T.V. Gave Them A Gun!

DALE ROBERTSON

He got his start in flickers as the hero of dozens of movies dealing with adventure in the far north, intrigue in Ireland, and cloak and dagger stuff in the far east. Then when video biggies were casting for a man with a steely eye, rich molasses accent, and muscular physique, to play the part of Jim Hardie, a detective for Wells Fargo, Dale was selected amongst a passel of other would-be cowboys. He made it, and as they say, the rest is history. Now “Tales of Wells Fargo” is to be extended to an hour and Dale is riding high as a star. But the blue eyed range rider isn’t content to rest on his laurels, he has quite a beautiful singing voice and is showing it off to good advantage as he makes appearances all over the country at fairs, rodeos, etc. And when he is “resting,” he writes scripts, produces movies, and also directs some of the episodes he stars in. Ask anyone in Las Vegas, and they’ll tell you that every time he appears at the gaming centers, draws bigger crowd than five card stud.

JOHN SMITH

Johnny is one of the best liked of television thespians. He always yearned for a career on the stage but it never seemed to materialize. In fact his career in movies wasn’t what you would call a world beater until be began to play “bad guys” on dramatic offerings on video. Then he, along with Robert Fuller, landed top spot on Laramie, the hour long oat burner, and really made it big. “Johnny plays his role shrewdly,” a veteran producer told this magazine. He underplays and by doing this, many times completely steals the show. He is, off stage, quiet and serious, just as he is in the role he plays. Ask him to go horseback riding and he’ll look at you as if you just got off a space ship from Mars. “I get enough of tnat stuff on ‘Laramie,’ ” he says. But if there is a boat race, a long (and we mean long) hike in the woods or even a hot game of tennis, Smitty never knows when to stop. But even though he likes sports, he’s not one to shun spectator sports and baseball is his real favorite.

JAMES GARNER

TV gave him a gun, he used it for a while and when ’ it got too hot to handle, Jim handed it back to Warner Brothers. He gained fame in movies, but his greatest recognition came in the role of Maverick. However, the dark and handsome actor always wanted to get out of his chaps and off his horse and do, either musicals, or straight dramatic roles. Only recently he got his wish and was, after a salary hassle that started the whole thing, released from his role. “I couldn’t be happier after so many years of being confined to one part, to finally be freed,” he told us in an exclusive interview recently. He’s also doing a bit of singing on video too—well, who isn’t, these days?

HUGH O’BRIAN

Hugh has been Wyatt Earp for a long time, and like Jim Garner figures it’s too long. Every opportunity he gets, he takes dramatic roles and does a terrif job at them. When he appeared on the “Play of the Week,” critics, accustomed to seeing him making love to a Bunt- line Special instead of a gal, were astounded at the O’Brian versatility. When Hugh isn’t shooting Earp (which takes up most of his time, especially during his last season) he is appearing in Summer Stock all over the country. He even (what again??) has a record album out now called, “Hugh O’Brian Sings.” I’m planning to do a few narrations on records, too, he told us. Incidentally, Hugh’s fan club call themselves “Friends,” ”I hate the sound of that word fan,” said the striking actor. They are my friends, and I am their friend. Fans are for rising temperatures or for dancers, but my public and I have an understanding, We are all buddies.

STEVE McQUEEN

Steve (he lost his gun too, as his “Wanted, Dead or Alive” reaches a successful conclusion) was discovered while he was laboring as a television repairman. Born and raised on a sprawling farm in Missouri, he left home to seek fame and fortune at the tender age of fifteen. Both eluded him, but he graduated the school of hard knocks with honors, working as a laborer, sailor, carnival barker, lumberman and finally a United States Marine during World War II. A chance meeting got him into New York City’s Neighborhood Playhouse for dramatic study and he went right from there into Summer Stock and fame as Josh Randall on video. He’s starred in many feature movies, loves to drive fast racing cars and tinker with hotrods, is married happily, and has, as one actress said it, “cutest accent this side of Dale Robertson.”

CLU GULAGER

In certain camera angles the actor with the odd name bears a striking resemblance to Elvis Presley. And it doesn’t stop there either. He plays a swinging guitar and really makes with the music. Many times on the set ot “The Tall Man” with Barry Sullivan, the cast has a jam session as Clu clews them in with his own particular brand of country music. In case Clu, who plays a cross between a hero and a villian looks familiar to you, it’s because he has played a villian on practically every TV dramatic show there is. “Bourbon Street Beat” was the one, however, that gained him the most notice. Any fight scenes Clu appears in are really wild, as was the one on the aforementioned show. He never uses a double and can take a fail or a punch with the best of them.

CLINT WALKER

Big Clint, who makes six-footers look like dwarfs, has had a long run of popularity in “Cheyenne,” and his soft, Gregory Peck-like voice and giant physique makes femme hearts flutter from coast to coast each week. The big cowboy also gained fame of sorts when he became the only holdout from his studio to demand more money and get it, plus work in top grade movies. His “Gold of the Seven Saints,” and “Yellowstone Kelly,” both in color and CinemaScope (they had to use an extra wide screen!) were met with acclaim by critics and fans alike. Married, and a father, he was born in Hartford, Illinois, May 30, 1927. He attended Alton High and then worked at many jobs, bouncer, lumberjack, laborer, and sheriff. Van Johnson spotted him in the last job and suggested he try movies. He did, and it was amazing how quickly he clicked. He is a health food addict, munches sunflower seeds between takes on “Cheyenne.”

NICK ADAMS

He used to be Nicholas Adamshock, but now, by court order, he’s Nick Adams, and by public acclaim, the star of TV’s successful show, “The Rebel.” Nick had a rough time trying to break into the theatre, promoted himself to everyone who would listen, but that’s ali they did, listen. No one helped. He headed for Hollywood with his last couple of dollars in a desperate do or die attempt and he almost died. Then all the calls, the visits, the publicity he paid for, the people he cultivated paid off. He got a part in the motion picture, “Mr. Roberts,” and his worries were almost over. A few other roles fol- lowed, but the world didn’t set afire as Nick had hoped. When they searched for talent for “The Rebel” producers were astounded to see Nick, a guy who answered the hero’s description to the proverbial “T.” He was in and will be—forever, his fans hope.

MICHAEL LANDON

Little Joe Cartwright of the great “Bonanza” series, Mike was a star high school athlete who, at one time, was sought by 45 different colleges for his prowess on the field, be it baseball, football or basketball. He studied at the University of Southern California and after his graduation won attention for his starring role in a quickie horror movie titled, “I Was A Teenage Werewolf.” He and his wife cultivate tropical fish and are proud of their costly collection of bettas, danios, angel fish, barbs, and corydoras lepardas catfish. They have more than fifty beautifully lit tanks set into the walls of their Hollywood home and have won many prizes at local exhibitions. Be- sides this, he loves to tinker in his workshop making tiled and ceramic topped cocktail tables and other things. The Landons have two children.

CHUCK CONNORS

Chuck (pictured here with Charlton Heston) started out as a baseball player and wore Brooklyn Dodger and Los Angeles Angel uniforms before he signed for a role in “Pat and Mike” with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn. Born April 10, 1921, Chuck is married to Elizabeth Ridell and is the Dad of four children. He practiced four weeks with the repeating rifle he uses on TV’s “The Rifleman” to land the part of Lucas McCain. Now, experienced riflemen say that there isn’t anyone faster with a rifle than the big, rangy, video cowboy. The success of his show is that it is a western with a heart, and woven in the story is the love of a man for his son, and the worship of his son for him. There is also the role of the sheriff, as played by Paul Fix. Comradship is the big thing here as Lucas and Micah try to play strong silent men and not show their love and respect for each other too openly.

RORY CALHOUN

Rory was a star for years in movies, seldom played cowboy roles. Then he hit TV and became the legendary “Texan” However, he didn’t neglect his movie work. To the handsome actor, work is a tonic, and he labors around the clock without the least signs of fatigue. He was actually discovered by Alan Ladd’s wife, Sue who got him his first movie break in “Nob Hill,” and Calhoun went up hill in high gear after that. Born August 8, 1922 in Los Angeles, he has been married twelve years to Lita Baron and is the proud father of two lovely daughters, both of who want to be actresses. One, Cindy Frances, the youngest, often comments to Lita, “Why do men always hit Daddy on Television? Why aren’t ali men good like my Daddy?” (A tough question, Cindy, but if they were there would be no western stories , right? )

WILL HUTCHINS

Will, the “Sugarfoot” of TV is real-named Marshall Lowell Hutcheson and he was born in Los Angeles, California, May 5, 1932. He scales in at 165, is a deceptive 6′ I, has blue eyes and sandy hair. He went to Pomona College. Will, a shy, retiring type, was made to order for the “Sugarfoot” role of a wanderer who studies law as he makes with the adventure throughout the wild west. “I like TV,” he tells us, “but give me movies any old time. I really had a ball making ‘Lafayette Escadrille’, way back in 1958 and hope that I’ll make more aviation movies in the future.” By the way, girls, Will is one of the most eligible bachelors in all Movietown.

BARRY SULLIVAN

Pictured here with Clu, Barry has played practically every role there is. His last television show was about a Harbormaster and didn’t catch on, although the Cape Cod location was ideal and the stories top notch. Now he seems in his element as “The Tall Man,” and the National Broadcasting Company is more than happy with ratings, mail, and all the things that go toward making up a prize package format. Barry attended New York University and Temple, wanted to be a lawyer but success in college plays took him away from the bar and toward the kleig lights of Hollywood. His real name is Patrick Barry and his first roles were in Summer Theatre. His first good stage part was in “I Want A Policeman,” and first flicker role was in “Lady in the Dark” in 1944. Divorced from Marie Brown, he married Gita Hail. His most memorable role was in “Seven Ways to Sundown.” “I didn’t attain real stardom,” he says, “until I got bags under my eyes. Then came the turning point. I wasn’t a pretty boy anymore.”

DON COLLIER

Don is the star of “The Outlaws,” a real offbeat western that really has no hero. The theme is that crime doesn’t pay and outlaws, natch, are the stars. Don, appears only in brief sequences, but power packed ones at that. By underplaying, he has received more notice than most stars who have weekly shows. “I believe,” the westerner with the washed out blue eyes and square chin, says, “that the public won’t tire of me so fast in this role. Too many good actors have lost shows because of over-exposure. The producers let me take some dramatic parts ali for my self every so often and I can give them more attention than if I had to learn lines for the entire hour the program is on. My hobbies are horseback riding (A busman’s holiday?) hiking, and swimming, and when l’m not doing these things, l’m adding to my collection of antique pistols and rifles.”

It is a quote. MOVIE TV SECRETS MAGAZINE P.D.C. FALL ISSUE 1961