''Wanted Dead or Alive'' is an American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

starring

Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1 ...

as the

bounty hunter A bounty hunter is a private agent working for bail bonds who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as bail enforcement agent, or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated outsid ...

Josh Randall. It aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

for three seasons in 1958–61. The

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

program was a spin-off of a March 1958 episode of '' Trackdown,'' a 1957–59 western series starring

Robert Culp Robert Martin Culp (August 16, 1930 – March 24, 2010) was an American actor widely known for his work in television. Culp earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on ''I Spy'' (1965–1968), the espionage television se ...

. Both series were produced by

Four Star Television Four Star Television, also called Four Star International, was an American television production company. Founded in 1952 as Four Star Productions by prominent Hollywood actors Dick Powell, David Niven, Charles Boyer, and Joel McCrea, it was insp ...

in association with CBS Television.Billy Hathorn, "Roy Bean, Temple Houston, Bill Longley, Ranald Mackenzie, Buffalo Bill, Jr., and the Texas Rangers: Depictions of West Texans in Series Television, 1955 to 1967", '' West Texas Historical Review'', Vol. 89 (2013), pp. 103-104 The series made McQueen, known for the concept of "cool" in entertainment, a television star; he would later cross over into comparable status on the big screen, making him the first TV star to do so.

Synopsis

Josh Randall (McQueen) is a

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

veteran and

with a soft heart. He often donates his earnings to the needy and helps his prisoners if they have been wrongly accused. Steve McQueen Virginia Gregg Wanted Dead or Alive 1959

Steve McQueen Virginia Gregg Wanted Dead or Alive 1959

Randall carries a shortened

Winchester Model 1892 The Winchester Model 1892 was a lever-action repeating rifle designed by John Browning as a smaller, lighter version of his large-frame Model 1886, and which replaced the Model 1873 as the company's lever-action for pistol-caliber rounds such ...

rifle called the "

Mare's Leg The Mare's Leg is the name given to a customized shortened rifle used by Steve McQueen's character on the television series '' Wanted: Dead or Alive'' (1958–1961). McQueen's character was named Josh Randall, and the gun has also been referred ...

" in a holster patterned after "

gunslinger Gunfighters, also called gunslingers (), or in the 19th and early 20th centuries gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in gunfights and shootouts. Today, the t ...

" rigs, which were then popular in films and television. Randall can draw and fire his weapon with blazing speed. Three Mare's Legs were used in the series, differing in the shape of the lever and the barrel. Although Randall is a bounty hunter, he doesn't chase and capture only men on wanted posters. He also settles a family feud, frees unjustly jailed or sentenced men, helps an

amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use ...

victim recover his memory, and finds missing husbands, sons, fathers, a fiancée, a suitor, a daughter who had been captured many years earlier by Indians, an Army deserter, a pet sheep, and even Santa Claus. This variety, as well as his pursuit of justice and not just money, contributed to the show's attraction and popularity. Except for a few episodes at the beginning of the series, Randall rode an energetic horse named Ringo. Beginning with 1959/ Season I Episode 36- "Amos Carter", actor (Wright King) would appear in a supporting role to Edgard Buchanan & Arthur Hunnicut. Several later episodes in 1960 included a sidekick named Jason Nichols (

Wright King Wright Thornburgh King (January 11, 1923 – November 25, 2018) was an American stage, film and television actor whose career lasted for over forty years.1930 US Federal Census for Wright T. King, retrieved froAncestry.com/ref>1940 US Federal Cen ...

), an eager young deputy sheriff turned bounty hunter. He and McQueen worked well together on-screen, sharing a chemistry that many viewers enjoyed. By the start of the third season, Nichols had been dropped. The episode called "The Partners", where Nichols killed three men that Randall felt could have been taken alive, is often considered the episode that broke up the partnership, although that was actually only the second episode with Wright King and long before the last episode he appeared in.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (1958–59)

Season 2 (1959–60)

Season 3 (1960–61)

Production

Filming

The series was filmed in black and white at the Selznick Studios, which was acquired by

Desilu Productions Desilu Productions () was an American television production company founded and co-owned by husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. The company is best known for shows such as ''I Love Lucy'', ''The Lucy Show'', ''Mannix'', ''The Untouchabl ...

, and produced by

. A number of additional shooting locations were used, with the bulk of the outdoor action sequences shot on the famed

Iverson Movie Ranch Iverson may refer to: Computing * Iverson Award, an ACM honour for APL contributions * Iverson bracket, a mathematical notation * Iverson Notation, the syntactic basis of APL (programming language) Other uses * Iverson Movie Ranch, Chatsworth, Ca ...

in Chatsworth, Calif., widely regarded as the most heavily filmed outdoor shooting location in the history of TV and the movies. A number of sets on the

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City an ...

backlot in Studio City, Calif., also appear in the series, notably the Western street and the Duchess Ranch set, which at the time of production on the series consisted mainly of a large barn, a main house and a bunkhouse. The series made two very visible changes in the third season. McQueen's cowboy hat was switched out to one with an Arizona block, similar to the one that he'd recently worn in the smash hit movie ''

The Magnificent Seven ''The Magnificent Seven'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges. The screenplay by William Roberts is a remake – in an Old West–style – of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film '' Seven Samurai'' (itself initially relea ...

'', but very different from the hat he'd worn in the first two seasons. The other readily apparent change was the opening titles. Instead of McQueen walking down a wooden sidewalk and ripping a wanted poster from a wall, the titles open with a black screen punctuated by bright flashes as Randall fires directly at the viewer then looms out of the darkness.

Writing

Writers included Samuel A. Peeples,

Tom Gries Tom Gries (December 20, 1922 – January 3, 1977) was an American TV and film director, writer, and film producer. Life and career Gries was born in Chicago, Illinois. His mother, Ruth, later remarried to jazz musician Muggsy Spanier, who ...

and

Charles Beaumont Charles Beaumont (January 2, 1929 – February 21, 1967) was an American author of speculative fiction, including short stories in the horror and science fiction subgenres.Stefan R. Dziemianowicz, "Beaumont, Charles" in David Pringle, ed., '' ...

Music

The first season theme song was written and conducted by

William Loose William George Loose (June 5, 1910 – February 22, 1991) was an American composer of film, cartoon and television soundtrack music and stock musical cues. Early life and career Born in Michigan, Loose became a staff musical arranger for an ...

. It was replaced by a new theme titled "Wanted". This theme was used until the end of the series and was written and supervised by

Herschel Burke Gilbert Herschel Burke Gilbert (April 20, 1918 – June 8, 2003) was an American orchestrator, musical supervisor, and composer of film and television scores and theme songs, including ''The Rifleman'' (starring Chuck Connors), '' Dick Powell's Zane Gr ...

Guest stars

Dyan Cannon Dyan Cannon (born Samille Diane Friesen; January 4, 1937) is an American actress, director, screenwriter, producer, and editor. Her accolades include a Saturn Award, a Golden Globe Award, three Academy Award nominations, and a star on the Ho ...

, billed as "Diane" Cannon, daughter of magician Season 2- Episode 52.

appeared as Jason Nichols in eleven episodes in 1960. Guest stars also included

Charles Aidman Charles Leonard Aidman (January 21, 1925 – November 7, 1993) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. Early life Aidman was born in Frankfort, Indiana, the son of George E. and Etta (Kwitny) Aidman. Aidman graduated from Frank ...

Claude Akins Claude Aubrey Akins (May 25, 1926 – January 27, 1994) was an American character actor with a long career on stage, screen, and television. He was best known as Sheriff Lobo on the 1979–1981 television series ''B.J. and the Bear'', and l ...

John Anderson John Anderson may refer to: Business *John Anderson (Scottish businessman) (1747–1820), Scottish merchant and founder of Fermoy, Ireland * John Byers Anderson (1817–1897), American educator, military officer and railroad executive, mentor of ...

R.G. Armstrong Robert Golden Armstrong Jr. (April 7, 1917 – July 27, 2012) was an American character actor and playwright. A veteran performer who appeared in dozens of Westerns during his 40-year career, he may be best remembered for his work with directo ...

, Noah Beery, Jr.,

James Best Jewel Franklin Guy (July 26, 1926 – April 6, 2015), known professionally as James Best, was an American television, film, stage, and voice actor, as well as a writer, director, acting coach, artist, college professor, and musician. Duri ...

, Steve Brodie, Anthony Caruso,

Lon Chaney, Jr. Creighton Tull Chaney (February10, 1906 – July12, 1973), known by his stage name Lon Chaney Jr., was an American actor known for playing Larry Talbot in the film '' The Wolf Man'' (1941) and its various crossovers, Count Alucard (Dra ...

James Coburn James Harrison Coburn III (August 31, 1928 – November 18, 2002) was an American film and television actor who was featured in more than 70 films, largely action roles, and made 100 television appearances during a 45-year career.AllmoviBi ...

Royal Dano Royal Edward Dano Sr. (November 16, 1922 - May 15, 1994) was an American actor. In a career spanning 46 years, he was perhaps best known for playing cowboys, villains, and Abraham Lincoln. Dano also provided the voice of the Audio-Animatronic L ...

John Dehner John Dehner (DAY-ner) (born John Dehner Forkum, also credited Dehner Forkum; November 23, 1915February 4, 1992) was an American stage, radio, film, and television actor. From the late 1930s to the late 1980s, he amassed a long list of performan ...

Brad Dexter Brad Dexter (born Boris Michel Soso; April 9, 1917 – December 12, 2002) was an American actor and film producer. He is known for tough-guy and western roles, including the 1960 film ''The Magnificent Seven'' (1960), and producing several fil ...

Lawrence Dobkin Lawrence Dobkin (September 16, 1919 – October 28, 2002) was an American television director, character actor and screenwriter whose career spanned seven decades. Dobkin was a prolific performer during the Golden Age of Radio. He narrat ...

King Donovan King Donovan (January 25, 1918 – June 30, 1987) was an American film, stage, and television actor, as well as a film and television director. Early years Francis King Donovan was born in Manhattan on January 25, 1918. His parents were vaudev ...

Betsy Drake Betsy Drake (September 11, 1923 – October 27, 2015) was an American actress, writer, and psychotherapist. She was the third wife of actor Cary Grant. Early life and education Betsy Drake, the eldest child of two American expatriates, was b ...

Don Dubbins Donald Gene Dubbins (June 28, 1928 – August 17, 1991) was an American film, stage and television actor. Life and career Born in Brooklyn, New York. Dubbins began his career in 1953, appeariing in the television series '' The Doctor''. He also ...

Robert Ellenstein Robert Ellenstein (June 18, 1923 – October 28, 2010) was an American actor. The son of Meyer C. Ellenstein, a Newark dentist, Ellenstein grew up to see his father become a two-term mayor from 1933 to 1941. He served in the United States Army ...

Beverly Garland Beverly Lucy Garland (née Fessenden; October 17, 1926 – December 5, 2008) was an American actress. Her work in feature films primarily consisted of small parts in a few major productions or leads in low-budget action or science-fiction movie ...

, Don Gordon,

Alan Hale, Jr. Alan Hale Jr. (born Alan Hale MacKahan; (March 8, 1921 - January 2, 1990) was an American actor and restaurateur. He was the son of actor Alan Hale Sr. His television career spanned four decades, but he was best known for his secondary lead role ...

DeForest Kelley Jackson DeForest Kelley (January 20, 1920 – June 11, 1999), known to colleagues as "Dee", was an American actor, screenwriter, poet, and singer. He was known for his roles in Westerns and as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy of the in the televisio ...

, Douglas Kennedy,

Martin Landau Martin James Landau (; June 20, 1928 – July 15, 2017) was an American actor, acting coach, producer, and editorial cartoonist. His career began in the 1950s, with early film appearances including a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's ''North ...

Michael Landon Michael Landon (born Eugene Maurice Orowitz; October 31, 1936 – July 1, 1991) was an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in ''Bonanza'' (1959–1973), Charles Ingalls in ''Little House on the Pr ...

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She won many accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nomin ...

Nan Leslie Nanette June Leslie (June 4, 1926 – July 30, 2000) was an American actress. She was known for playing Martha McGivern in the American western television series '' The Californians''. Life and career Leslie was born in Los Angeles, Cali ...

Ralph Meeker Ralph Meeker (born Ralph Rathgeber; November 21, 1920 August 5, 1988) was an American film, stage, and television actor. He first rose to prominence for his roles in the Broadway productions of '' Mister Roberts'' (1948–1951) and ''Picnic'' ...

Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American actress, producer, and social advocate. She is best known for her roles on ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (1961–1966) and ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), which ...

Lori Nelson Dixie Kay Nelson (August 15, 1933August 23, 2020), known professionally as Lori Nelson, was an American actress and model mostly active in the 1950s and early 1960s. She had roles in the TV series ''How to Marry a Millionaire'' and the films ''Re ...

Jay North Jay North (born August 3, 1951) is an American actor. His career as a child actor began in the late 1950s with roles in eight TV series, two variety shows and three feature films. At age 7 he became a household name for his role as the well-mean ...

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, Susan Oliver,

Luana Patten Luana Patten (July 6, 1938 – May 1, 1996) was an American actress who appeared in films produced by Walt Disney Pictures, such as ''Song of the South'' (1946), ''Fun and Fancy Free'' (1947), and ''Melody Time'' (1948). Later in life, she pla ...

Stafford Repp Stafford Alois Repp (April 26, 1918November 5, 1974) was an American actor best known for his role as Police Chief Miles Clancy O'Hara on ABC's ''Batman'' television series. Career Soon after the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, he serv ...

William Schallert William Joseph Schallert (July 6, 1922 – May 8, 2016) was an American character actor who appeared in dozens of television shows and films over a career spanning more than 60 years. He is known for his roles on ''Richard Diamond, Private ...

Everett Sloane Everett H. Sloane (October 1, 1909 – August 6, 1965) was an American character actor who worked in radio, theatre, films, and television. Early life Sloane was born in Manhattan on October 1, 1909, to Nathaniel I. Sloane and Rose (Gers ...

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Suzanne Storrs Suzanne Storrs (April 13, 1934 – January 25, 1995), born Suzanne Storrs Poulton and later known by her married name Suzanne Pincus, was a former Miss Utah and an American television actress, who appeared in sixteen television series between 19 ...

, and

Lee Van Cleef Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of Italian Spaghetti Westerns, partic ...

Colorized version

In December 1987,

Four Star International Four Star Television, also called Four Star International, was an American television production company. Founded in 1952 as Four Star Productions by prominent Hollywood actors Dick Powell, David Niven, Charles Boyer, and Joel McCrea, it was insp ...

colorized Film colorization (American English; or colourisation [British English], or colourization [Canadian English and Oxford English]) is any process that adds color to black-and-white, sepia, or other monochrome moving-picture image ...

''Wanted Dead or Alive'', making it the first vintage television series to be completely colorized; the colorized version aired on at least 50

independent television stations An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...

Reception

Ratings

*October 1958 – April 1959: No. 16 – 28.0 (tied with ''

Peter Gunn ''Peter Gunn'' is an American private eye television series, starring Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn with Lola Albright as his girlfriend, Edie Hart. The series aired on NBC from September 22, 1958, to 1960 and on ABC in 1960–1961. The seri ...

'') *October 1959 – April 1960: No. 9 – 28.7 *October 1960 – April 1961: not in top 30

1986 film

In 1986,

New World Pictures New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment and New World Communications Group, Inc.) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia company. It was founded in 197 ...

adapted the series into a low-budget film of the same title;

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...

played modern-day bounty hunter Nick Randall, Josh's grandson.

Home media

On June 7, 2005, New Line Home Video released season 1 of ''Wanted: Dead or Alive'' on DVD in Region 1. In 2007, BCI Eclipse acquired the distribution rights to the series and released the final two seasons on DVD. Season 2 was released on July 17, 2007, and season 3 on October 16, 2007. In June 2009, Mill Creek Entertainment acquired the rights to the series under license from copyright holder

StudioCanal StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., Canal+ Production, and Canal+ Image and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film production and distribution company that owns ...

, and have subsequently re-released the first two seasons. On August 25, 2009, they released an 11-disc box set featuring all 94 episodes of the series on DVD.

Notes

# A. Eric Norden was unbilled for writing the episode "Tolliver Bender". # B. Richard Donner was alternately credited for directing episodes.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0051327, title=Wanted: Dead or Alive
Steve McQueen shooting an episode of ''Wanted: Dead or Alive'' on the Iverson Movie Ranch

Iverson Movie Ranch: History, vintage photos.
1958 American television series debuts 1961 American television series endings 1950s American drama television series American television spin-offs Black-and-white American television shows CBS original programming English-language television shows Television series by Four Star Television Television series by CBS Studios Television series by StudioCanal 1950s Western (genre) television series Western (genre) television series featuring gimmick weapons 1960s American drama television series 1960s Western (genre) television series Works about bounty hunters