Between Sept 6 and Sept 20, 1955, three brand new adult westerns premiered. Gunsmoke, Cheyenne and The Life & Legend of Wyatt Earp. The main star in each of these series is still alive today (as of this writing) and all three were born while the real Wyatt Earp was still alive.
Wyatt Earp lived until Jan 1929
James Arness was born in May 1923
Hugh O'Brian Was born in April 1925
Clint Walker was born in May 1927
Just thought this was interesting.
Yes, interesting. I was raised on westerns in the States up to the age of 5 in 1960. At that time there was a definite sense of continuity with real history -- of course, along with other real historical figures and places featured on tv: Elfego Baca, Jim Bowie, Tombstone territory, Swamp Fox and on and on. These days, despite all the so-called realism, stylistically the historical connection is so remote that each new western that comes up on the big screen has about as much spiritual connection with history as a vampire flick.
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