![]() : 52Įxcept for a few episodes at the beginning of the series, Randall rode an energetic horse named Ringo. This variety, as well as his pursuit of justice and not just money, contributed to the show's attraction and popularity. He also settles a family feud, frees unjustly jailed or sentenced men, helps an amnesia 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. He often donates his earnings to the needy and helps his prisoners if they have been wrongly accused.Īlthough Randall is a bounty hunter, he doesn't chase and capture only men on wanted posters. Josh Randall (McQueen) is a Confederate veteran and bounty hunter with a soft heart. Synopsis Randall pleads with a mother ( Virginia Gregg) to obtain medical treatment for her son. : 105 He would later cross over into comparable status on the big screen, making him the first TV star to do so. The series made McQueen, known for the concept of "cool" in entertainment, a television star. Both series were produced by Vincent Fennelly for Four Star Television in association with CBS. The black-and-white program was a spin-off of a March 1958 episode of Trackdown, a 1957–1959 western series starring Robert Culp. ![]() It aired on CBS for three seasons from 1958–1961. Wanted Dead or Alive is an American Western television series starring Steve McQueen as bounty hunter Josh Randall. ![]() That performance, in what was to become a campy, classic hit movie, landed McQueen the role of Josh Randall in Wanted Dead or Alive. Powell focused his attention on the lead actor, Steve McQueen, playing a teen attempting to save his small town from alien destruction. When Dick Powell, head of Four Star Productions, asked to see a rough cut of the 1958 low-budget sci-fi horror film The Blob, he noticed something other than the giant, gelatinous space creature. Guest stars include some INSP fan favorites: Michael Landon, Jay North, James Coburn, Lee Van Cleef, Dyan Cannon, Martin Landau, Claude Akins and Beverly Garland, Mary Tyler Moore, Richard Farnsworth, Cloris Leachman, and many others. Most unique about this show, other than McQueen’s performance, creating empathy for what would normally be an unsympathetic character, is the depth of the stories packed into a thirty-minute time slot. He can draw his sawed-off, 1892 Winchester rifle, he calls “Mare’s Leg,” in the blink of an eye, and get the shot off before his outlaw opponent can think about squeezing the trigger. No outlaw wants to face Josh Randall in a shootout. He even helps a young boy who wants to meet Santa Claus, and a woman who lost her pet sheep.īut don’t let his big heart and quiet demeanor fool you. He helps a bank manager track down the man who killed his son, and guards a prisoner from townspeople bent on frontier justice rather than a legitimate trial by jury. He confronts unscrupulous bounty hunters who accuse innocent men of crimes, and faces off with corrupt sheriffs. He becomes involved in communities and with the families living there. No, Josh isn’t your average bounty hunter. And if he discovers a prisoner he’s captured is wrongly accused, he fights to make things right. In fact, most times, when he earns a reward, he gives a large portion of it to people in need who live in the towns where he travels. ![]() ![]() Though Josh is a man of few words, and, seemingly lacking in emotion, he’s a real gentleman, respectful and generous. He’s not in the business of stalking outlaws for the thrill of the catch or the bloodthirsty kill-nor, surprisingly, for the substantial reward money. In the groundbreaking, action-packed Western show, Wanted Dead or Alive, he stars as bounty hunter, Josh Randall.īounty hunters were usually unsavory and ruthless men, looked down upon in the Old West, seen as lawless mercenaries, and often referred to as “bounty killers.” But Civil War veteran on the Confederate side, Josh Randall is different. You’ve seen him star in The Magnificent Seven and Nevada Smith on INSP, and in many other Hollywood hits-Steve McQueen. He’s the very essence of “cool.” A pop culture icon. ![]()
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