January 19 Birthday Wishes

Guy Madison [1922 - 1996]

Guy Madison was maybe the first actor I followed upon watching his TV series The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok. I have written about his movie The Charge at Feather River as a 3D experience and the movie that named The Wilhelm Scream. He also did some good B features in the '50's and was one of the first American actors to migrate to Europe to continue his acting career, acting in many Spaghetti westerns.

Howdy Pards!!

Ah, the bygone days of western t.v. As a child, I could hardly wait to turn on the t.v. on Saturdays, to relive those thrilling days of yesteryear with the Lone Ranger, Kit Carson and Wild Bill Hickok and Jinglebells.I will never forget that high pitched voice of Andy Devine's, yelling for Wild Bill. Like most boys, I was mesmerized by that fancy 2 gun rig, that Guy Madison wore in a reverse draw and his ability to draw and fire his guns so rapidly, from that position. In his fringed buckskin shirt, with his curled stetson and that fancy rig, he was the cat's meow. And the fact that within 30 minutes, he always rounded up all the bad guys, didnt hurt none either!! Although better known for many of the 50's B westerns he did, he will always be Wild Bill Hickok to me!!

Ed

Several other westerns that I enjoyed with Guy Madison (outside his Wild Bill Hickok and Charge at Feather River) was Reprisal (one of my favorite with him), Massacre River (which co-starred Rory Calhoun); The Last Frontier (with Victor Mature, Robert Preston, Anne Bancroft & James Whitmore), The Command; The Hard Man; Bullwhip (which co-featured my very good friend Peter Adams and filmed outside the gold mining town of Columbia and Angels Camp), and a Civil War film I enjoyed called Drums in the Deep South. He also appeared on TV in episodes of Wagon Train & Zane Grey Theatre (both of which I recently saw). He was a fine actor and, from what I hear, a really nice guy.

Like Nightlinger Wild Bill Hickok and Hoppy were my first TV heroes. I used to eat Corn Pops and watch Guy on Saturday mornings. His fringed buckskin jacket was the coolest outfit I ever saw. Guy was another short actor with a very distinctive booming voice. As I became a Spaghetti western fan it was a pleasure to see Guy pop-up in some of them. He actually made three of the Karl May German westerns with Lex Barker before appearing in a half dozen of Spaghetti westerns. I finally met him at one of the Golden Boots and became friends with his daughter Bridget who carries on her fathers legacy. Happy Birthday Guy and thanks for the memories.

Howdy Pards!!

Just hafta add this!! The last time I saw Guy Madison, was in the 1988 made for t.v. remake of Red River, which starred James Arness and Bruce Boxleitner. Madison played a cameo role of the rancher,( Meeker) whose cattle were being rounded up along with Arness' cattle. He still looked the same, enen though he was 35 years older and had silver hair. A little trivia about Guy Madison, whose real name was Mosely. David.O.Selznik is the fella who came up with his stage name. He figured Mosely was the "Guy" all the girls wanted to meet and the Madison came from a passing Dolly Madison truck!!

Ed

Another piece of trivia, Guy was not born in Bakersfield, CA as usually stated but a small town nearby called Pumpkin Center.

I really likes Guy Madison in Command. Great movie! Thanks to WB Archive for bringing it out of the vault. That was one of the first movies I bought from the Archive.
If for one never heard of "TV series The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok".
Growing up when in the country and you only get one channel there are lots of shows I never heard of.

Howdy Sandy!!

The Adventures Of Wild Bill Hickok would have been a little before you were born, pard. It ran from 1951-1958 and starred the handsome Guy Madison and Andy Devine, who you will remember as the cowardly sheriff, with the funny high voice in, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence. Ole Andy weighed about 300 pounds, wore the same fringed buckskin jacket and carried twin nickle plated 7 & 1/2 inch barreled single action Colts. That strange high voice was the result of Andy falling with a stick in his mouth as a child and apparently it damaged his vocal cords. He was always getting in some sort of a jam and calling out for Madison, H-E-Y-Y-- W-I-L-D-- B-I-L-L-L. The 2 gun rig that Madison wore was another of the highly decorated rigs like those worn by the Lone Ranger and Roy Rogers, adorned with the small silver conchos, which were custom made for them by a fella named Gillman and another fella named White, except that Madison's was a reverse draw and his stag gun butts were forward. There is a picture of one of these highy decorated rigs, under the thread Roy Rogers or you can pull up " pvsaddleshop.com" and view a sampling of these beautiful rigs, made by a fella named Dusty, that were the pinnacle of gun rigs before the advent of the steel lined rigs by Arvo Ojala and later Andy Anderson. Since these beautiful ole rigs weren't steel lined, you could set your pants on fire with blanks or blow a hole in your foot or leg, if using real bullets, if you tried to do a fast draw using the thumb cock method. Strangely enough, I've never seen this wonderful ole t.v. western in syndication.

Ed

Thanks Ed!

I had to look what Andy Devine is. Had to put a face with the name. Ha! I can hear that man laugh. Ha! Makes me want to laugh. He was a funny guy.

I wouldn't mind seeing Guy Madison in
The Adventures Of Wild Bill Hickok. Just looked it up on youtube.

Sandy

One more thing I have to say, Guy Madison was a very handsome man. I just watched a tribute to him on youtube. Peg you should check it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntvBcKlQVpI&feature=related