Doug McClure

Doug McClure
McClure c. 1961
Born	Douglas Osborne McClure (1935-05-11)May 11, 1935
Died	February 5, 1995(1995-02-05) (aged 59) Sherman Oaks, California, U.S.
Alma mater	UCLA
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1956–1995

Douglas Osborne McClure (May 11, 1935^[1] – February 5, 1995) was an American actor whose career in film and television extended from the 1950s to the 1990s. He is best known for his role as the cowboy Trampas during the entire run from 1962 to 1971 of the series The Virginian and mayor turned police chief Kyle Applegate on Out of This World. From 1961-1963, he was married to actress BarBara Luna.^[2]

Career

McClure's acting career included such films as Gidget (1959), The Enemy Below, The Unforgiven, and Because They're Young, then he landed the role of Trampas on The Virginian, a role that would make him famous. He also starred:

• As different characters in several episodes in 1957 of Death Valley Days
• As Flip Flippen in the 1960 television western series Overland Trail, in which he co-starred with William Bendix for 17 episodes
• As Jed Sills in the 1960-1962 CBS television series Checkmate for 70 episodes.
• As C.R. (Christopher Robin) Grover in the sci-fi/detective series Search (1972–1973), in which he rotated the lead with Hugh O'Brian and Anthony Franciosa as a high-tech probe agent.
• As Cash Conover, casino owner, co-starring with William Shatner, in the one-season series The Barbary Coast (1975–1976). McClure replaced Dennis Cole, who played the role of Conover in the show's pilot.
• As Mayor Kyle Applegate on the fantasy sitcom Out of This World (1987–1991).

McClure was in the third episode "Mr. Denton on Doomsday" of CBS's The Twilight Zone.

In 1962, he was cast as Trampas on NBC's The Virginian. His co-stars throughout the series were James Drury, Roberta Shore, Lee J. Cobb, Randy Boone, Gary Clarke, Clu Gulager, Diane Roter, Charles Bickford, Sara Lane, Tim Matheson, Jeanette Nolan, and John McIntire.

In 1965, he appeared in Shenandoah, a movie directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and starring James Stewart, Glenn Corbett, Patrick Wayne, Katharine Ross, and Rosemary Forsyth.

After The Virginian ended in 1971, McClure was slated to co-star with

He also had a cameo role as a poker player in the 1994 remake of Maverick.

In 1994, McClure was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for television at 7065 Hollywood Blvd. It was unveiled in what was his final public appearance.

Death

On February 5, 1995, McClure died at age 59 from lung cancer in Sherman Oaks, California. On January 8 of that year, the actor was working on an episode of the television series One West Waikiki in Hawaii when he collapsed from an apparent stroke on the set.^[5] He was flown to Los Angeles for hospitalization.^[5] Doctors discovered that the lung cancer McClure had been battling for more than a year had spread to his liver and bones.^[5][6] McClure was married to his fifth wife at the time of his death. He was divorced four times, including twice while he was performing on The Virginian.^[7]

In popular culture

The character of Troy McClure on The Simpsons was modeled after McClure and fellow actor Troy Donahue. Mike Reiss, executive producer of The Simpsons, said that Doug McClure's daughter informed him that Doug was a big fan of The Simpsons. She said that while watching an episode Doug saw the character Troy McClure on the show and said, "Are they making fun of me?" Doug said he thought the parody was funny, and his daughters would call him Troy McClure behind his back as a joke.^[8]

Filmography

Film

Television