Michael Witney (born Whitney Michael Armstrong; November 21, 1931 – November 30, 1983) was an American film and television actor.
Career
In 1963–64, Witney's first screen-acting role was a recurring part as the first wagon master, Buck Coulter, in the first 14 episodes of the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
Western television series ''
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
''The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters'' is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel written by Robert Lewis Taylor, which was later made into a short-running television series on ABC from September 1963 through March 1964, featuring Kurt Russell as Jaimie, D ...
''. He guest-starred in other Western series, including four appearances between 1965 and 1971 on
NBC's ''
Bonanza
''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...
'' and once on ''
Daniel Boone'', starring
Fess Parker. He guest-starred as a cavalry captain in the 1965 episode "South Wind" of
CBS's ''
Gunsmoke
''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character ...
''.
In 1966, he appeared as Sergeant MacDonald in "Muted Fifes, Muffled Drums" of ABC's ''
A Man Called Shenandoah'', starring
Robert Horton, and as Jared Hobson in the 1967 episode, "The Execution", of
Dale Robertson's ABC Western series, ''
The Iron Horse''. He was cast as
Wild Bill Hickok in the 1965 episode, "No Gun Behind His Badge", of the
syndicated anthology series
An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a differ ...
, ''
Death Valley Days'', with host
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
playing
Thomas J. "Bear River" Smith. Witney portrayed pioneer
Peter Lassen in a 1968 ''Death Valley Days'' episode, "The Other Side of the Mountain", hosted by
Robert Taylor.
In 1975, Witney was cast as Frank Ward in 10 of the 11 episodes of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
television series, ''
Oil Strike North
''Oil Strike North'' is a BBC television drama series produced in 1975.
The series was created and produced by Gerard Glaister and dealt with life on Nelson One, a North Sea oil rig owned by the fictional company Triumph Oil. Eschewing the cor ...
'', a drama about the Triumph Oil Company and its attempt to extract petroleum from the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
. On December 30, 1965, Witney made a brief appearance as a sailor named Johnny who helped
Zsa Zsa Gabor, who guest-starred in the #15 episode of the second season of ''
Gilligan's Island
''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells. It aired for thr ...
'' entitled, "Erica Tiffany Smith to the Rescue". He also appeared in NBC's''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'' episode "
A Private Little War
"A Private Little War" is the nineteenth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek''. Written by Gene Roddenberry, based on a story by Don Ingalls (under the pseudonym Jud Crucis), and directed b ...
". His last screen appearances were from 1978–81 in different roles in three episodes of ABC's ''
Charlie's Angels
''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, producing five seasons and 115 episodes. The series was created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and was produced by Aa ...
''.
Personal life
Witney married Donna (JoJo) Collette Bailey in 1956 in
Helena, Montana
Helena (; ) is the capital city of Montana, United States, and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County.
Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush, and established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena would ...
. They divorced in 1976. He married iconic British model
Twiggy
Dame Lesley Lawson (''née'' Hornby; born 19 September 1949) is an English model, actress, and singer, widely known by the nickname Twiggy. She was a British cultural icon and a prominent teenaged model during the swinging '60s in London.
...
in 1977; they had a daughter, Carly. Witney died of a heart attack in New York on November 30, 1983, nine days after his 52nd birthday.
Before his move to Los Angeles to pursue acting, Witney was a minor league pitcher for the Hornell Dodgers and the Great Falls Electrics.
Filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Witney, Michael
1931 births
1983 deaths
Male actors from New York (state)
American male film actors
American male television actors
Male actors from Los Angeles
20th-century American male actors
People from Ticonderoga, New York