The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp | |
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Genre | Western |
Written by | |
Directed by | |
Starring | |
Composers | |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 6 |
No. of episodes | 229 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers | |
Producer | Roy Rowland |
Cinematography |
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Editor | John Durant |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | September 6, 1955 June 27, 1961 | –
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp is the first
Plot
The first season of the series purports to tell the story of Wyatt's experiences as deputy town marshal of Ellsworth, Kansas (first four episodes), and then as town marshal in Wichita. In the second episode of the second season, first aired September 4, 1956, he is hired as assistant city marshal of Dodge City, where the setting remained for three seasons. The final episode set in Dodge City (Season 5, Episode 1 - "Dodge City: Hail and Farewell") aired on September 1, 1959. Beginning the next week on September 8, 1959 (Season 5, Episode 2 - "The Trail to Tombstone"), the locale shifted to Tombstone, Arizona Territory, for the remainder of the series.[4][5]
Cast
Main cast
- Hugh O'Brian as Wyatt Earp (229 episodes)
- Morgan Woodward as "Shotgun" Gibbs (81 episodes)
- Ray Kellogg as Deputy Ollie (13 episodes)
- William Tannen as Deputy Hal Norton (56 episodes)
- Douglas Fowley/Myron Healey as John H. "Doc" Holliday (49 episodes/10 episodes)
- Mason Alan Dinehart as Bat Masterson (34 episodes)
- Fred Coby as Pony Deal (5 episodes)
- Damian O'Flynn as Judge Tobin/Dr. Goodfellow (68 episodes)
- Ray Boyle as Morgan Earp (15 episodes)
- John Anderson/Ross Elliott as Virgil Earp (5 episodes/4 episodes)
- Bill Cassady as Dr. McCarty (11 episodes)
Recurring cast
- Jimmy Noel as Townsman (144 episodes)
- Ethan Laidlaw as Townsman (138 episodes)
- Bill Coontz as Townsman (99 episodes)
- Chet Brandenburg as Townsman (79 episodes)
- Buddy Roosevelt as Townsman (65 episodes)
- Kermit Maynard as Townsman (48 episodes)
- Jack Tornek as Townsman (47 episodes)
- Frank Mills as Townsman (36 episodes)
- Archie Butler as Townsman (32 episodes)
- Milan Smith as Townsman (16 episodes)
- Albert Cavens as Townsman (16 episodes)
- Tex Palmer as Townsman (15 episodes)
- Herman Hack as Townsman (10 episodes)
- Chick Hannan as Townsman (6 episodes)
- Alex Sharp as Townsman (4 episodes)
- Paul Brinegar/Ralph Sanford as James H. "Dog" Kelley (34 episodes/21 episodes)
- Rico Alaniz as Mr. Cousin (19 episodes)
- Rodd Redwing as Mr. Brother (8 episodes)
- James Seay as Judge Wells Spicer (25 episodes)
- Don Haggerty as Marsh Murdock (21 episodes)
- Newman Haynes Clanton(21 episodes)
- John Milford/Rayford Barnes as Ike Clanton (8 episodes)
- Carol Thurston as Emma Clanton (7 episodes)
- William Phipps as Curly Bill Brocius(16 episodes)
- Randy Stuart as Nellie Cashman (12 episodes)
- Carol Montgomery Stone/Collette Lyons as "Big Nose Kate" (10 episodes/4 episodes)
- Lash La Rue as Sheriff Johnny Behan, member of the Ten Percent Ring(9 episodes/8 episodes)
- Gregg Palmer as Tom McLowery (4 episodes)
- Margaret Hayes as Dora Hand (3 episodes)
- Denver Pyle/Walter Coy as Ben Thompson (8 episodes/1 episode)
- Bob Steele as Deputy Sam (4 episodes)
- Donald Murphy/Norman Alden as Johnny Ringo/Johnny Ringgold (6 episodes)
- William Mims as Dameron (6 episodes)
- Walter Maslow as Dick Averill/Blackie Saunders (5 episodes)
- Barney Phillips as Lou Rickabaugh (3 episodes)
- Norman Leavitt as Mr. Phillips (2 episodes)
Guest cast
On September 25, 1956,
Production
Development
The series was produced by
Casting
O'Brian was chosen for the role in part because of his physical resemblance to early photographs of Wyatt Earp.
Douglas Fowley and Myron Healey were cast 49 and 10 times, respectively, as Earp's close friend John H. "Doc" Holliday.[6]
Mason Alan Dinehart, or Alan Dinehart, III, son of film stars Alan Dinehart and Mozelle Britton, was cast in 34 episodes between 1955 and 1959 as Bat Masterson, a role filled on the NBC series of the same name by the late Gene Barry. Dinehart played Masterson from the ages of 19 to 23.[7]
Many episodes show Douglas Fowley as playing the part of Doc Fabrique when he actually is not in the episodes. O'Flynn was left off the credits most of the time.
Bob Steele played Wyatt's deputy, Sam, in four episodes in 1955 during the Wichita period.
Use of Buntline Special
In the show, O'Brian carried a Buntline Special, a pistol with a 12-inch barrel, which triggered a mild toy craze at the time the series was originally broadcast. No credible evidence has been found that Wyatt Earp ever owned such a gun. The myth of Earp carrying a Buntline Special was created in Stuart N. Lake's best-selling 1931 biography Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal, later admitted by the author to be highly fictionalized.[8]
Historical accuracy
In contrast to the always-ethical character portrayed in the series, the real-life Wyatt Earp was at various times on either side of the law, having been accused of horse stealing, criminal assault, and involvement with fight-fixing, gambling, prostitution, and murders.[9][10]
The real Wyatt Earp was elected town constable of Lamar, Missouri, in 1870,[9] and became a Wichita, Kansas policeman in 1873.[9] He was appointed as an assistant marshal in Dodge City around May 1876, spent the winter of 1876–77 in Deadwood, Dakota Territory,[11]: 31 and rejoined the Dodge City police force as an assistant marshal in spring 1877. He resigned his position in September 1879.[12]
Earp is depicted as the town marshal in Tombstone, although his brother
Episodes
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Rank | Average viewership (in millions) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||||
1 | 33 | September 6, 1955 | April 17, 1956 | Not in top 30 | N/A | |
2 | 39 | August 18, 1956 | June 4, 1957 | 18 | 12.0[15] | |
3 | 39 | September 17, 1957 | June 10, 1958 | 6 | 13.7[16] | |
4 | 37 | September 16, 1958 | May 26, 1959 | 10 | 12.8[17] | |
5 | 41 | September 1, 1959 | June 7, 1960 | 20 | 11.4[18] | |
6 | 37 | September 27, 1960 | May 25, 1961 | Not in top 30 | N/A |
Reception
Ratings
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp finished number 18 in the
Awards
The series received two
Home media
Infinity Entertainment Group released the complete first season on DVD in Region 1 for the first time on April 21, 2009.[25] This release has been discontinued and is now out of print. On October 28, 2011, Inception Media Group acquired the rights to the series. It subsequently re-released the first season on DVD on December 13, 2011.[26] Season two was released on March 12, 2013.[27]
DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
---|---|---|
Season 1 | 33 | December 13, 2011 |
Season 2 | 39 | March 12, 2013 |
Related shows
O'Brian recreated the role of Earp in two episodes of the
With the emergence of television in the 1950s, producers spun out a large number of Western-oriented shows. At the height of their popularity in 1959, more than two dozen "cowboy" programs were on weekly. At least five others were connected to some extent with Wyatt Earp: Bat Masterson, Tombstone Territory, Broken Arrow, Johnny Ringo, and Gunsmoke.[29]
Episodes of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp are rebroadcast on the cable television network, Grit. Two episodes of the show are aired daily on Cozi TV.
References
- ^ "Hugh O’Brian, actor who played Wyatt Earp, dies at 91," September 5, 2016, Los Angeles Times retrieved April 3, 2023
- Baltimore Sunretrieved April 3, 2023
- ^ Burris, Joe (May 10, 2005). "The Eastern Earps". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- ^ "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp Season 2 Episodes," TV Guide retrieved April 3, 2023
- Internet Movie Database, retrieved April 3, 2023
- The Chicago Tribune. May 12, 1957. Archived from the originalon 2012-11-07. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
Fred Stone's Daughter, Carol, Now on ABC-TV. Carol Stone, plays Big Kate on ABC-TV's Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, is a daughter of musical comedy star ...
- ^ "Susan Leiser Silva and Lee A. Silva, "The Killing of Dora Hand", October 1, 2009". historynet.com; originally in Wild West Magazine. October 2009. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
- ^ Shillingberg, William B. (Summer 1976). "Wyatt Earp and the Buntline Special Myth". Kansas Historical Quarterly. 42 (2): 113–154.
- ^ a b c "This Day in History April 19, 1876: Wyatt Earp dropped from Wichita police force," History.net, retrieved April 3, 2023
- ^ "Wyatt Earp -- In The News 1870 to 1880", May 12, 2017, The American Cowboy Chronicles, retrieved April 3, 2023
- ISBN 978-1-60413-597-8.
- ^ Gatto, Steve. "Dodge City (1876–1879)". Retrieved April 11, 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-300-11527-7. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
- ^ Linder, Douglas, ed. (2005). "Testimony of Virgil Earp in the Preliminary Hearing in the Earp Case". Famous Trials: The O. K. Corral Trial. Archived from the original on February 3, 2011. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ^ "TV Ratings: 1956-1957". ClassicTVguide.com. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
- ^ "TV Ratings: 1957-1958". ClassicTVguide.com. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
- ^ "TV Ratings: 1958-1959". ClassicTVguide.com. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
- ^ "TV Ratings: 1959-1960". ClassicTVguide.com. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
- ^ "TV Ratings - 1956".
- ^ "TV Ratings - 1957".
- ^ "TV Ratings - 1958".
- ^ "TV Ratings - 1959".
- ^ "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp".
- ^ "Wyatt Earp".
- ^ "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp DVD news: Press Release for The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp - Complete Season 1 - TVShowsOnDVD.com". Archived from the original on 2012-11-04.
- ^ "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp DVD news: Press Release for The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp - The Complete Season 1 (Inception Media) - TVShowsOnDVD.com". Archived from the original on 2012-02-08.
- ^ "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp DVD news: Press Release for The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp - Season 2 - TVShowsOnDVD.com". Archived from the original on 2013-02-25.
- The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-12-05.
- ISBN 978-1-4391-5424-3.