Rawhide (TV series)
Encyclopedia
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. Starring Eric Fleming
and Clint Eastwood
, the series was produced and sometimes directed by Charles Marquis Warren
who also produced early episodes of Gunsmoke
.
Spanning seven and a half years, Rawhide was the fifth-longest-running American television Western, beaten only by eight years of Wagon Train
, nine years of The Virginian
, fourteen years of Bonanza
, and twenty years of Gunsmoke
.
Rawhide currently airs on Me-TV at 4 AM Eastern/Pacific Time, Tuesday thru Saturday.
, and makes its way along the Sedalia Trail
(Sedalia, the final destination, is in Missouri
about 50 miles east from Kansas City
). The herd is estimated to be worth about $50,000–60,000 if sold at market and represents a pool of cattle from approximately 200 owners. The trail boss carries a considerable sum of cash for all necessities and all possible emergencies. Pay was a dollar a day and "all you can eat" for the drover
s. Riding drag was often a punishment since it was behind the herd, so a rider would pick up all of the herd's dust. Drives had a remuda
, a pool of extra horses. If something happened to a man's horse, he would be useless without an instant replacement.
Usually the episode would be introduced by Gil Favor but sometimes by others. The typical Rawhide story involved drover
s, portrayed by Eric Fleming
(trail boss Gil Favor) and Clint Eastwood
(ramrod
Rowdy Yates), coming upon people on the trail and getting drawn into solving whatever problem they presented or were confronting. Sometimes one of the members of the cattle drive
or some of the others would venture into a nearby town and encounter some trouble from which they needed to be rescued. Rowdy Yates was young and at times impetuous in the earliest episodes and Favor had to keep a tight rein on him. Favor was a savvy and strong leader who always played "square" with his fellow men. He was a tough customer who could handle the challenges and get the job done. (Producer Charles Warren called on the diary written in 1866 by trail boss George C. Duffield to shape the character of Favor). Although Favor had the respect and loyalty of the men who worked for him, there were a few times when people, including Yates, were insubordinate under him after working too hard or after receiving a tongue lashing. Favor had to fight at times and almost always won. Some of the stories were obviously easier in production terms but the peak form of the show was convincing and naturalistic, and sometimes brutal. Its situations could range from parched plain
s to anthrax
, ghostly riders to wolves, cattle raiding
, bandits, murderers, and so forth. A problem on such drives was the constant need for water, and the scout spent much of his time looking for it, sometimes finding water holes, even rivers had dried up. In some ways it was similar to the TV series Wagon Train
, that debuted on NBC on September 18, 1957.
The series was not afraid to face tough issues. Robert Culp
played an ex-soldier on the drive who had become dangerously addicted to morphine
. Mexican drover, Jesus , faced racism at times (from people outside of the crew). There was still anger left over from the Civil War
which had ended only four years earlier, and the "Poco Tiempo" episode reveals that Rowdy's father's name was Dan, that Rowdy came from southwestern Texas, and that he went off to war at 16 (being later held in a Yankee prison camp). Trail boss Favor had been a Confederate Captain in the war. 'Incident on The Edge of Madness' in season one, guest starring Lon Chaney Jr., saw Favor's old commanding officer attempting to enlist the aid of Favor and his men to start the 'New Confederacy of Panama' much to Favor's dismay, in this episode we learn that Favor and Nolan were in the Confederate forces up on Maries Heights at Fredericksberg, and 'felt shamed' at having to gun down so many Yankees. There were still Indians about, though often not that wild, some still wanted cattle as payment for going through their land. There were rough characters in the shows and Gil Favor was tortured by having his face held near a fire in one episode. In another, 'Incident of The Town in Terror' people thought a sick Rowdy Yates had "the plague" (anthrax) and guns were used to enforce quarantine
of the cattle drovers outside the town. There were also cattle rustlers, including Commancheros.
The show could on occasions be eerily atmospheric. 'Incident With an The Executioner' featured guest star Dan Duryea as a mysterious dark rider seen on the hillside following the herd, 'Incident of The Haunted Hills', guest starring John Drew Barrymore, featured a sacred Indian burial ground, 'Incident of The Druid Curse' and season two's 'Incident of The Murder Steer', guest starring James Franciscus, (where anyone sighting a rogue steer with 'Murder' carved on its side soon after dies....based on an actual legend of the old west ), plus episodes with ghost towns, cattle with horns lit up by St.Elmo's fire at dusk, with cowboys struck by lightning, plus a strange totally enclosed gypsy wagon, apparently steering itself, repeatedly turning up etc, all stand out as curiously 'spooky' tales for a bustling dusty cattle drive...the show's often stark incidental music suited these stories perfectly.
In episode 67, "Incident Near the Promised Land" (all episode titles began with "Incident" until Bruce Geller
and Bernard L. Kowalski
became the producers for season six), the cattle drive finally reached Sedalia (for the first time in the series). Unusually, episode 68 continues on from that, where the cattle have been sold and the men celebrate in town and decide on their futures with even Favor thinking of leaving the business. Instead of the usual ending wherein Gil Favor tells his men to: "Head 'em up! Move 'em out!" and the cattle move off, this episode had the end titles over a view of a Sedalia Street. Episode 69 sees Gil Favor visiting his two daughters, Gillian and Maggie, who live with their Aunt Elena in Philadelphia. In episode 70, a number of the men are back together and heading back to San Antonio about 650 miles away, with a herd of horses (used in the titles) instead of cattle. Episode 71 sees a new cattle drive ready to go but the owner of 1600 of the cattle wants to be in charge, so Favor reluctantly signs on as a ramrod
, but after problems, Favor becomes boss again at the end of the show. These five episodes made up one storyline instead of the usual single episode stories which could have been set anywhere in the West.
Favor had many bad moments in the series but none worse than the "Lost Herd" episode, wherein close to drive's finish, he wants to beat another herd to town, to get the best prices. He takes a narrow shortcut; there's thunder and lightning and the herd stampedes over the cliffs leaving him just 9 out of 3000 cattle when the drive reaches town. He doesn't have the money to pay the drovers off and has to face the owner (Royal Dano
) whose cows he has lost, knowing that he might never work in the business again.
From the second season, episodes began to feature individual cast members, notably Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Yates (sole star in 'Incident on The Day of The Dead' which opens season two), later both Scout Pete Nolan (Sheb Wooley) and even cook G.W.Wishbone (Paul Brinegar) were featured as leads, while Eric Fleming's Gil Favor remained in overall charge.
Sheb Wooley's figurehead character scout Pete Nolan departs as a regular cast member after 'The Deserter's Patrol' (season four, ep 18, trans 9 Feb 1962), however Nolan returns for a one off episode 'Reunion' (episode 26, 6 April 1962), and several years later for a further nine episodes in season seven from 'Texas Fever' (episode 18, 5 February 1965).
Charles H.Gray's character Clay Forester, having made three earlier guest appearances in season four (from 'The Inside Man', episode 6) initially a villainous character, then reforms and replaces Nolan as Favor's new scout from 'The Greedy Town' (season four, episode 19), Gray remained for the rest of season four and five (however a fair number of latter episodes have just a 'credit' for him). Clay Forrester made a return appearance later in 'Incident of El Toro' in season six (episode 26, 9 April 1964)
Two other minor semi-regular cast members were 'Toothless' (William R.Thompkins) in seasons five and six, plus one season seven appearance (sometimes uncredited), and 'Yo Yo' (Paul Comi) who makes six appearances in season seven.
The eighth and final season saw Eric Fleming controversially depart the series after an apparent disagreement with producers. Clint Eastwood was promoted to series star as Rowdy Yates finally became the trail boss (this was hinted at earlier when several times Favor made it clear he was training up the young ramrod to eventually 'step into his boots' and become trail boss). The impression given is this was a later cattle drive with Yates now in charge, at a time after Favor had either 'retired' or given up as boss (presumably having made his money as no mention is ever made onscreen of him or the reason for his absence in the final season's episodes).
John Ireland as Jed Colby and Raymond St Jacques as Simon Blake also joined the regular cast at this time, plus a semi regular minor cast member David Watson as Ian Cabot was added, however the revised format only lasted just a further thirteen episodes before the series was suddenly axed in mid season.
1) Cattle Empire, the movie that he directed in 1955 and for which Endre Bohem was a screenwriter and Paul Brinegar
, Steve Raines and Rocky Shahan were actors; all also worked in Rawhide.
2) Chisholm Trail, the classic novel by Borden Chase
that inspired the John Wayne
epic motion picture Red River.
3) As noted above, another source of inspiration for Rawhide was a diary that was written by trail boss George C. Duffield during a cattle drive from San Antonio to Sedalia in 1866. The narrations with which Gil Favor begins each episode are similar in style and breadth to the entries in Duffield's journal, lending the show an extra measure of authenticity.
The premiere episode of Rawhide reached the top 20 in the Nielsen ratings
.
The show had a grueling production schedule, being mostly weekly with a three to four month break between seasons. After the first season of 22 episodes, seasons 2-7 were each 30 episodes. Oftentimes, the only way the lead actors could get a break was if they were said to be off on business. On rare occasions, the show would feature a small number of the actors and some misfortune, maybe in a town, which would give the others time off.
Eric Fleming drowned when a canoe flipped over on location while filming the movie High Jungle in 1966, at the age of 41.
in 1958. It was composed by Dimitri Tiomkin
and sung by pop singer Frankie Laine
. The theme song became very popular, and was covered several times and featured in movies such as The Blues Brothers
and Shrek
.
) has released the first four seasons of Rawhide on DVD in Region 1. Season 4, volume 1 was released on June 7, 2011. Season 4, volume 2 was released on November 1, 2011.
In Region 4, Madman Entertainment
has released all eight seasons on DVD in Australia. Season 8, the Final Season, was released on October 5 2011.
DVD releases play heavily on Clint Eastwood's later fame, depicting him in the foreground as the chief character and crediting: 'Clint Eastwood in...', however the original show credits for seasons one to seven actually depict the late Eric Fleming (as Gil Favor) being the lead cast member, with Eastwood as co-star (excepting a few later episodes where Eastwood is the sole star)
. It was based upon the television show. Eric Fleming as Gil Favor and Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates are both on the front cover of the book. The book follows Gil Favor, Rowdy Yates, Wishbone and others as they try to get their herd to Sedalia ahead of a rival's herd. The book was published multiple times with the last run printed in 1986.
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...
series that aired for eight seasons on the 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...
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
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
episodes. 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...
, the series was produced and sometimes directed by Charles Marquis Warren
Charles Marquis Warren
-External links:...
who also produced early episodes of 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....
.
Spanning seven and a half years, Rawhide was the fifth-longest-running American television Western, beaten only by eight years of Wagon Train
Wagon Train
Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
, nine years of 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...
, fourteen years of Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
, and twenty years of 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....
.
Rawhide currently airs on Me-TV at 4 AM Eastern/Pacific Time, Tuesday thru Saturday.
Synopsis
Set in the 1860s, Rawhide portrays the challenges faced by the men of a cattle drive. There are 20-25 riders looking after 3,000 head of cattle. Gil (short for Gilbert Favor, episode 181) revealed this is about the maximum manageable size for a herd of cows. The cattle drive begins in San Antonio, TexasSan Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
, and makes its way along the Sedalia Trail
Sedalia, Missouri
Sedalia is a city located about south of the Missouri River in Pettis County, Missouri. U.S. Highway 50 and U.S. Highway 65 intersect in the city. As of 2006, the city had a total population of 20,669. It is the county seat of Pettis County. The Sedalia Micropolitan Statistical Area consists of...
(Sedalia, the final destination, is in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
about 50 miles east from Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
). The herd is estimated to be worth about $50,000–60,000 if sold at market and represents a pool of cattle from approximately 200 owners. The trail boss carries a considerable sum of cash for all necessities and all possible emergencies. Pay was a dollar a day and "all you can eat" for the drover
Droving
Droving is the practice of moving livestock over large distances by walking them "on the hoof".Droving stock to market, usually on foot and often with the aid of dogs, has a very long history in the old world...
s. Riding drag was often a punishment since it was behind the herd, so a rider would pick up all of the herd's dust. Drives had a remuda
Remuda
A Remuda is a herd of horses from which ranch hands select their mounts. The word is of Spanish derivation, for "change of horses" and is commonly used in the American West. The person in charge of the remuda is generally known as a wrangler.-Necessity:...
, a pool of extra horses. If something happened to a man's horse, he would be useless without an instant replacement.
Usually the episode would be introduced by Gil Favor but sometimes by others. The typical Rawhide story involved drover
Droving
Droving is the practice of moving livestock over large distances by walking them "on the hoof".Droving stock to market, usually on foot and often with the aid of dogs, has a very long history in the old world...
s, portrayed by 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:...
(trail boss Gil Favor) 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...
(ramrod
Ramrod (disambiguation)
Ramrod may refer to:*Ramrod, a device used with early firearms to push the projectile up against the propellant -Management:* Ramrod, a ranch or cattle drive trail foreman, usually the first or second person in charge....
Rowdy Yates), coming upon people on the trail and getting drawn into solving whatever problem they presented or were confronting. Sometimes one of the members of the cattle drive
Cattle drives in the United States
Cattle drives were a major economic activity in the American west, particularly between the years 1866-1886, when 20 million cattle were herded from Texas to railheads in Kansas for shipments to stockyards in Chicago and points east...
or some of the others would venture into a nearby town and encounter some trouble from which they needed to be rescued. Rowdy Yates was young and at times impetuous in the earliest episodes and Favor had to keep a tight rein on him. Favor was a savvy and strong leader who always played "square" with his fellow men. He was a tough customer who could handle the challenges and get the job done. (Producer Charles Warren called on the diary written in 1866 by trail boss George C. Duffield to shape the character of Favor). Although Favor had the respect and loyalty of the men who worked for him, there were a few times when people, including Yates, were insubordinate under him after working too hard or after receiving a tongue lashing. Favor had to fight at times and almost always won. Some of the stories were obviously easier in production terms but the peak form of the show was convincing and naturalistic, and sometimes brutal. Its situations could range from parched plain
Plain
In geography, a plain is land with relatively low relief, that is flat or gently rolling. Prairies and steppes are types of plains, and the archetype for a plain is often thought of as a grassland, but plains in their natural state may also be covered in shrublands, woodland and forest, or...
s to anthrax
Anthrax
Anthrax is an acute disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Most forms of the disease are lethal, and it affects both humans and other animals...
, ghostly riders to wolves, cattle raiding
Cattle raiding
Cattle raiding is the act of stealing cattle.In Australia, such stealing is often referred to as duffing, and the person as a duffer...
, bandits, murderers, and so forth. A problem on such drives was the constant need for water, and the scout spent much of his time looking for it, sometimes finding water holes, even rivers had dried up. In some ways it was similar to the TV series Wagon Train
Wagon Train
Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
, that debuted on NBC on September 18, 1957.
The series was not afraid to face tough issues. Robert Culp
Robert Culp
Robert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...
played an ex-soldier on the drive who had become dangerously addicted to morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
. Mexican drover, Jesus , faced racism at times (from people outside of the crew). There was still anger left over from the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
which had ended only four years earlier, and the "Poco Tiempo" episode reveals that Rowdy's father's name was Dan, that Rowdy came from southwestern Texas, and that he went off to war at 16 (being later held in a Yankee prison camp). Trail boss Favor had been a Confederate Captain in the war. 'Incident on The Edge of Madness' in season one, guest starring Lon Chaney Jr., saw Favor's old commanding officer attempting to enlist the aid of Favor and his men to start the 'New Confederacy of Panama' much to Favor's dismay, in this episode we learn that Favor and Nolan were in the Confederate forces up on Maries Heights at Fredericksberg, and 'felt shamed' at having to gun down so many Yankees. There were still Indians about, though often not that wild, some still wanted cattle as payment for going through their land. There were rough characters in the shows and Gil Favor was tortured by having his face held near a fire in one episode. In another, 'Incident of The Town in Terror' people thought a sick Rowdy Yates had "the plague" (anthrax) and guns were used to enforce quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
of the cattle drovers outside the town. There were also cattle rustlers, including Commancheros.
The show could on occasions be eerily atmospheric. 'Incident With an The Executioner' featured guest star Dan Duryea as a mysterious dark rider seen on the hillside following the herd, 'Incident of The Haunted Hills', guest starring John Drew Barrymore, featured a sacred Indian burial ground, 'Incident of The Druid Curse' and season two's 'Incident of The Murder Steer', guest starring James Franciscus, (where anyone sighting a rogue steer with 'Murder' carved on its side soon after dies....based on an actual legend of the old west ), plus episodes with ghost towns, cattle with horns lit up by St.Elmo's fire at dusk, with cowboys struck by lightning, plus a strange totally enclosed gypsy wagon, apparently steering itself, repeatedly turning up etc, all stand out as curiously 'spooky' tales for a bustling dusty cattle drive...the show's often stark incidental music suited these stories perfectly.
In episode 67, "Incident Near the Promised Land" (all episode titles began with "Incident" until Bruce Geller
Bruce Geller
Bruce Israel Geller was an American composer, screenwriter, and television producer.-Biography:Born in New York City, New York, Geller graduated from Yale University. He pursued a career writing scripts for shows on the DuMont Television Network including Jimmy Hughes, Rookie Cop and others...
and Bernard L. Kowalski
Bernard L. Kowalski
Bernard Louis Kowalski, often credited as Bernard L. Kowalski was an American film and television director, nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys...
became the producers for season six), the cattle drive finally reached Sedalia (for the first time in the series). Unusually, episode 68 continues on from that, where the cattle have been sold and the men celebrate in town and decide on their futures with even Favor thinking of leaving the business. Instead of the usual ending wherein Gil Favor tells his men to: "Head 'em up! Move 'em out!" and the cattle move off, this episode had the end titles over a view of a Sedalia Street. Episode 69 sees Gil Favor visiting his two daughters, Gillian and Maggie, who live with their Aunt Elena in Philadelphia. In episode 70, a number of the men are back together and heading back to San Antonio about 650 miles away, with a herd of horses (used in the titles) instead of cattle. Episode 71 sees a new cattle drive ready to go but the owner of 1600 of the cattle wants to be in charge, so Favor reluctantly signs on as a ramrod
Ramrod
A ramrod is a device used with early firearms to push the projectile up against the propellant . It is also commonly referred to as a "scouring stick"...
, but after problems, Favor becomes boss again at the end of the show. These five episodes made up one storyline instead of the usual single episode stories which could have been set anywhere in the West.
Favor had many bad moments in the series but none worse than the "Lost Herd" episode, wherein close to drive's finish, he wants to beat another herd to town, to get the best prices. He takes a narrow shortcut; there's thunder and lightning and the herd stampedes over the cliffs leaving him just 9 out of 3000 cattle when the drive reaches town. He doesn't have the money to pay the drovers off and has to face the owner (Royal Dano
Royal Dano
Royal Edward Dano was an American film and television character actor.-Early life:Dano was born in New York City to Mary Josephine , an Irish immigrant, and Caleb Edward Dano, a printer for newspapers. He reportedly left home at the age of twelve and at various intervals, lived in Florida, Texas...
) whose cows he has lost, knowing that he might never work in the business again.
From the second season, episodes began to feature individual cast members, notably Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Yates (sole star in 'Incident on The Day of The Dead' which opens season two), later both Scout Pete Nolan (Sheb Wooley) and even cook G.W.Wishbone (Paul Brinegar) were featured as leads, while Eric Fleming's Gil Favor remained in overall charge.
Sheb Wooley's figurehead character scout Pete Nolan departs as a regular cast member after 'The Deserter's Patrol' (season four, ep 18, trans 9 Feb 1962), however Nolan returns for a one off episode 'Reunion' (episode 26, 6 April 1962), and several years later for a further nine episodes in season seven from 'Texas Fever' (episode 18, 5 February 1965).
Charles H.Gray's character Clay Forester, having made three earlier guest appearances in season four (from 'The Inside Man', episode 6) initially a villainous character, then reforms and replaces Nolan as Favor's new scout from 'The Greedy Town' (season four, episode 19), Gray remained for the rest of season four and five (however a fair number of latter episodes have just a 'credit' for him). Clay Forrester made a return appearance later in 'Incident of El Toro' in season six (episode 26, 9 April 1964)
Two other minor semi-regular cast members were 'Toothless' (William R.Thompkins) in seasons five and six, plus one season seven appearance (sometimes uncredited), and 'Yo Yo' (Paul Comi) who makes six appearances in season seven.
The eighth and final season saw Eric Fleming controversially depart the series after an apparent disagreement with producers. Clint Eastwood was promoted to series star as Rowdy Yates finally became the trail boss (this was hinted at earlier when several times Favor made it clear he was training up the young ramrod to eventually 'step into his boots' and become trail boss). The impression given is this was a later cattle drive with Yates now in charge, at a time after Favor had either 'retired' or given up as boss (presumably having made his money as no mention is ever made onscreen of him or the reason for his absence in the final season's episodes).
John Ireland as Jed Colby and Raymond St Jacques as Simon Blake also joined the regular cast at this time, plus a semi regular minor cast member David Watson as Ian Cabot was added, however the revised format only lasted just a further thirteen episodes before the series was suddenly axed in mid season.
Cast members
Regular cast members included:- Eric FlemingEric FlemingEric Fleming was an American actor, known primarily for his role as Gil Favor in the long running CBS television series Rawhide.-Early life:...
as trailboss Gil Favor (seasons 1 to 7) - Clint EastwoodClint EastwoodClinton "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...
as ramrod (and trailboss in season 8) Rowdy Yates - Paul BrinegarPaul BrinegarPaul Brinegar was an American character actor.Brinegar made over 100 appearances between 1946 and 1994, appearing in many western films, and played the barman in Clint Eastwood's High Plains Drifter in 1973...
as the cantankerous cook, George Washington Wishbone - Robert Cabal as the wrangler, Jesús "Hey Soos" Patines
- James MurdockJames MurdockJames Murdock, PC was a Canadian politician.Born in Brighton, England, Murdock first ran for the Canadian House of Commons as the Liberal candidate in the 1921 federal election in the Ontario riding of Toronto South. Although defeated, he was appointed Minister of Labour in the cabinet of...
as the cook's unfortunate assistant, Harkness "Mushy" Mushgrove III - Steve RainesSteve RainesSteve Raines was an American actor.- Career :Born in Grants Pass, Oregon, U.S.. He has appeared in many television series and a few movies...
as rider Jim Quince - Rocky Shahan as rider Joe Scarlet
- Sheb WooleySheb WooleyShelby F. "Sheb" Wooley was a character actor and singer, best known for his 1958 novelty song "Purple People Eater"...
as scout Pete Nolan (seasons 1 to 4, later season 7 nine episodes) - John IrelandJohn Ireland (actor)John Benjamin Ireland was an actor and film director.-Biography:Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, he was raised in New York City from the age of 18. He started out in minor stage roles on Broadway...
as Jed Colby (season 8 only) - Raymond St. JacquesRaymond St. JacquesRaymond St. Jacques was an American actor.-Career:St. Jacques was born James Arthur Johnson in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of Vivienne Johnson, a medical technician...
as rider Simon Blake (season 8 only) - Charles H. Gray as Clay Forrester (seasons 4 and 5 only, one appearance in season 6)
- William R.Thompkins as Toothless (seasons 5, 6, one appearance in season 7)
- Paul ComiPaul ComiPaul Domingo Comi is an American film and television actor. Mr. Comi was invited to join and is active voting member of the Actor's Branch of the :Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.- Biography :...
as Yo Yo (season 7 only) - David WatsonDavid WatsonDavid Watson may refer to:*Dave Watson , actor and playwright*David Watson , anarchist author*David Watson *David Watson , Australian Senator...
as Ian Cabot (season 8 only)
Notable guest stars
- Claude AkinsClaude AkinsClaude Marion Akins was an American actor with a long career on stage, screen and television.Powerful in appearance and voice, Akins could be counted on to play the clever tough guy, on the side of good or bad, in movies and television. He is best remembered as Sheriff Lobo in the 1970s TV series...
- Eddie AlbertEddie AlbertEdward Albert Heimberger , known professionally as Eddie Albert, was an American actor and activist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid.Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing...
- Chris AlcaideChris AlcaideChristopher "Chris" Alcaide was an American actor particularly known for his role in television westerns. He surfaced to national attention as Deputy Joshua Tate in the 1956 film Gunslinger, co-starring Beverly Garland as a woman marshal.In 2003, Alcaide was among recipients, including the Sons of...
- Michael AnsaraMichael AnsaraMichael Ansara is a Syrian-born American stage, screen, and voice actor best known for his portrayal of Cochise in the American television series Broken Arrow, Kane in the 1979-81 series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and Commander Kang on three different Star Trek TV series.- Early life and...
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Production notes
Series producer Charles Marquis Warren based Rawhide on three sources:1) Cattle Empire, the movie that he directed in 1955 and for which Endre Bohem was a screenwriter and Paul Brinegar
Paul Brinegar
Paul Brinegar was an American character actor.Brinegar made over 100 appearances between 1946 and 1994, appearing in many western films, and played the barman in Clint Eastwood's High Plains Drifter in 1973...
, Steve Raines and Rocky Shahan were actors; all also worked in Rawhide.
2) Chisholm Trail, the classic novel by Borden Chase
Borden Chase
Borden Chase was an American writer.Born Frank Fowler, he went through an assortment of jobs, including driving for gangster Frankie Yale and working as a sandhog on the construction of New York's Holland Tunnel, before turning to writing, first short stories and novels, and later, screenplays...
that inspired the John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
epic motion picture Red River.
3) As noted above, another source of inspiration for Rawhide was a diary that was written by trail boss George C. Duffield during a cattle drive from San Antonio to Sedalia in 1866. The narrations with which Gil Favor begins each episode are similar in style and breadth to the entries in Duffield's journal, lending the show an extra measure of authenticity.
The premiere episode of Rawhide reached the top 20 in the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
.
The show had a grueling production schedule, being mostly weekly with a three to four month break between seasons. After the first season of 22 episodes, seasons 2-7 were each 30 episodes. Oftentimes, the only way the lead actors could get a break was if they were said to be off on business. On rare occasions, the show would feature a small number of the actors and some misfortune, maybe in a town, which would give the others time off.
Eric Fleming drowned when a canoe flipped over on location while filming the movie High Jungle in 1966, at the age of 41.
Theme song
The theme song's lyrics were written by Ned WashingtonNed Washington
Ned Washington was an American lyricist.-Biography:Washington was nominated for eleven Academy Awards from 1940 to 1962...
in 1958. It was composed by Dimitri Tiomkin
Dimitri Tiomkin
Dimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin was a Russian-born Hollywood film score composer and conductor. He is considered "one of the giants of Hollywood movie music." Musically trained in Russia, he is best known for his westerns, "where his expansive, muscular style had its greatest impact." Tiomkin...
and sung by pop singer Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
. The theme song became very popular, and was covered several times and featured in movies such as The Blues Brothers
The Blues Brothers (film)
The Blues Brothers is a 1980 musical comedy film directed by John Landis and starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as "Joliet" Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from a musical sketch on the NBC variety series Saturday Night Live. It features musical numbers by R&B and soul singers James...
and Shrek
Shrek
Shrek is a 2001 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, featuring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow. Loosely based on William Steig's 1990 fairy tale picture book Shrek!...
.
DVD releases
CBS DVD distributed by (ParamountParamount Home Entertainment
Paramount Home Entertainment is the division of Paramount Pictures dealing with home video founded in late 1975.-History:...
) has released the first four seasons of Rawhide on DVD in Region 1. Season 4, volume 1 was released on June 7, 2011. Season 4, volume 2 was released on November 1, 2011.
In Region 4, Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment is an Australian company that distributes international films as well as Japanese anime and manga in Australia and New Zealand. The company is owned by Funtastic Limited and is one of the major entertainment companies in Australia. It employs 130 people and has an annual...
has released all eight seasons on DVD in Australia. Season 8, the Final Season, was released on October 5 2011.
DVD releases play heavily on Clint Eastwood's later fame, depicting him in the foreground as the chief character and crediting: 'Clint Eastwood in...', however the original show credits for seasons one to seven actually depict the late Eric Fleming (as Gil Favor) being the lead cast member, with Eastwood as co-star (excepting a few later episodes where Eastwood is the sole star)
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 23 | July 25, 2006 |
| Season 2, Volume 1 | 16 | May 29, 2007 |
| Season 2, Volume 2 | 16 | December 18, 2007 |
| Season 3, Volume 1 | 15 | May 27, 2008 |
| Season 3, Volume 2 | 15 | December 9, 2008 |
| Season 4, Volume 1 | 15 | June 7, 2011 |
| Season 4, Volume 2 | 14 | November 1, 2011 |
Books
In 1961, Signet Books published a paperback original novel called Rawhide by Frank C. RobertsonFrank Chester Robertson
Frank Chester Robertson was an American author best known for his western novels. He published over 150 hard cover books and countless other short stories, serials and newspaper articles. In later years, he also wrote a column for the Provo Herald called, “The Chopping Block”.-Early...
. It was based upon the television show. Eric Fleming as Gil Favor and Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates are both on the front cover of the book. The book follows Gil Favor, Rowdy Yates, Wishbone and others as they try to get their herd to Sedalia ahead of a rival's herd. The book was published multiple times with the last run printed in 1986.