If it were cast today, Talesof Wells Fargo might depict crooks and con men working inside the fabledcompany that began as a guaranteed transportation venture based out of SanFrancisco, but in the 1950s American television landscape, Wells Fargo agentswere the good guys. The series ran for 6 seasons on NBC from 1957-62, the firstfive as a 30-minute black-and-white program with a single star--Dale Robertsonplaying special agent Jim Hardie, who travels alone throughout the west usuallyinvestigating robberies and murders perpetrated against the assets and agentsof his employer. In this role, Hardie is a kind of combination privatedetective and lawman. The format and stories are hardly distinctive in thewestern TV genre, overlapping with earlier and later series such as Stories of the Century, Cheyenne, Pony Express, and Shotgun Slade, but due to Robertson's folksy charm and beefcake good looks, it shotto #3 in the ratings during its initial season and still placed #7 in itssophom*ore year before falling out of the top 30 in its final four seasons. Theseries was conceived by producer Nat Holt, who had directed Robertson in hisfirst credited film role in Fighting Manof the Plains, and was based very loosely on the career of Fred J. Dodge,who worked as a special undercover agent for Wells Fargo in the 1870s and 1880s throughout the westbefore settling in Texas in 1890 and working openly for the company from thenon. The television character Jim Hardie, however, always openly announces hisrole as a Wells Fargo agent, many times preceded by his reputation when heenters a town to work on a case, though he occasionally goes undercoverimpersonating someone else, such as imprisoned killer Bill Stampel in theepisode "The Canyon" (February 1, 1960) and wanted horse thiefRattlesnake Jim in the episode "Vasquez" (May 16, 1960).
Holt and his writers also expanded Hardie's chronologicalreach beyond Dodge's by setting some episodes as early as 1865, when thereal-life Dodge was only 11 years old, and had him encounter real-life westernlegends that Dodge never dealt with, while avoiding one of Dodge's closestfriends, Wyatt Earp, since the latter was then the star of another westernseries, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp,on a competing network--ABC. The real-life Fred Dodge had even helped Earp landa job with Wells Fargo in Tombstone, Arizona, where he would later have hisfamous shoot-out at the O.K. Corral. But in the fictional world of Jim Hardie, theepisode "Escort to Santa Fe" (December 19, 1960) depicts Hardieassigned to escort Mexican President Benito Juarez to a meeting with U.S.officials in Santa Fe on the day that President Abraham Lincoln wasassassinated. The episode "Cole Younger" (January 4, 1960) triesplacing Hardie in the midst of the famous James-Younger Gang botched robbery ofthe North Minefield, Minnesota bank, which led to Younger's capture andimprisonment, though the real-life Dodge had no involvement in the event. Likewise,in the highly chauvinistic episode "Pearl Hart" (May 9, 1960), Hardiehelps capture the notorious female stagecoach robber by playing on her vanity,which Hardie says all women are guilty of, by luring her into a shootingcontest in Deming, New Mexico since she is so proud of her skill. After hebests her and takes her to Tucson for trial, he narrates that after serving alight sentence she went straight and even got married. The story of the realPearl Hart is a bit more complicated, having married an alcoholic, abusivehusband when she was 16, sending her two children to live with her mother inOhio while she pursued various occupations, even possibly operating a brothel,and eventually turning to stagecoach robbery ostensibly to support herthen-ailing mother. She was actually acquitted of the robbery but laterarrested for tampering with the U.S. mail, escaped from prison but laterrecaptured in Deming, and after serving her sentence in Yuma Prison was latercharged with receiving stolen property while running a Kansas City cigar storebut acquitted of that charge as well. Needless to say, the arc of her real-lifestory did not follow the tidy redemptive trajectory depicted on Tales of Wells Fargo, but this episode'sversion is consistent with the overall moral sermonizing found elsewhere in theseries.
"Frightened Witness" (December 26, 1960) depictsan eye witness to a murder being unwilling to testify against the perpetratorafter being threatened by the perpetrator's gang members. However, after beingshamed by his young son as a coward and then receiving a lecture from Hardieabout what society would look like if killers were allowed to walk free withoutrepercussion, the witness decides to stand up to the bullies threatening himand is so invigorated by his new-found backbone that he pummels one of thebullies in a fistfight. In "The Bride and the Bandit" (December 12,1960) a former saloon girl posing as a schoolteacher who hopes to marry anupstanding Wells Fargo agent receives admonishment from Hardie to let the agentmake the decision about whether her past is a deal-breaker rather thanpretending to be something she's not and then running away once her cover isblown. And in another highly chauvinistic episode, Hardie literally takes overhis knee and spanks precocious 17-year-old Stephanie Carrie in "A Study inPetticoats" (October 17, 1960) after she relentlessly tries to get him tomarry her and then lies to her brothers, claiming that he took advantage of herwhen they were alone, in order to try to force a shotgun marriage upon him. Afterhe administers the spanking, the brothers thank him and say they should havedone the same a long time ago. Granted, the paternalistic tone of Tales of Wells Fargo was fairly commonfor the era but also helps demonstrate why this series failed to stand out fromits competition.
While Hardie's character was unambiguously upright onscreen, Robertson's handling of the series behind the scenes, like Pearl Hart'sactual biography, is a little more complicated. Before the series got off theground, Nat Holt tried to sell Robertson on the idea of Wells Fargo for some time, but Robertson kept putting him offbecause he considered himself too busy with his work on feature films. EventuallyRobertson felt he owed Holt a favor out of loyalty for having gotten himstarted in his successful career, though he was also drawn to television'sshorter shooting schedule than that of feature films. To sweeten the deal Holt offeredRobertson 50% ownership of the series, and as the game show says, the price wasright. However, by the fifth season, according to an interview with Earle Lyonon westernclippings.com, Robertson felt that Holt, then 67 years old, wasgetting too old and forgetful to continue, so he invited Lyon to take over asproducer for the remainder of the series. Though Holt opposed the move,Robertson, who was also an experienced horse trainer, got the backing of NBCand the show's financial backer, Universal, and Holt was "put out topasture" with Lyon taking over in Season 5. However, Robertson himselfeventually was ousted as well, when, according to Lyon, Lew Wasserman took overUniversal and decided that Tales of WellsFargo, which had been expanded to an hour for its final season and wasbeing shot in color at a time when very few other series were, was tooexpensive and canceled the series despite Robertson and Lyon wanting tocontinue. Perhaps Robertson forcing Holt out was necessary as "justbusiness," but it hardly sounds like the kind of thing Jim Hardie wouldhave done.
The theme music for Talesof Wells Fargo was composed by Stanley Wilson, who was profiled in the 1961post for Ripcord.
Timeless Media Group has released the first two completeseasons on DVD as well as a 6-disc Best of collection from the first fiveseasons and a 22-episode collection from the final season. The series is alsocurrently airing on the Encore Westerns cable TV channel.
The Actors
Dale Robertson
Dayle Lymoine Robertson was born in Harrah, Oklahoma, 30miles east of Oklahoma City and claimed to have Cherokee blood. He became anaccomplished rider of horses by age 10 and was training polo ponies a few yearslater. In high school he starred in athletics and became a professional boxerafter high school while attending the Oklahoma Military Academy. He wasreportedly offered a lead role in the Columbia feature Golden Boy during this time but turned it down as he had nointerest in acting. Once the U.S. entered World War II he was commissioned asan officer and stationed in Europe, where he was wounded twice and was awardedthe Bronze and Silver Star medals. However, while stationed in San Luis Obispo,California, he and some friends decided to have photographs made to send home.The photographer who took his picture made an enlargement and posted it in hisshop window, drawing the interest of numerous talent scouts. Taking the advicegiven him by fellow Oklahoman Will Rogers, Jr., Robertson never took actingclasses in order to retain his natural folksiness. Many years later he saidthat the only reason he got into acting was to earn enough money to buy a horseranch back in Oklahoma, which he eventually did. His first uncredited role camein the 1948 feature The Boy With GreenHair, and the following year he got his first on-screen credit playingJesse James in Fighting Man of the Plains.By 1951 he had signed a 7-year contract with 20th Century Fox and was playingleading roles in such films as Take Careof My Little Girl and Golden Girl.Later Robertson estimated that about 70% of his roles were in westerns, such asThe Outcasts of Poker Flat, Devil's Canyon, and Sitting Bull. He made his first television appearances on the dramaanthologies Studio 57 and Schlitz Playhouse in 1956. His secondappearance on the latter series was titled "A Tale of Wells Fargo,"which essentially served as the pilot for the series he would help create, own,and star in the following year, Tales ofWells Fargo.
Though his workload diminished inthe first few years after Wells Fargowas canceled, appearing in a handful of feature films and a pair of TV movies,he was soon back on television in a leading role as Ben Calhoun in Iron Horse, which ran for two seasonsfrom 1966-68. He followed that by replacing Robert Taylor as the host andnarrator of the syndicated series Death Valley Days during its final two seasons in 1969-70. His acting careeragain went on hiatus through most of the 1970s except for a few TV movies, buthe returned to television as oil wildcatter Walter Lankershim on the firstseason of Dynasty. The following yearhe appeared 5 times as Frank Crutcher on Dallas,and after another 5-year drought returned to a starring role in the short-livedJ.J. Starbuck in 1987-88. Thereafterhe had only a few credits--one on Murder,She Wrote, another TV movie, and two appearances on Lloyd Bridges' series Harts of the West in 1993-94. He and hisfourth wife Susan settled on his long-sought horse ranch in Yukon, Oklahoma buteventually sold it and moved to San Diego, where he died from complicationsfrom pneumonia and lung cancer on February 27, 2013 at the age of 89.
Notable Guest Stars
Season 4, Episode 17, "Cole Younger": Royal Dano (appearedin The Far Country, Moby Dick, and The Outlaw Josey Wales) plays notorious outlaw Cole Younger. PattyAnn Gerrity (shown on the left, appeared in To Hell and Back,Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and The Trouble With Angels and played AliceHolliday on This Is Alice) plays farmer'sdaughter Inger Hegelund. House Peters, Jr. (Sheriff Jim Billings on Lassie) plays Hanska Falls SheriffGlisburn. Olan Soule (Aristotle "Tut" Jones on Captain Midnight, Ray Pinker on Dragnet(1952-59), and Fred Springer on Arnie)plays a telegrapher.
Season 4, Episode 18, "The Easterner": Gerald Mohr(narrator on 19 episodes of The LoneRanger, Christopher Storm on ForeignIntrigue, voice of Mr. Fantastic and Reed Richards on Fantastic 4) plays Boston lawyer Mulvaney. Joanna Moore (mother ofTatum and Griffin O'Neal, appeared in Touchof Evil, Son of Flubber, and Never a Dull Moment and played PeggyMcMillan on The Andy Griffith Show)plays stage passenger Arlene Howard. S. John Launer (Marshall Houts on The Court of Last Resort and the judge33 times on Perry Mason) plays aWells Fargo agent.
Season 4, Episode 19, "The Governor's Visit": DouglasKennedy (starred in Adventures of DonJuan, I Was an American Spy, and Jack McCall, Desperado and playedMarshal Steve Donovan on Steve Donovan,Western Marshal and Sheriff Fred Madden on The Big Valley) plays Wyoming outlaw Clancy. Mari Blanchard (shown on the right, starredin Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, Destry, Son of Sinbad, and She Deviland played Kathy O'Hara on Klondike)plays saloon owner Kitty Flambeau. Joan Staley (Playboy Playmate who appearedin Cape Fear, Roustabout, Valley of theDragons, Johnny Cool, and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken and playedHannah on 77 Sunset Strip and RobertaLove on Broadside) plays saloon girlSally. Joan Granville (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Lock Up) plays saloon girl Tess. TomMcKee (Comrade Laylock Brisson on I Led 3Lives, Captain Davis on TheAdventures of Rin Tin Tin, and Fire Chief Tucker on Rescue 8) plays Wyoming sheriff Parker. Bob Steele (starred in Breezy Bill, Of Mice and Men, and The Big Sleep,played Billy the Kid in 6 westerns and Tucson Smith in 19 others, and playedTrooper Duffy on F Troop) playsClancy henchman Cole. Quintin Sondergaard (see the biography section for the1960 post on Tombstone Territory)plays an unnamed Clancy henchman.
Season 4, Episode 21, "The Canyon":Bruce Gordon (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Untouchables) plays outlaw communitykingpin Len Garner. Andy Clyde (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Real McCoys) plays outlaw communityresident Pop Brown. Jean Ingram (had an affair with James Edward Baker, akaFather Yod of The Source Family, who was convicted of killing her husband in1963) plays embezzlement suspect's daughter Jane Kimball.
Season 4, Episode 22, "Red Ransom": Frank DeKova (ChiefWild Eagle on F Troop and LouisCampagna on The Untouchables) plays Apacherenegade Joe Black. John Alderson (Sgt. Bullock on Boots and Saddles and Wyatt Earp on Doctor Who) plays Wells Fargo agent Clay Arvin. Sarah Selby (AuntGertrude on The Hardy Boys: The Mysteryof the Applegate Treasure, Lucille Vanderlip on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Miss Thomas on Father Knows Best, and Ma Smalley on Gunsmoke) plays his wife Clara. Larry J.Blake (the unnamed jailer on YancyDerringer and Tom Parnell on Saintsand Sinners) plays Apache chief Akana. Pat Hogan (Black Cloud on Brave Eagle) plays argumentativetownsman Todd Hoover. Grandon Rhodes (Mr. Vanderlip on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Dr. Stevens on Lassie, the judge 16 times on Perry Mason, and Dr. J.P. Martin on Bonanza) plays another townsman.
Season 4, Episode 23, "The Englishwoman": AdrienneHayes (shown on the right, played Brooke Bentley on General Hospital)plays embezzlement suspect's daughter Vickie St. John. Wesley Lau (see thebiography section for the 1961 post on Perry Mason) plays Wells Fargo agent Hank. Frank Ferguson (Gus Broeberg on My Friend Flicka, Eli Carson on Peyton Place, and Dr. Barton Stuart on Petticoat Junction) plays the Morgansheriff. George Cisar (Sgt. Theodore Mooney on Dennis the Menace and Cyrus Tankersley on The Andy Griffith Show and MayberryR.F.D.) plays newspaper publisher Whitey Lawson. John Beradino (SpecialAgent Steve Daniels on I Led 3 Lives,Sgt. Vince Cavelli on The New Breed,and Dr. Steve Hardy on General Hospital)plays gunslinger Larry Wills. Mason Curry (Deke Tuttle on The Ghost and Mrs. Muir) plays general store owner Joe Jenson.
Season 4, Episode 24, "Forty-Four Forty": PeterWhitney (Sergeant Buck Sinclair on TheRough Riders and Lafe Crick on TheBeverly Hillbillies) plays stagecoach robber Big Duggin. Roy Barcroft (Col.Logan on The Adventures of Spin and Martyand Roy on Gunsmoke) plays stagedriver Tom Olsen. Nancy Hale (shown on the left, played Helen Carter on Whirlybirds) plays his daughter Myra. Sam Flint (Mr. Armstead on Father Knows Best and Judge Jewett on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) playsTucson doctor Ed Baylor. Owen Bush (Ben on Shane,John Belson on Sirota's Court, andCrimshaw on Our House) plays stagemanager Hank.
Season 4, Episode 25, "The Late Mayor Brown": JohnStephenson (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Flintstones) plays River Oaks resident Miles Rogers. GeorgeMitchell (Cal Bristol on Stoney Burke)plays River Oaks Marshal Dan Fogarty. Vic Perrin (the narrator on Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, thecontrol voice on The Outer Limits,and did voicework on Jonny Quest, Star Trek, Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, and Mission:Impossible!) plays thief Ben Locust. Gail Kobe (Penny Adams on Trackdown and Doris Schuster on Peyton Place and produced over 200episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful)plays late mayor's widow Kate Brown. Charles Cooper (starred in The Wrong Man and played the sheriff on Father Murphy and Judge Robert Boucheron The Practice) plays Locust'sfriend Sonny Boston.
Season 4, Episode 26, "Black Trail": Dianne Foster(starred in Night Passage, The Last Hurrah, and The Deep Six) plays former actressElaine Griffon. Luis Van Rooten (appeared in The Hitler Gang, Champion,and Operation Eichmann and playedKnobby Walsh on The Joe Palooka Story)plays bank president Cyrus Wilson. Ron Soble (Dirty Jim on The Monroes) plays stagecoach robber Burch.
Season 4, Episode 27, "The Great Bullion Robbery":Joyce Taylor (shown on the left, played Mary McCauley on Men Into Space) plays Wells Fargo agent's daughter Anne King. Robert Karnes (see thebiography section for the 1961 post on The Lawless Years) plays Weber Falls Marshal Emmett Clegg. Jan Merlin (RogerManning on Tom Corbett, Space Cadetand Lt. Colin Kirby on The Rough Riders)plays ex-con Johnny Hogan. Ed Kemmer (Commander Buzz Corry on Space Patrol, Paul Britton on The Secret Storm, and Dick Martin on As the World Turns) plays blacksmith JoeBeecher.
Season 4, Episode 28, "The Outlaw's Wife": MikeRoad (Marshal Tom Sellers on Buckskin,Lt. Joe Switolski on The Roaring 20's,and provided the voice for Race Bannon on JohnnyQuest and Ugh on Space Ghost)plays robbery conspirator Clete. Patricia Huston (Addy Olson on Days of Our Lives and Hilda Brunschwageron L.A. Law) plays robber's wife'ssister Marge Walker. Byron Morrow (Capt. Keith Gregory on The New Breed and Pearce Newberry on Executive Suite) plays a Wells Fargo agent.
Season 4, Episode 29, "The Town": Mary Webster (shown on the far right, appearedin The Delicate Delinquent, Eighteen and Anxious, and Master of the World) plays Wolf Creekheir Lucy Potter. Rhys Williams (shown on the near right, played Doc Burrage on The Rifleman) plays train passenger Jim Cook. Robert Foulk (EdDavis on Father Knows Best, SheriffMiller on Lassie, Joe Kingston on Wichita Town, Mr. Wheeler on Green Acres, and Phillip Toomey on The Rifleman) plays Wolf Creek crookClem Fallon. Bert Remsen (Detective Lawrence on Peyton Place, Mr. Pell on Gibbsville,Mario on It's a Living, and JackCrager on Dynasty) plays Fallon'shenchman Burkett. Robert B. Williams (postman Mr. Dorfman on Dennis the Menace and Barney on Hazel) plays a hotel clerk.
Season 4, Episode 30, "The Trading Post": MortMills (shown on the left, played Marshal Frank Tallman on ManWithout a Gun, Sgt. Ben Landro on Perry Mason, and Sheriff Fred Madden on TheBig Valley) plays bounty hunter Chase Robson. Paul Langton (LeslieHarrington on Peyton Place) plays tradingpost manager Frisbee. Peter Leeds (Tenner Smith on Trackdown and George Colton on Peteand Gladys) plays white man living among Indians Oscar Shipley. X Brands (Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wahon Yancy Derringer) plays Osage braveSpotted Tail. Monte Blue (Sheriff Hollister on Sky King) plays his father Nicoma.
Season 4, Episode 31, "Dead Man's Street": BuddyEbsen (shown on the right, played Sgt. Hunk Marriner on NorthwestPassage, Jed Clampett on The BeverlyHillbillies, Barnaby Jones on BarnabyJones, and Roy Houston on MattHouston) plays lawless patriarch Dan Ferguson. George Kennedy (starred in Charade, The Sons of Katie Elder, TheDirty Dozen, Cool Hand Luke, and The Naked Gun and played MP Sgt. Kennedyon The Phil Silvers Show, FatherSamuel Cavanaugh on Sarge, BumperMorgan on The Blue Knight, and CarterMcKay on Dallas) plays his son Joby. RobertBray (Simon Kane on Stagecoach Westand Corey Stuart on Lassie) plays hisson Alec. Kelly Thordsen (Colorado Charlie on Yancy Derringer) plays his son Amos. Barney Phillips (Sgt. EdJacobs on the original Dragnet, Lt.Sam Geller on Johnny Midnight, Lt.Avery on The Brothers Brannagan, DocKaiser on 12 O'Clock High, MikeGolden on Dan August, and FletcherHuff on The Betty White Show) plays WellsFargo agent George Guinness. Wallace Ford (see the biography section for the1960 post on The Deputy) plays Paradise,CA marshal F.X. Murphy. Walter Sande (appeared in To Have and Have Not, A Placein the Sun, and Bad Day at Black Rockand played Capt. Horatio Bullwinkle on TheAdventures of Tugboat Annie and Papa Holstrum on The Farmer's Daughter) plays bartender Healey. Herbert Lytton(Admiral Reynolds on McHale's Navy)plays store owner Benson.
Season 4, Episode 32, "Threat of Death": RobertMiddleton (Barney Wales on The Monroes)plays store owner Jason Kreegar. King Calder (Lt. Gray on Martin Kane) plays a Dobie resident. William Campbell (appeared in The High and the Mighty, Love Me Tender, Dementia 13, and Hush...Hush,Sweet Charlotte and played Jerry Austin on Cannonball) plays Wells Fargo robber Johnny Crail. Elizabeth Allen(shown on the left, played Laura Deane on Bracken's World,Martha Simms on The Paul Lynde Show,Capt. Quinlan on CPO Sharkey, andVictoria Bellman on Texas) plays captivehalf-breed Ilona. Virginia Sale (Selma Plout on Petticoat Junction and GreenAcres) plays another Dobie citizen.
Season 4, Episode 33, "Dealer's Choice": PatriciaBarry (shown on the right, played Kate Harris on Harris Against theWorld, Lydia McGuire on Dr. Kildare,Adelaide Horton Williams on Days of OurLives, Peg English on All My Children,and Sally Gleason on Guiding Light)plays wealthy heir Phyllis Randolph. Frank Wilcox (see the biography sectionfor the 1961 post on The Untouchables)plays her father. Robert Lowery (starred in CriminalInvestigator, Revenge of the Zombies,The Navy Way, The Mummy's Ghost, and TheyMade Me a Killer and played Big Tim Champion on Circus Boy and Buss Courtney on Pistols'n' Petticoats) plays casino owner John Galena. Arthur Space (appeared in Black Beauty, The co*ckeyed Miracle, and TargetEarth and played Herbert Brown on NationalVelvet and Dr. Frank Weaver on Lassie)plays Wells Fargo manager Arnold Porter. Robert Carson (Mr. Maddis on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show)plays Wells Fargo agent Houseman Ward. Ann McCrea (Midge Kelsey on The Donna Reed Show) plays casinohostess Sarah. Roy Gordon (Andrew V. McMahon on The Millionaire) plays card-playing Judge Donovan.
Season 4, Episode 34, "Pearl Hart": BeverlyGarland (shown on the left, played Casey Jones on Decoy, EllisCollins on The Bing Crosby Show,Barbara Harper Douglas on My Three Sons,Dorothy "Dotty" West on Scarecrowand Mrs. King, Ellen Lane on Lois& Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and Ginger on 7th Heaven) plays legendary outlaw PearlHart. Michael Pate (starred in Face toFace, Julius Caesar, Hondo, and Tower of London and played Chief Vittoro on Hondo and Det. Sgt. Vic Maddern on Matlock) plays her henchman Hogan. Stafford Repp (Brink on The New Phil Silvers Show and ChiefO'Hara on Batman) plays Deming, NMsheriff Henry Roseboro. Jean Inness (see the biography section for the 1961post on Dr. Kildare) plays his wifeMartha.
Season 4, Episode 35, "Vasquez": Cesare Danova (shown on the right, appearedin Tender Is the Night, Cleopatra, Viva Las Vegas, Mean Streets,and Animal House and played Actor on Garrison's Gorillas) plays famousdesperado Tiburcio Vasquez. Jack Reitzen (Chopstick Joe on Terry and the Pirates and Flores on Not for Hire) plays his henchman Moreno. Rodolfo Hoyos, Jr. (LuisValdez on Viva Valdez) player henchmanChavez. Barbara Luna (Maria on One Lifeto Live) plays Vasquez's lover Rosita. Stuart Randall (Sheriff Art Sampsonon Cimarron City, Al Livermore on Lassie, and Sheriff Mort Corey on Laramie) plays San Jose Sheriff Morris.C. Lindsay Workman (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Donna Reed Show) plays atelegrapher.
Season 4, Episode 36, "Kid Brother": Larry Pennell(shown on the left, see the biographical section for the 1961 post on Ripcord) plays Hardie's younger brother Ben. Henry Corden (Carlo onThe Count of Monte Cristo, andBabbitt on The Monkees and didvoicework on The Flintstones, Jonny Quest, The Atom Ant Show, The BananaSplits Adventure Hour and Return tothe Planet of the Apes) plays New Orleans police inspector Dupre. AllisonHayes (see the biographical section for the 1960 post on Bat Masterson) plays saloon girl Marie. Kathie Browne (Angie Dow onHondo and was Darren McGavin's secondwife) plays saloon girl Madeleine. Joanna Lee (appeared in The Joker Is Wild, The BrainEaters, and Plan 9 From Outer Spaceand wrote screenplays for The Flintstones,My Three Sons, Gilligan's Island, Nanny andthe Professor, The Courtship of Eddie'sFather, and Room 222) playssaloon girl Antoinette. Howard Caine (Schaab on The Californians and Maj. Wolfgang Hochstetter on Hogan's Heroes) plays the saloonmanager.
Season 4, Episode 37, "Man for the Job": Harold J.Stone (John Kennedy on The Grand Jury,Hamilton Greeley on My World and Welcometo It, and Sam Steinberg on BridgetLoves Bernie) plays stagecoach shotgun messenger Phil Coughlin. RegisToomey (starred in Alibi, Other Men's Women, The Finger Points, His GirlFriday, and The Big Sleep and playedJoe Mulligan on The Mickey Rooney Show,Lt. Manny Waldo on Four Star Playhouse,Lt. McGough on Richard Diamond, PrivateDetective, Bill Cochran on Shannon,Det. Les Hart on Burke's Law, and Dr.Barton Stuart on Petticoat Junctionand Green Acres) plays Wells Fargoagent Les Goslin. Ken Lynch (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1961 post on Checkmate) plays prospective stagerobber Parker. Dennis Cross (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Blue Angels) plays his partner LukeLambert.
Season 5, Episode 1, "Day of Judgement": JohnDehner (shown on the left, played Duke Williams on The Roaring'20's, Commodore Cecil Wyntoon on TheBaileys of Balboa, Morgan Starr on TheVirginian, Cyril Bennett on The DorisDay Show, Dr. Charles Cleveland Claver on The New Temperatures Rising Show, Barrett Fears on Big Hawaii, Marshal Edge Troy on Young Maverick, Lt. Joseph Broggi on Enos, Hadden Marshall on Bare Essence, and Billy Joe Erskine on The Colbys) plays vengeful Civil Warveteran Wade Cather. John Lupton (Tom Jeffords on Broken Arrow and Frank on NeverToo Young) plays wanted robber Eli Fisher. Doris Dowling (starred in The Lost Weekend, The Blue Dahlia, Bitter Rice,and Othello and played Irene Adams onMy Living Doll) plays Fisher's ladyfriend Verna.
Season 5, Episode 2, "Angry Town": Paul Birch(Erle Stanley Gardner on The Court ofLast Resort, Mike Malone on Cannonball,and Capt. Carpenter on The Fugitive)plays Miles City Sheriff Paul Brick. Sydney Pollack (shown on the right, directed They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, The Way We Were, Absence of Malice, Tootsie,and Out of Africa) plays hisbrother-in-law Stan Riker. Paul Fix (see the biography section for the 1960post on The Rifleman) plays Hardie'sold friend and physician Doc Howard. Guy Wilkerson (played Panhandle Perkins in22 westerns) plays rancher Zeb Baker. Richard Tyler (appeared in It's in the Bag!, Father Was a Fullback, and Teaand Sympathy and played Henry Aldrich on The Aldrich Family) plays posse member Chris Warren. Ed Prentiss(Carl Jensen on The Virginian and Dr.Ralph Dunbar on Days of Our Lives)plays banker Harry Newhole.
Season 5, Episode 3, "Doc Dawson": Edgar Buchanan(shown on the left, played Uncle Joe Carson on The BeverlyHillbillies, Green Acres, and Petticoat Junction, Red Connors on Hopalong Cassidy, Judge Roy Bean on Judge Roy Bean, Doc Burrage on The Rifleman, and J.J. Jackson on Cade's County) plays former outlaw andnew dentist Doc Dawson. Stanley Clements (Stanislaus "Duke"Coveleskie in 6 Bowery Boys feature films) plays dead Wells Fargo driver'sbrother-in-law Clyde Simpson. Don Haggerty (Jeffrey Jones on The Files of Jeffrey Jones, Eddie Drakeon The Cases of Eddie Drake, SheriffDan Elder on State Trooper, and MarshMurdock on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays close family friend Joe Haynes. Douglas Spencer (appeared in The Thing From Another World, Shane, This Island Earth, River ofNo Return, and The Diary of AnneFrank) plays a Texas sheriff.
Season 5, Episode 4, "The Kinfolk": RichardJaeckel (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Frontier Circus) plays wanted killer Len Lassiter.
Season 5, Episode 5, "A Study in Petticoats": WhitneyBlake (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1961 post on Hazel) plays jewelry owner Norma Hoover. Diane Jergens (appeared inThe Bob Mathias Story, Desk Set, High School Confidential!, and Islandof Lost Women and played Francine Williams on The Bob Cummings Show and Susie Jackson on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet) plays infatuated 17-year-oldStephanie Carrie. Paul Genge (Lt. Burns on 87th Precinct) plays the Longshire Wells Fargo agent.
Season 5, Episode 6, "All That Glitters": BarbaraStuart (shown on the left, played Bessie on The Great Gildersleeve,Alice on Pete and Gladys, Bunny on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Peggy Ferguson on The McLean Stevenson Show, MarianneDanzig on Our Family Honor, and Aliceon Huff) plays bank president MegHollister. Ron Harper (see the biography section for the 1961 post on 87th Precinct) plays her brother DanHaskell. Ken Lynch (see "Man for the Job" above) plays ex-consafecracker Joe Brass. Donna Corcoran (sister of Noreen Corcoran, appeared in Angels in the Outfield, Don't Bother to Knock, and Million Dollar Mermaid) plays hisdaughter Helen. Robert P. Lieb (Harry Thompson on Hazel) plays Wells Fargo agent Sam Tubs.
Season 5, Episode 7, "Run for the River": RonHayes (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Bat Masterson) plays Hardie's prisoner Ira Kyle. Bruce Gordon (shown on the right, see"The Canyon" above) plays Red Bluffs Mayor Carl Orleans. ForrestTaylor (starred in True Nobility, Big Calibre, Too Much Beef, and The LostPlanet and played Doc Brannon on ManWithout a Gun) plays Ira's father Pop Kyle. William Boyett (Sgt. KenWilliams on Highway Patrol and Sgt.MacDonald on Adam-12) plays bankclerk Bert.
Season 5, Episode 8, "Leading Citizen": RobertMiddleton (see "Threat of Death" above) plays San Tomas, TXmayor/sheriff/judge Bodie Seaton. Wesley Lau (see "The Englishwoman"above) plays outlaw Morgan Bates. Robert Carricart (Pepe Cordoza on T.H.E. Cat) plays Seaton henchman ColeyDavid.
Season 5, Episode 9, "The Killing of Johnny Lash":Dennis Patrick (shown on the left, played Paul Stoddard on DarkShadows and Vaughn Leland on Dallas)plays card dealer Nevada. Anne Helm (Molly Pierce on Run for Your Life) plays saloon showgirl Nell.
Season 5, Episode 10, "The Wade Place": Robert J. Wilke(appeared in Best of the Badmen, High Noon, The Far Country, and Night Passage and played Capt. Mendozaon Zorro) plays Wells Fargo managerMike Ross. Vaughn Taylor (starred in JailhouseRock, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Psycho, and In Cold Blood and played Ernest P. Duckweather on Johnny Jupiter) plays store owner SethWade. Russell Thorson (Det. Lt. Otto Lindstrom on The Detectives and William Kennerly on Peyton Place) plays his brother, saloon owner Joe Wade. WilliamHenry (appeared in Madame X, The Way of All Flesh, Mister Roberts, and The Alamo and played Andrew on TheLiving Christ Series) plays outlaw Tracy Harkins. Marianna Hill (appearedin Roustabout, Paradise, Hawaiian Style, TheGodfather: Part II, and High Plains Drifterand played Rita on The Tall Man)plays informant Maria.
Season 5, Episode 11, "Jeff Davis' Treasure": JohnDehner (see "Day of Judgement" above) returns as Wade Cather. JohnMcLiam (appeared in Cool Hand Luke, In Cold Blood, Sleeper, The Missouri Breaks,and First Blood) plays robberyaccomplice Henry Moore. Leo Gordon (Big Mike McComb on Maverick) plays accomplice and blacksmith Adam Kemper. Paul Langton(see "The Trading Post" above) plays accomplice Leo Summers.
Season 5, Episode 12, "The Bride and the Bandit": MyronHealey (Doc Holliday on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays holdup man Tip Rollins. Dabbs Greer (shown on the right, see thebiography section for the 1960 post on Gunsmoke)plays Wells Fargo agent Ben Wilson. Jan Clayton (starred in Sunset Trail, The Wolf Hunters, and This Man'sNavy and played Ellen Miller on Lassie)plays former showgirl Ellen Stevens. Ellen Corby (Henrietta Porter on Trackdown and Esther Walton on The Waltons) plays hotel clerk KateWiggam.
Season 5, Episode 13, "Escort to Santa Fe": GregoryWalcott (see the biography section for the 1961 post on 87th Precinct) plays saboteur Kyle Gentry. Linda Lawson (shown on the left, played Renee on Adventures in Paradise, Pat Perry on Don't Call Me Charlie, Laura Fremont on Ben Casey, and Mrs. Paganini on That's Life) plays saloon girl Kate Fallon.
Season 5, Episode 14, "Frightened Witness": JohnMilford (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays captured killer WaltCorbin. Garry Walberg (Police Sgt. Sullivan on Johnny Staccato, Sgt. Edward Goddard on Peyton Place, Speed on TheOdd Couple, and Lt. Frank Monahan on QuincyM.E.) plays key witness Chris Matson. Michael Burns (Howie Macauley on It's a Man's World and Barnaby West on Wagon Train) plays his son Billy.
