Several stars from the long running, classic television series Wagon Train will be on at the 19th Annual Lone Pine Film Festival October 10-12 to talk about their work on the series.
Besides being on a panel together, they will also participate in individual question and answer sessions at Statham Town Hall scheduled during the weekend. Many past Festival attendees said they would like the opportunity to get to talk to the individual guests and this will allow a more personal contact. Afterwards, these actors will sign autographs on site.
At this time four stars have signed on to be present. They all either had guest appearances on the show or regular roles some time during the eight-year run of the show. They are series regulars Robert Horton and Denny Miller, and guest stars Phyllis Coates and Beverly Washburn. Other stars connected to the show are expected to appear as well. Series historian and writer Jim Rosin will also be in attendance. His history of the series will publish this summer.
The show premiered on Wednesday nights in September, 1957 on NBC.It was in part inspired by John Ford’s feature film The Wagonmaster (1950) and was conceived as a quality one hour weekly production with excellent writing and guest stars primarily known for their work in other media and genres. Earnest Borgnine starred in the very first episode and other guests included Lou Costello, James Coburn, Clint Eastwood, Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck and John Wayne among many others.
The story each week was based on character or characters on the wagon train traveling from St. Joseph, Missouri to California. There were also cast regulars: Wagon masters Ward Bond, then John MacIntyre; Robert Horton as Flint McCulloh then replaced by Robert Fuller and Denny (Scott) Miller as Duke Shannon. Two characters rode the whole series: Charlie Wooster played by Frank McGrath and Bill Hawks played by Terry Wilson.
The series was seen on NBC from 1957 to 1962, then moved to ABC from 1962 to 1965. It tried several formats including color and an extended ninety-minute running time. A total of 442 episodes were made.”
Robert Horton was the dashing scout Flint McCulloh. Beverly Washburn appeared in the very first episode that starred Earnest Borgnine. Denny Miller had a recurring role on the show and Phyllis Coates, who starred in Lone Pine in Cattle Empire, is also remembered as the first Lois Lane in the televisions series Superman. |
