Dean Fredericks
Encyclopedia
Dean Fredericks was an American
actor
best known for his portrayal of the comic strip
character Steve Canyon
in a 34-episode television series of the same name which aired from 1958-1959 on NBC
. He was born Frederick Joseph Foote in Los Angeles
, California
. On October 31, 1942, he enlisted as a private
in the cavalry
of the United States Army
and served during World War II
. He received a Purple Heart
medal.
in the role of Jesus Christ. In 1954 he played an unnamed member of a lynch mob in the western
film Jesse James v. the Daltons, which again featured Nelson Leigh, this time as a priest, Father Kerrigan. That same year he played "Police Detective Curtis" in the classic science fiction film
"Them!".
In 1955-1956, Fredericks played Kaseem, the Hindu
manservant of the lead Johnny Weismuller character in the 26-episode syndicated television series, Jungle Jim
, based on a successful comic strip as well as earlier films of the same name. Martin Huston
appeared in the series as Jungle Jim's teenage son, Skipper Bradford. Paul Cavanagh
was cast as Commissioner Morrison in nine episodes.
From 1954-1957, Fredericks guest starred six times in different roles, usually Indians
, on the ABC
western, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin
. In 1957, he appeared in the ABC military series Navy Log
in the role of DeMarco in the episode "The War of the Whale Boats" and as Chalky in the segment "Lady Luck" of the syndicated adventure series Whirlybirds
, starring Kenneth Tobey
. That same year, he appeared in the popular ABC western Maverick
(as Mitchell in "The Jeweled Gun", only the tenth episode of the long-running series) and on John Bromfield
's Sheriff of Cochise
, a syndicated police drama set in Arizona
. He appeared three times from 1956-1958 on Clint Walker
's Cheyenne
, including the role of the Indian Yellow Knife in a much remembered episode "Quicksand" and as Little Chief in "The Broken Pledge". On April 6, 1957, Fredericks played Gart in the episode "the Photographer" of CBS
's Gunsmoke
, with Sebastian Cabot
in the title guest-starring role as Professor Jacoby.
stationed at the fictitious Big Thunder Air Force Base
. The episodes bear such titles as "The Korean Story", "Project UFO", "Sabotage", "Iron Curtain", "Strike Force", "Operation Crash Landing", "The Bomb", and "Operation Thunderbirds," reflecting the events of that time. Appearing with Fredericks were Jerry Paris
. later of The Dick Van Dyke Show
, in eleven episodes as Major Willie Williston, William Schallert
three times as Major Karl Richmond, and James Drury
twice as Lieutenant Richard Muller, Nelson Leigh twice as General Black, and Karl Swenson
twice as Colonel Vanderhoek. Marion Ross
, later Mrs. Cunningham on the ABC comedy Happy Days
appeared as Rita Bradshaw in the single episode entitled "Operation Zero Launch".Paul Frees
narrated sixteen of the episodes, and Don Taylor
directed ten segments. The series had a wide array of impressive guest stars. The science fiction
program is available in a special edition DVD
.
Entertainment writer Bruce Eder found that Fredericks "looked exactly like" the Steve Canyon character as drawn by the cartoonist Milton Caniff
. Eder added, "That was how Dean Fredericks became a star known to millions of baby boomers." Steve Canyon toys and related products prolonged the popularity of the program in pop culture long after its initial television run. The Steve Canyon series first aired at 9 p.m. Saturdays between The Perry Como Show and Cimarron City and opposite CBS
's The Gale Storm Show
and ABC's The Lawrence Welk Show
. After a few months, it was moved to Thursday and then Tuesday evenings and did not receive the benefit of a stable time slot. The program was repeated April to September in 1960 on ABC.
The series was sponsored by Chesterfield cigarette
s. The first twenty-four episodes have been released on DVD
in two volumes since 2008 through the Milton Caniff estate. The remaining ten episodes will be released in a third and final DVD volume in the late spring of 2010.
(as Inspector Al Moore in "Night Target"), The Deputy
, (as Pete Clemson in "Silent Gun"), Laramie
(as Chad Morgan in "Street of Hate"), and in the comedy
, The Ann Sothern Show
(as Johnson in "Common Cents"). Other 1960 roles included Shotgun Slade
(as Vance in "Killer's Brand'), Sugarfoot
(as Spotted Wolf in "Shadow Catcher"), Lawman
(as Great Bear in "Chantay"), Bronco
(as Great Wolf in "Seminole War Pipe"), and Surfside 6
(in "Girl in the Galleon").
In 1961, Fredericks played Captain Frank Chapman in the film, The Phantom Planet
. an unusual science fiction adventure involving an astronaut
who becomes reduced in physical size and is isolated on a planetoid with a super-civilization. The film has endured in popularity for nearly a half-century.
In 1962, Fredericks was cast as Jed Harvey in the episode "The Greedy Town" of CBS's Rawhide
western series, starring Eric Fleming
and Clint Eastwood
. In 1962-1963, he appeared twice on Chuck Connors
's ABC western, The Rifleman
as Phil Carver in "Squeeze Play" and as Rance in "Requiem at Mission Springs". On May 1, 1963, he appeared in the role of Jan Wolski in the episode entitled "The Final Hour" of the NBC western The Virginian
, starring James Drury and Doug McClure
. In 1963, he played a Comanche
chief in the film Savage Sam
, a sequel
to Walt Disney
's 1957 classic Old Yeller
.
Fredericks appeared in four episodes of ABC's Walt Disney Presents as Crow Feather in three segments from 1960-1961 in the Daniel Boone
: "The Warrior's Path", "The Wilderness Road", and "The Promised Land". His last television role was on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color on February 7, 1965, as the criminal Zip Wyatt in "The Adventures of Gallegher, Part 3", starring Roger Mobley
in the title role, with co-stars Edmond O'Brien
, Harvey Korman
, and Ray Teal
.
After a failed first marriage (ca. 1948-1952), the 6'3" Fredericks was married to his second wife, Myda Fredericks (1922–2006) on November 19, 1956 in Los Angeles by Judge Julian Beck (who was an ex congressman and family friend). He died of cancer
in Los Angeles at the age of seventy-five.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
best known for his portrayal of the comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
character Steve Canyon
Steve Canyon
Steve Canyon was a long-running American adventure comic strip by writer-artist Milton Caniff. Launched shortly after Caniff retired from his previous strip, Terry and the Pirates, Steve Canyon ran from January 13, 1947 until June 4, 1988, shortly after Caniff's death...
in a 34-episode television series of the same name which aired from 1958-1959 on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. He was born Frederick Joseph Foote in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. On October 31, 1942, he enlisted as a private
Private (rank)
A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
in the cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
of the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and served during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He received a Purple Heart
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
medal.
Early career
One of Fredericks's earliest known acting roles was as a priest in the "The Lord Is Risen" segment of the 1952 film series The Living Bible, with Nelson LeighNelson Leigh
Nelson Leigh was a prolific motion picture actor of the 1940s and 1950s.-Career:...
in the role of Jesus Christ. In 1954 he played an unnamed member of a lynch mob in the western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
film Jesse James v. the Daltons, which again featured Nelson Leigh, this time as a priest, Father Kerrigan. That same year he played "Police Detective Curtis" in the classic science fiction film
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
"Them!".
In 1955-1956, Fredericks played Kaseem, the Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
manservant of the lead Johnny Weismuller character in the 26-episode syndicated television series, Jungle Jim
Jungle Jim (TV series)
Jungle Jim is a 26-episode syndicated adventure television series which aired from 1955-1956, starring Johnny Weismuller, as Jim "Jungle Jim" Bradley, a hunter, guide, and explorer in, primarily, Africa. The program should not be confused with Ramar of the Jungle, but is based on the Jungle Jim...
, based on a successful comic strip as well as earlier films of the same name. Martin Huston
Martin Huston
Martin W. Huston, also known as Marty Huston , was an American actor of primarily television and stage....
appeared in the series as Jungle Jim's teenage son, Skipper Bradford. Paul Cavanagh
Paul Cavanagh
Paul Cavanagh was an English film actor. He appeared in over 100 films between 1928 and 1959. He was born in Chislehurst and died in London from a heart attack....
was cast as Commissioner Morrison in nine episodes.
From 1954-1957, Fredericks guest starred six times in different roles, usually Indians
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, on the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
western, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin
The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin
The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin is an American children's television program which originally aired in 166 episodes on ABC from October 1954 until August 1959. It starred child actor Lee Aaker as Rusty, a boy orphaned in an Indian raid, who was being raised by the soldiers at a US Cavalry post known...
. In 1957, he appeared in the ABC military series Navy Log
Navy Log
Navy Log is an American anthology series that initially aired on CBS. The series featured over 70 regular guests and told about the greatest survival war stories in the history of the United States Navy. This series premiered on September 20, 1955. The following year, it was moved to ABC, where it...
in the role of DeMarco in the episode "The War of the Whale Boats" and as Chalky in the segment "Lady Luck" of the syndicated adventure series Whirlybirds
Whirlybirds
Whirlybirds is an American drama television series....
, starring Kenneth Tobey
Kenneth Tobey
Kenneth Tobey was an American stage, television, and film actor.-Early years:Born in Oakland, California, Tobey was headed for a law career when he first dabbled in acting at the University of California Little Theater...
. That same year, he appeared in the popular ABC western Maverick
Maverick (TV series)
Maverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...
(as Mitchell in "The Jeweled Gun", only the tenth episode of the long-running series) and on John Bromfield
John Bromfield
John Bromfield was an American film and television actor.Bromfield was born in South Bend, Indiana. He played football and was a boxing champion in college. He served in the United States Navy. In 1948, he twice harpooned a whale in the documentary film Harpoon...
's Sheriff of Cochise
Sheriff of Cochise
Sheriff of Cochise , renamed U.S. Marshal , is a 58-episode syndicated western-themed crime drama set in Arizona and starring John Bromfield as law enforcement officer Frank Morgan. In the first two seasons, Morgan was sheriff of Cochise County...
, a syndicated police drama set in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. He appeared three times from 1956-1958 on Clint Walker
Clint Walker
Norman Eugene Walker, known as Clint Walker , is an American actor best known for his cowboy role as "Cheyenne Bodie" in the TV Western series, Cheyenne.-Life and career:...
's Cheyenne
Cheyenne (TV series)
Cheyenne is a western television series of 108 black-and-white episodes broadcast on ABC from 1955 to 1963. The show was the first hour-long western, and in fact the first hour-long dramatic series of any kind, with continuing characters, to last more than one season...
, including the role of the Indian Yellow Knife in a much remembered episode "Quicksand" and as Little Chief in "The Broken Pledge". On April 6, 1957, Fredericks played Gart in the episode "the Photographer" of CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
, with Sebastian Cabot
Sebastian Cabot (actor)
Charles Sebastian Thomas Cabot was an English film and television actor, best remembered as the gentleman's gentleman, "Giles French," opposite Brian Keith's character, in the 1960s sitcom Family Affair. He was also known for playing Dr...
in the title guest-starring role as Professor Jacoby.
As Steve Canyon
In Steve Canyon Fredericks was cast as flying ace and troubleshooter Stevenson B. Canyon, a lieutenant colonelLieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
stationed at the fictitious Big Thunder Air Force Base
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
. The episodes bear such titles as "The Korean Story", "Project UFO", "Sabotage", "Iron Curtain", "Strike Force", "Operation Crash Landing", "The Bomb", and "Operation Thunderbirds," reflecting the events of that time. Appearing with Fredericks were Jerry Paris
Jerry Paris
Jerry Paris was an American actor and director best known for playing Jerry Helper, the dentist and next door neighbor of Rob and Laura Petrie, on The Dick Van Dyke Show.-Life and career:...
. later of The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff....
, in eleven episodes as Major Willie Williston, William Schallert
William Schallert
William Joseph Schallert is an American actor who has appeared in many films and in such television series as The Smurfs, The Rat Patrol, Gunsmoke, The Patty Duke Show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Waltons, Bonanza, Leave It to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Love, American Style, Get...
three times as Major Karl Richmond, and James Drury
James Drury
James Child Drury, Jr. is an American actor probably best known for his success in playing the title role in the 90-minute weekly Western television series The Virginian, broadcast on NBC from 1962-1971...
twice as Lieutenant Richard Muller, Nelson Leigh twice as General Black, and Karl Swenson
Karl Swenson
Karl Swenson was an American theatre, radio, film, and television actor.-Biography:Born in Brooklyn, New York of Swedish parentage, Swenson made several appearances with Pierre-Luc Michaud on Broadway in the 1930s and 40s, including the title role in Arthur Miller's first production, The Man Who...
twice as Colonel Vanderhoek. Marion Ross
Marion Ross
Marion Ross is an American actress best known for her role as Marion Cunningham on the television series Happy Days from 1974 to 1984.-Early life:...
, later Mrs. Cunningham on the ABC comedy Happy Days
Happy Days
Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....
appeared as Rita Bradshaw in the single episode entitled "Operation Zero Launch".Paul Frees
Paul Frees
Paul Frees was an American voice actor and character actor.-Biography:He was born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago...
narrated sixteen of the episodes, and Don Taylor
Don Taylor (actor)
Don Taylor was an American movie actor and director best known for his performances in 1950s classics like Stalag 17 and Father of the Bride and the 1948 film noir The Naked City...
directed ten segments. The series had a wide array of impressive guest stars. The science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
program is available in a special edition DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
.
Entertainment writer Bruce Eder found that Fredericks "looked exactly like" the Steve Canyon character as drawn by the cartoonist Milton Caniff
Milton Caniff
Milton Arthur Paul Caniff was an American cartoonist famous for the Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon comic strips.-Biography:...
. Eder added, "That was how Dean Fredericks became a star known to millions of baby boomers." Steve Canyon toys and related products prolonged the popularity of the program in pop culture long after its initial television run. The Steve Canyon series first aired at 9 p.m. Saturdays between The Perry Como Show and Cimarron City and opposite CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's The Gale Storm Show
The Gale Storm Show
The Gale Storm Show is an American sitcom starring Gale Storm. The series premiered on September 29, 1956, and ran until 1960 for 143 half-hour black-and-white episodes, initially on CBS and in its last year on ABC...
and ABC's The Lawrence Welk Show
The Lawrence Welk Show
The Lawrence Welk Show is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years , then nationally for another 27 years via the ABC network and first-run syndication .In the years since first-run syndication...
. After a few months, it was moved to Thursday and then Tuesday evenings and did not receive the benefit of a stable time slot. The program was repeated April to September in 1960 on ABC.
The series was sponsored by Chesterfield cigarette
Chesterfield (cigarette)
Chesterfield is a brand of cigarette made by Altria. It was one of the most recognized brands of the early 20th century, but sales have declined steadily over the years. It was named for Chesterfield County, Virginia. Chesterfield is still being made today; it is still popular in Europe, but has...
s. The first twenty-four episodes have been released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in two volumes since 2008 through the Milton Caniff estate. The remaining ten episodes will be released in a third and final DVD volume in the late spring of 2010.
Other acting roles
From 1959-1960, he guest starred in the syndicated Border PatrolBorder Patrol (US TV series)
Border Patrol is a 34-episode syndicated half-hour adventure/drama television series which aired in the United States during calendar year 1959, with Richard Webb cast as Don Jagger, the fictitious deputy chief of the Border Patrol...
(as Inspector Al Moore in "Night Target"), The Deputy
The Deputy (TV series)
The Deputy is a 1959-1961 half-hour NBC western series featuring Henry Fonda as Chief Marshal Simon Fry of the Arizona Territory and Allen Case as Deputy Clay McCord, a storekeeper who tried to avoid using a gun.-Production:...
, (as Pete Clemson in "Silent Gun"), Laramie
Laramie (TV series)
Laramie is an American Western television series that aired on NBC from 1959 to 1963. Laramie was a Revue Studios production which originally starred John Smith as Slim Sherman, Robert Fuller as Jess Harper, Hoagy Carmichael as Jonesy and Robert Crawford, Jr...
(as Chad Morgan in "Street of Hate"), and in the comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
, The Ann Sothern Show
The Ann Sothern Show
The Ann Sothern Show is an American sitcom starring Ann Sothern that aired on CBS for 93 episodes. The series began on October 6, 1958, and ended on September 25, 1961. The Ann Sothern Show was Sothern's second sitcom for CBS...
(as Johnson in "Common Cents"). Other 1960 roles included Shotgun Slade
Shotgun Slade
Shotgun Slade is an American western television series starring Scott Brady that aired in syndication from October 24, 1959, until 1961. Created by Frank Gruber, the stories were written by John Berardino, Charissa Hughes, and Martin Berkeley...
(as Vance in "Killer's Brand'), Sugarfoot
Sugarfoot
Sugarfoot is the title of a TV western that aired from 1957 to 1961. The series featured Will Hutchins as fledgling frontier lawyer Tom Brewster and Jack Elam as sidekick Toothy Thompson...
(as Spotted Wolf in "Shadow Catcher"), Lawman
Lawman (tv series)
Lawman is an American Western television series originally telecast from 1958 to 1962 starring John Russell as Marshal Dan Troop and featuring Peter Brown as Deputy Marshal Johnny McKay on the ABC Television Network. The series was set in Laramie, Wyoming during the mid to late 1870s. Warner Bros....
(as Great Bear in "Chantay"), Bronco
Bronco (TV series)
Bronco is a Western series on ABC from 1958 through 1962. It was shown by the BBC in the United Kingdom. The program starred Ty Hardin as Bronco Layne, a former Confederate officer who wandered the Old West, meeting such well-known individuals as Wild Bill Hickok, Billy the Kid, Jesse James,...
(as Great Wolf in "Seminole War Pipe"), and Surfside 6
Surfside 6
Surfside 6 was an ABC television series which aired from 1960 to 1962. The show centered around a Miami Beach detective agency set on a houseboat and featured Troy Donahue as Sandy Winfield, II; Van Williams as Kenny Madison ; and Lee Patterson as Dave Thorne...
(in "Girl in the Galleon").
In 1961, Fredericks played Captain Frank Chapman in the film, The Phantom Planet
The Phantom Planet
The Phantom Planet is a science fiction film directed by William Marshall.Footage from the film was used in a 2010 advertising campaign for La Quinta Inns and Suites, an American hotel chain...
. an unusual science fiction adventure involving an astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
who becomes reduced in physical size and is isolated on a planetoid with a super-civilization. The film has endured in popularity for nearly a half-century.
In 1962, Fredericks was cast as Jed Harvey in the episode "The Greedy Town" of CBS's Rawhide
Rawhide (TV series)
Rawhide is an American Western series that aired for eight seasons on the CBS network on Friday nights, from January 9, 1959 to September 3, 1965, before moving to Tuesday nights from September 14, 1965 until January 4, 1966, with a total of 217 black-and-white episodes...
western series, starring Eric Fleming
Eric Fleming
Eric Fleming was an American actor, known primarily for his role as Gil Favor in the long running CBS television series Rawhide.-Early life:...
and Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
. In 1962-1963, he appeared twice on Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. His best known role from his forty-year film career was Lucas McCain in the 1960s ABC hit Western series The Rifleman....
's ABC western, The Rifleman
The Rifleman
The Rifleman is an American Western television program that starred Chuck Connors as homesteader Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show, filmed in black-and-white with a half hour running time, ran...
as Phil Carver in "Squeeze Play" and as Rance in "Requiem at Mission Springs". On May 1, 1963, he appeared in the role of Jan Wolski in the episode entitled "The Final Hour" of the NBC western The Virginian
The Virginian (TV series)
The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...
, starring James Drury and Doug McClure
Doug McClure
Douglas Osborne "Doug" McClure was an American actor whose career in film and television extended from the 1950s to the 1990s...
. In 1963, he played a Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
chief in the film Savage Sam
Savage Sam
Savage Sam is the 1963 film sequel to Old Yeller written by Fred Gipson. It was inspired by the story of former Apache captive Herman Lehmann, whom Gipson had seen give an exhibition when he was a child....
, a sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's 1957 classic Old Yeller
Old Yeller (1957 film)
Old Yeller is a 1957 Walt Disney Productions film starring Tommy Kirk, Dorothy McGuire and Beverly Washburn, and directed by Robert Stevenson. It is about a boy and a stray dog in post-Civil War Texas. The story is based upon the 1956 Newbery Honor-winning book Old Yeller by Fred Gipson. Gipson...
.
Fredericks appeared in four episodes of ABC's Walt Disney Presents as Crow Feather in three segments from 1960-1961 in the Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
: "The Warrior's Path", "The Wilderness Road", and "The Promised Land". His last television role was on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color on February 7, 1965, as the criminal Zip Wyatt in "The Adventures of Gallegher, Part 3", starring Roger Mobley
Roger Mobley
Roger L. Mobley in Evansville, Indiana, is a former child actor in film and television, working primarily for Walt Disney Productions during the late 1950s and early 1960s...
in the title role, with co-stars Edmond O'Brien
Edmond O'Brien
Edmond O'Brien was an American actor who is perhaps best remembered for his role in D.O.A. and his Oscar winning role in The Barefoot Contessa...
, Harvey Korman
Harvey Korman
Harvey Herschel Korman was an American comedic actor who performed in television and movie productions beginning in 1960...
, and Ray Teal
Ray Teal
Ray Teal was an actor who appeared in more than 250 movies and some 90 television programs in his 37-year career. His longest running role was as Sheriff Roy Coffee on NBC's most successful western, Bonanza...
.
After a failed first marriage (ca. 1948-1952), the 6'3" Fredericks was married to his second wife, Myda Fredericks (1922–2006) on November 19, 1956 in Los Angeles by Judge Julian Beck (who was an ex congressman and family friend). He died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in Los Angeles at the age of seventy-five.