Found out this morning that he passed away.
Really enjoyed watching The Rifleman when I was growing up.
A really good portrayal of a father-son relationship, and Crawford had a real naturalness as a young actor.
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shareThis makes me very sad. He was such a pretty boy - looked a lot like one of my own sons - and was accomplished as a singer and, especially, as a cowboy. He could ride and rope most anything. Amazing child actor. Was sad to see him struggling in the past few years, but he always had a smile on his face. Sad day.
shareRest in Peace, Mr Crawford.
I remember him mostly from The Rifleman, but he was into music,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtTsgAwO8fk&t=3m3s
That's him in the white shirt, conducting and singing. He grew up listening to 1920s and 30s music, that Tin Pan Alley genre, that his parents liked. Note the "Mark McCain" on the curtain, his character on The Rifleman.
In 1962, his song "Cindy's Birthday" reached #8 on Billboard's Hot 100.
Sad to hear of his passing.
Do have something of a lighter note on this subject. When I heard he passed I had a momentary brain fart. My first thought was "He's only a kid."
Afterwards I'm thinking "That was 60 years ago, Genius."