephone. It fell to Terry to inform John Wayne of Bond’s sudden death in 1960. It was the original wagon master Ward Bond who insisted on Warner Bros signing on both Terry and Frank for the show. In fact he was a life-long friend of Frank McGrath and the two men performed together on the rodeo circuit and at prison rodeos before finding their way into the movies. He was a former US Marine who served in the Second World War, a football star and a stunt man/rodeo rider. Terry Wilson (1923-99) 267 episodes (1957-65)Ĭalifornian Terry Wilson played trail hand Bill Hawks in 267 episodes.
The captain sam story wagon train series#
Two years after the Wagon Train series ended, Frank succumbed to a heart attack at 64. He is right there alongside or just nearby the Duke in almost every scene. The next time you watch either Fort Apache (1948) or She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), you might notice Frank as the bugler in both of these John Ford/ John Wayne westerns. A former stunt man and rodeo performer, he was notoriously fond of a drink, a weakness that often gave him the Dutch courage to pick fights which he invariably lost. Missouri-born Frank played the series’ comic relief character Charlie Wooster, the wagon train’s irascible cook, and would grace all but 13 of the 284 episodes shot over eight seasons. The other survivor is Robert Fuller, but more of them both later.įrank McGrath (1903-67) 271 episodes (1957-65) I actually watched that episode yesterday, unaware until today’s research that he must have struck a chord with the producers, for he would continue in the series for another 50 episodes. One of these survivors is Michael Burns who ‘evolved’ into a regular after appearing in an early episode as a boy stricken speechless by the murder of his father. I shall look at them in ‘episode total’ order, highest to lowest. There were eight actors who were more or less ‘regulars’ in Wagon Train. In short, she was one of those hundreds of bit players who made a living on both big and small screen, but whose careers never amounted to much. Kay was an uncredited telephone operator in the Bob Hope Hit The Ghost Breakers (1940) and a slave girl (also uncredited) in Spartacus in 1960.
The captain sam story wagon train tv#
Her career would span 40 years and 99 screen credits, mostly TV spots. A minor actress named Kay Stewart popped up in eleven episodes from 1958 to 1964, playing eleven different women. Throughout those eight seasons only eight actors (no actresses) appeared in fifty or more episodes. Outsider.From 1957 until 1965 the prairie schooners of TV’s Wagon Train series rolled over 284 episodes. He was four days away from his 84th birthday.Īnd Arness, who always will be known for Gunsmoke, died 15 months later. He’d just returned home from brunch when he suffered a fatal heart attack. The brothers enjoyed long, successful lives. Here’s the synopsis: “While on a fishing trip with Festus, Doc is abducted and forced to operate on a sick child, then ordered to be a bridegroom in a true shotgun wedding.” He directed “Which Dr.” The episode was broadcast in 1966. However, Peter Graves did direct his brother in an episode of Gunsmoke. American audiences missed out seeing the original Aurness brothers on their TV screens. His talented big brother, thanks to Gunsmoke, also had a similar reputation.īut, did the talented brothers ever act together? Was Peter Graves ever a gunslinger battling his big bro on Gunsmoke? Was James Arness ever a bad guy on Mission:Impossible. Basically, Graves mocked all the strait-laced characters he ever played. In later years, Graves starred as Captain Clarence Oveur in the 1980 comedy Airplane!. Video can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: Mission Impossible 1966 – 1973 Opening and Closing Theme () The theme song will take you back in time: And the TV series inspired the Tom Cruise Mission: Impossible movies. Phelps’ group always went undercover to get the bad guys.
Phelps was the leader of the Impossible Missions Force. Meanwhile, while Arness was protecting Dodge City from the bad guys on Gunsmoke, Graves was an earnest secret agent protecting America on Mission: Impossible.
While Arness Starred On Gunsmoke, Peter Graves Earned Top Role in Mission:Impossible Kelsey Grammer, as Frasier Crane, tied the record but needed two shows to do it - Cheers and Frasier. At 20 years, Arness set a record for playing the longest-running role by a single actor in prime time. He was Matt Dillon for two decades on the series, then he starred in five more Gunsmoke reunion movies. James Arness became Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke in 1955. He took the last name of his maternal grandfather. Graves’ new surname was a nod to his Minnesota family. Some actors stood on crates while shooting Gunsmoke when they were in scenes with Arness. Peter Graves stood 6-foot-2, while James Arness, at 6-7, towered over everyone.
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