| Cowboy in Africa |
 |
| ABC Network |
| 1967 - 1968 |
| Drama |
| 60 Minutes |
Chuck Connors starred as James "Jim" Sinclair, a
world-champion rodeo rider who was hired to run a Kenyan
game ranch and teach modern
methods of animal domestication to the local Masai tribes.
Others friends of Jim Sinclair included:
- Ronald Howard as Wing Commander Howard Hayes, the retired
British
air force officer who brought Sinclair to Kenya to rope and herd
the many animals on his ranch, including antelope, buffalo,
wildebeest and zebra. Hayes came upon the idea of taking the wild
out of animals when he met a docile zebra (nicknamed "Pajama
Tops").
- Tom Nardini as John Henry, Jim's Navajo Indian assistant and
blood brother.
- Gerald Edwards as Samson, an orphaned ten-year-old Kikuya boy
who hung out with Tom and Jim as they roamed the ranch and managed
the wildlife.
Jim Sinclair
Besides dealing with lions, and tigers and Masai, Oh My! Jim and
John encountered these other adventures:
- Jim tries to save a wounded rhinoceros.
- A nomadic chief forces ranchers to herd horses for his
tribe.
- Jim attempts to get local children educated in a school.
- John searches for Jim when his airplane crashes.
- Jim is suspicious of sports promoter who is operating a African game rodeo
in which Jim has reluctantly agreed to participate.
- Jim clashes with a game hunter over his brutal hunting style.
- Mercenaries rob and pillage the settler's properties,
including the O'Neills, fiery newcomers who are out for revenge.
- A Kenyan leader is exploiting a cattle disease epidemic.
Memorabilia
TRIVIA NOTE: The series is based on
the Ivan Tors movie
Africa, Texas Style
(1967), starring Hugh O'Brien as Jim Sinclair.
Tom Nardini who played John Henry in the film
reprised his role in the ABC series. In the
movie, John Mills appeared as Wing Commander
Hayes and Charles Malinda played Sampson.
The series was filmed in Africa and
Africa, U.S.A., an animal park in southern
California. The theme was composed by Malcolm
Arnold.
An
ABC advertisement described Jim
Sinclair as "a man as tough and unbeatable as
the American West that spawned him!"
Obituaries: Chuck Connors: 11/10/1992; Ronald
Howard: 12/19/1996.
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