| Lawman |
 |
| ABC Network |
| 1958 - 1962 |
| Drama |
| 30 Minutes |
John Russell starred as Marshal Dan Troop, a
stern but fair lawman who maintained order in
the 1870s town of Laramie, Wyoming with the
assistance of his younger deputy Johnny McKay
(Peter Brown).
Troop decided to become a lawman when a
special girl he knew year ago was killed by a
stray bullet shot in a senseless gunfight. As
his reputation grew he earned the nickname "the
Fastest Gun from Texas." It was his reputation
that caught the attention of the Laramie town
council of Laramie, who sent Troop, the marshal
of Abilene at the time, an invitation to
be Marshall in their fair city and to clean up
the town, including the Hawk brothers, a
terrible trio who were responsible killing the
town marshal. Of course, Troop answered their
call.
Deputy Johnny MacKay hails from Lawrence,
Kansas where he lived on a farm outside of town
until his where his father was killed by raiders
during the war. At the age of ten, his mom moved
West on a wagon train but she died along the way
and was buried in Nebraska. Johnny's lived a
solitary life until he befriended the folks in
Laramie and got a job at the Blue Bonnet Cafe.
Johnny later learned that his mother had been
previously married to a robber named Barney
Tremain (Jeff York), a former Quantrill Raider
who was killed by Troop in a gunfight after the
man (Johnny' real dad) revealed he was the one
who killed Johnny's stepfather.
While working at the Blue Bonnet Cafe, Johnny
read an ad for a town deputy that paid $50.00 a
month. He applied, but Troop refused to hire
Johnny on the grounds he was inexperienced. But
during a gunfight between the two Hawks
brothers, Johnny stepped up and proved he had
the grit required to be a lawman by taking out
one of the Hawk's brothers who had attacked the
Marshall.
Marshal Dan Troop
and Deputy Johnny McKay
Other folks in town included:
- Peggy Castle as Lily Merrill, the owner of the Birdcage saloon
- Jon Lormer as Harry Tate, a newspaper editor (later
killed off) who publishes the Laramie Weekly (formerly
called the Laramie Free Press).
- Barbara Long as Julie, Tate's niece
- Bek Nelson as Dru Lemp, the widow of David Lemp, the
town's former marshal who origianlly ran the Blue Bonnet Cafe.
- Lane Chandler as Tom Pike, town councilman
- Ken Christy as Carl Shoemaker, town councilman
- Jack Elam as Flynn Hawk, a town bad guy who killed
Marshal Lemp. His other brothers Ethan (Edd Brynes) and Walt (Lee
Van Cleef) were just as bad. Walt and Flynn were killed in a
gunfight by Troop and MacKay.
Listen to
Theme Song
Theme Song Lyrics
(words by Mack David)
The Lawman came with the sun,
There was a job to be done,
And so they sent for the badge
and the gun of the Lawman
Lawman
And as he silently rode,
Where evil violently flowed
They knew he'd live or he'd die
by the code of the Lawman
Lawman
A man who rides all alone
And all that he'll ever own
Is just a badge and gun
and he's known as the Lawman
Memorabilia
TRIVIA NOTE: Before John Russell died
of emphysema in 1991, he appeared in the now
classic western Pale Rider (1985)
starring Clint Eastwood.
In the film, Russell played
Marshall Stockburn, an assassin hired by a
wealthy but corrupt businessman to force a band
of prospectors off their rightfully purchased
land.
At the conclusion of the film, Stockburn is
gunned down by a mysterious stranger (Eastwood)
in the guise of a preacher who had appeared out of nowhere to protect the
put upon prospectors.
As Stockburn faces certain death, he realizes
that the man who stands before him is the same man he
had killed earlier in his career.
"You!" shouts the Marshal, but before he can draw
his pistol, the stranger shoots him six times in
the chest.
The pattern of bullet holes on Stockburn's
body matched the bullet wounds on the stranger's
back.
The stranger finished off the Marshal with a
bullet to the brain, mounted his horse, and then
galloped into wilderness and
vanished.
Obituaries: John Russell: 01/19/1991; Peggy Castle;
08/11/1973; Dan Sheridan; 06/29/1963; Emory Parnell:
06/22/1979; Vinton Hayworth: 05/21/1970; Harry Cheshire:
06/16/1968
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