Mickey Gilbert, the fearless stunt performer who jumped off a cliff for Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and doubled for Gene Wilder in films including Blazing Saddles, Silver Streak and The Frisco Kid, has died. He was 87.
Gilbert died Monday of natural causes at his home in Camarillo, California, his oldest son, Tim Gilbert, also a stunt performer, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Early in his career, Gilbert was a horse wrangler in William Wyler’s Ben-Hur (1959) and a bank robber in Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch (1969). Years later, he took the lumps for Lee Majors’ Colt Seavers on the 1981-86 ABC action show The Fall Guy.
Though they weren’t friends at the time, Gilbert and Redford were in the same class at Van Nuys High School, graduating in 1954. They got together on George Roy Hill’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) when Redford...
Gilbert died Monday of natural causes at his home in Camarillo, California, his oldest son, Tim Gilbert, also a stunt performer, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Early in his career, Gilbert was a horse wrangler in William Wyler’s Ben-Hur (1959) and a bank robber in Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch (1969). Years later, he took the lumps for Lee Majors’ Colt Seavers on the 1981-86 ABC action show The Fall Guy.
Though they weren’t friends at the time, Gilbert and Redford were in the same class at Van Nuys High School, graduating in 1954. They got together on George Roy Hill’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) when Redford...
- 2/6/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
For as long as American media has existed, so too has the allure of a Western. Stories set in the Wild West play an outsized role in the country’s self-mythology, and one of the genre’s favorite tropes is the duel between two opposing gunfighters. These duels often came down to one simple question: who was the fastest in the West? It turns out that few had the reflexes or mental sharpness of Nick Barkley, a character on the show The Big Valley played by Peter Breck.
Breck was one of many actors who learned to fire their weapons accurately in no time. But who was the quickest? It’s a question without a definitive answer.
Peter Breck played the young hothead in ‘The Big Valley’
The Big Valley took place in Stockton, California, from 1884 to 1888. The show followed the lives of the Barkley family. They were wealthy owners...
Breck was one of many actors who learned to fire their weapons accurately in no time. But who was the quickest? It’s a question without a definitive answer.
Peter Breck played the young hothead in ‘The Big Valley’
The Big Valley took place in Stockton, California, from 1884 to 1888. The show followed the lives of the Barkley family. They were wealthy owners...
- 4/16/2023
- by Sam Hines
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
When producer Mike Frankovich set out to make "The Shootist," he did not initially pursue John Wayne for the role of J.B. Brooks, a lawman-turned-gunfighter who discovers he is dying from cancer. Given the elegiac tone of Glendon Swarthout's novel, and Wayne's real-life battle with cancer, you'd think he would've been at the top of Frankovich's list. Alas, Wayne's health was in steep decline; he'd struggled through the shoot of 1975's "Rooster Cogburn," and was likely not up to the task of one last leading-man part. But when top Hollywood stars like Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson, George C. Scott, and Gene Hackman passed on the project, the universe seemed to be telling the producer there was only one man for this particular job.
Frankovich finally caved and offered the part to Wayne, who not only accepted but proved to be a boon to the film's casting prospects.
Frankovich finally caved and offered the part to Wayne, who not only accepted but proved to be a boon to the film's casting prospects.
- 10/12/2022
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
From 1955 to 1961, the Western series “Gunsmoke” concurrently existed on radio and TV with two different casts and creative teams. The latter version would continue on CBS for 14 additional seasons, becoming the first live action primetime narrative series to last for two decades. While it held this and several other records, it missed out on earning the distinction of being the first-ever adult-themed Western show by just four days. The original program that added a dose of maturity to the landscape dominated by “The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin” and “The Lone Ranger” was ABC’s “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.”
Film actor Hugh O’Brian starred as Kansan lawman Wyatt Earp for six seasons and earned his only Emmy nomination for his work on the second. At 31, he was the youngest person to have been recognized for a dramatic performance up to that point. Over 60 years later, he still...
Film actor Hugh O’Brian starred as Kansan lawman Wyatt Earp for six seasons and earned his only Emmy nomination for his work on the second. At 31, he was the youngest person to have been recognized for a dramatic performance up to that point. Over 60 years later, he still...
- 8/18/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
From 1955 to 1961, the Western series “Gunsmoke” concurrently existed on radio and TV with two different casts and creative teams. The latter version would continue on CBS for 14 additional seasons, becoming the first live action primetime narrative series to last for two decades. While it held this and several other records, it missed out on earning the distinction of being the first-ever adult-themed Western show by just four days. The original program that added a dose of maturity to the landscape dominated by “The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin” and “The Lone Ranger” was ABC’s “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.”
Film actor Hugh O’Brian starred as Kansan lawman Wyatt Earp for six seasons and earned his only Emmy nomination for his work on the second. At 31, he was the youngest person to have been recognized for a dramatic performance up to that point. Over 60 years later, he still...
Film actor Hugh O’Brian starred as Kansan lawman Wyatt Earp for six seasons and earned his only Emmy nomination for his work on the second. At 31, he was the youngest person to have been recognized for a dramatic performance up to that point. Over 60 years later, he still...
- 8/18/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Trucks for victory! No deadheads on this run! Bald Tires for Adolf! Budd Boetticher’s two-fisted teamsters haul General Patton’s supplies through a France not completely cleared of German resistance, a gearshift in one hand and a buxom mam’selle in the other. The movie is not bad, especially in the casting department — it least includes some black troopers to portray a mixed outfit that was more than half black. Red Ball Roughneck roll call: Jeff Chandler, Sidney Poitier, Alex Nicol, Hugh O’Brian, Charles Drake, Bubber Johnson, Davis Roberts. At Ease.
The Red Ball Express
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1952 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 83 min. / Street Date , 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Jeff Chandler, Sidney Poitier, Alex Nicol, Hugh O’Brian, Charles Drake, Jacqueline Duval, Judith Braun, Bubber Johnson, Davis Roberts, Frank Chase, Gregg Palmer, Jack Kelly, Howard Petrie .
Cinematography: Maury Gertsman
Film Editor: Edward Curtiss
Dialogue director: Irvin Berwick...
The Red Ball Express
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1952 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 83 min. / Street Date , 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Jeff Chandler, Sidney Poitier, Alex Nicol, Hugh O’Brian, Charles Drake, Jacqueline Duval, Judith Braun, Bubber Johnson, Davis Roberts, Frank Chase, Gregg Palmer, Jack Kelly, Howard Petrie .
Cinematography: Maury Gertsman
Film Editor: Edward Curtiss
Dialogue director: Irvin Berwick...
- 8/25/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Morgan Woodward, the silent, menacing mirrored-glasses boss dubbed "The Man with No Eyes" in Cool Hand Luke, has died. He was 93.
Woodward died Friday morning at his home in California, the Fielder House Museum in Arlington, Texas, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. They house a large portion of his film and television memorabilia in their "Woodward Room."
A stalwart of the Western genre, he guest-starred in a record 19 episodes of Gunsmoke (and its 1992 television movie), 12 episodes of Wagon Train, across nine seasons on Dallas as oil-man Marvin "Punk" Anderson and as Hugh O'Brian's deputy on ...
Woodward died Friday morning at his home in California, the Fielder House Museum in Arlington, Texas, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. They house a large portion of his film and television memorabilia in their "Woodward Room."
A stalwart of the Western genre, he guest-starred in a record 19 episodes of Gunsmoke (and its 1992 television movie), 12 episodes of Wagon Train, across nine seasons on Dallas as oil-man Marvin "Punk" Anderson and as Hugh O'Brian's deputy on ...
- 2/23/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Morgan Woodward, the silent, menacing mirrored-glasses boss dubbed "The Man with No Eyes" in Cool Hand Luke, has died. He was 93.
Woodward died Friday morning at his home in California, the Fielder House Museum in Arlington, Texas, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. They house a large portion of his film and television memorabilia in their "Woodward Room."
A stalwart of the Western genre, he guest-starred in a record 19 episodes of Gunsmoke (and its 1992 television movie), 12 episodes of Wagon Train, across nine seasons on Dallas as oil-man Marvin "Punk" Anderson and as Hugh O'Brian's deputy on ...
Woodward died Friday morning at his home in California, the Fielder House Museum in Arlington, Texas, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. They house a large portion of his film and television memorabilia in their "Woodward Room."
A stalwart of the Western genre, he guest-starred in a record 19 episodes of Gunsmoke (and its 1992 television movie), 12 episodes of Wagon Train, across nine seasons on Dallas as oil-man Marvin "Punk" Anderson and as Hugh O'Brian's deputy on ...
- 2/23/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
On this day in history as it relates to the movies...
1859 Billy the Kid, future legendary outlaw, is born. He's been played in movies and TV by actors like Buster Crabbe, Hugh O'Brian, Paul Newman, Clu Galager, Val Kilmer, and perhaps most famously by Kris Kristofferson, BAFTA nominated for Pat Garret and Billy the Kid (1973)
1887 Boris Karloff, villainous movie icon (Frankenstein, The Mask of Fu Manchu, Scarface, etcetera) is born
1888 Harpo Marx is born...
1859 Billy the Kid, future legendary outlaw, is born. He's been played in movies and TV by actors like Buster Crabbe, Hugh O'Brian, Paul Newman, Clu Galager, Val Kilmer, and perhaps most famously by Kris Kristofferson, BAFTA nominated for Pat Garret and Billy the Kid (1973)
1887 Boris Karloff, villainous movie icon (Frankenstein, The Mask of Fu Manchu, Scarface, etcetera) is born
1888 Harpo Marx is born...
- 11/23/2016
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Actor Hugh O'Brian died yesterday, September 5, 2016, at the age of 91. His Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership leadership and service website, Hoby.org, announced the news. A veteran also of stage and screen, the actor played the title role in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp TV show. The 30-minute Western ran for six seasons of 227 episodes on ABC, from September 1955 to June 1961.Born Hugh Charles Krampe on April 19, 1925 in Rochester, New York to Hugh John and Edith Krampe, O'Brian served with the Us Marine Corps during World War II. His father was a career officer.Read More…...
- 9/6/2016
- by TVSeriesFinale.com
- TVSeriesFinale.com
Hugh O'Brian, best known for playing Wyatt Earp on television, died Monday at the age of 91.
"O'Brian passed away peacefully this morning at his home in Beverly Hills," reads a statement posted to the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (Hoby) website.
The actor starred as the infamous lawman Earp in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp from 1955 to 1961. During his time on the hit series, which is known as one of the first adult Westerns on TV, the performer founded Hoby in 1958 to establish a new generation of leaders in the volunteer and service fields. To date, over 470,000 people have...
"O'Brian passed away peacefully this morning at his home in Beverly Hills," reads a statement posted to the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (Hoby) website.
The actor starred as the infamous lawman Earp in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp from 1955 to 1961. During his time on the hit series, which is known as one of the first adult Westerns on TV, the performer founded Hoby in 1958 to establish a new generation of leaders in the volunteer and service fields. To date, over 470,000 people have...
- 9/5/2016
- by Michael Miller, @write_miller
- People.com - TV Watch
Doris Roberts' death is causing turmoil for a movie she was set to headline ... because she's the third big name attached to the flick who has died. One of the last movie roles Doris signed on for was the female lead in "Old Soldiers" ... which is still securing its last bit of financing before it starts production. Problem is ... 2 of the other major roles belonged to Mickey Rooney and James Best ... who died in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
- 4/19/2016
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
Dolores Hart, Pamela Tiffin and Lois Nettleton are flight attendants aiming to snag three attractive, wealthy husbands right out of the air -- Karl Boehm, Hugh O'Brien and Karl Malden. There's more social comment in this 'coffee, tea or me' romantic comedy than can be found in a graduate thesis about the sexual habits of liberated stewardesses. And Hey, Frankie Avalon warbles the classy title tune! Come Fly with Me DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1963 / Color / 2:35 enhanced widescreen / 109 min. / Street Date June 30, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 18.49 Starring Dolores Hart, Hugh O'Brian, Karlheinz Bohm, Pamela Tiffin, Lois Nettleton, Karl Malden, Dawn Addams, Richard Wattis, Andrew Cruickshank, James Dobson, Lois Maxwell, John Crawford, Robert Easton, Maurice Marsac, George Coulouris, Ferdy Mayne. Cinematography Oswald Morris Film Editor Frank Clarke Original Music Lyn Murray Written by William Roberts from a book by Bernard Glemser Produced by Anatole De Grunwald Directed by Henry Levin
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
What?...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
What?...
- 11/17/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Edward Dmytryk's big-scale cattle empire saga sees paterfamilias Spencer Tracy drive away his sons and bull his way into a modern civil dispute that can't be resolved with force. Robert Wagner is the loyal son and Richard Widmark the resentful son impatient for Dad to cash in his chips. Fox's early CinemaScope and stereophonic sound western is a transposition of a film noir mystery thriller. Broken Lance Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1954 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 96 min. / Ship Date November 10, 2015 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, Jean Peters, Richard Widmark, Katy Jurado, Hugh O'Brian, Eduard Franz, Earl Holliman, E.G. Marshall, Carl Benton Reid, Philip Ober. Cinematography Joseph MacDonald Film Editor Dorothy Spencer Original Music Leigh Harline Written by Richard Murphy, Philip Yordan Produced by Sol C. Siegel Directed by Edward Dmytryk Reviewed by Glenn EricksonSome of the early 'big' westerns that aspire to epic status are...
- 11/14/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
'And Then There Were None' movie with Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, June Duprez, Louis Hayward and Roland Young. 'And Then There Were None' movie remake to be directed by Oscar nominee Morten Tyldum One of the best-known Agatha Christie novels, And Then There Were None will be getting another big-screen transfer. 20th Century Fox has acquired the movie rights to the literary suspense thriller first published in the U.K. (as Ten Little Niggers) in 1939. Morten Tyldum, this year's Best Director Academy Award nominee for The Imitation Game, is reportedly set to direct. The source for this story is Deadline.com, which adds that Tyldum himself “helped hone the pitch” for the acquisition while Eric Heisserer (A Nightmare on Elm Street 2010, The Thing 2011) will handle the screenplay adaptation. And Then There Were None is supposed to have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, thus holding the...
- 9/29/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
By Lee Pfeiffer
Actor Hugh O’Brian became an icon of American television through his long-running series “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp”. O’Brian also became a popular fixture in feature films as well as stage productions. At age 90, he’s still going strong. His autobiography “Hugh O’Brian or What’s Left of Him” has just been published and his Hugh O’Brian Youth leadership group is continuing to inspire American teenagers to become productive adults. Additionally, O’Brian has been promoting the Sfm Entertainment’s release of “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp: The Complete Series” on DVD.
We caught up with O’Brian recently for a phone interview from his home in Los Angeles. O’Brian’s wife Virginia, who co-authored his autobiography, also contributed some anecdotes. Hugh O’Brian possesses a marvelous sense of humor and makes self-deprecating jokes at the drop of hat.
Actor Hugh O’Brian became an icon of American television through his long-running series “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp”. O’Brian also became a popular fixture in feature films as well as stage productions. At age 90, he’s still going strong. His autobiography “Hugh O’Brian or What’s Left of Him” has just been published and his Hugh O’Brian Youth leadership group is continuing to inspire American teenagers to become productive adults. Additionally, O’Brian has been promoting the Sfm Entertainment’s release of “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp: The Complete Series” on DVD.
We caught up with O’Brian recently for a phone interview from his home in Los Angeles. O’Brian’s wife Virginia, who co-authored his autobiography, also contributed some anecdotes. Hugh O’Brian possesses a marvelous sense of humor and makes self-deprecating jokes at the drop of hat.
- 4/23/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Cinema Retro has received the following announcement:
The most celebrated lawman of the Old West rides again in the complete series (1955-1961) of the popular classic television Series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. Hugh O'Brian stars as the famed marshal whose exploits with Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson and the Clanton Gang are boldly brought to life in episodes based on actual events. With his signature Buntline Special pistol in hand, Wyatt Earp held posts in a series of increasingly lawless towns and battled dangerous men in his efforts to keep the peace. Through Ellsworth, Wichita, Dodge City and Tombstone, Wyatt's reputation as a just and formidable marshal grew, culminating in a storied gunfight that would seal his legend.
The success of the TV series spawned a series of comic book tie-ins.
This complete series includes all six seasons on 30 DVDs, approximately 100 hours of content. Also included in this...
The most celebrated lawman of the Old West rides again in the complete series (1955-1961) of the popular classic television Series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. Hugh O'Brian stars as the famed marshal whose exploits with Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson and the Clanton Gang are boldly brought to life in episodes based on actual events. With his signature Buntline Special pistol in hand, Wyatt Earp held posts in a series of increasingly lawless towns and battled dangerous men in his efforts to keep the peace. Through Ellsworth, Wichita, Dodge City and Tombstone, Wyatt's reputation as a just and formidable marshal grew, culminating in a storied gunfight that would seal his legend.
The success of the TV series spawned a series of comic book tie-ins.
This complete series includes all six seasons on 30 DVDs, approximately 100 hours of content. Also included in this...
- 2/8/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Ann Dvorak, Paul Muni, Dr. Socrates Ann Dvorak Pt.3: Scarface, Warner Bros. Leading Lady, But Never a Star Ann Dvorak played opposite most big names at Warner Bros. in the 1930s. In addition to the aforementioned Joan Blondell and Bette Davis, there were Warren William, Paul Muni, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., James Cagney, Dick Powell, Pat O'Brien, and Richard Barthelmess, among others. How did she get along with her leading men? Was she easy to work with? As far as I can tell, Ann was very easy to work with. I got the chance to speak with both Jane Wyatt and Hugh O'Brian, who made movies with Ann, and while neither one had much to say, the phrase they both used to describe her was "very professional." According to Warners' production logs, she was always on time and for the most part did not miss work. Despite the headaches she...
- 8/9/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Actor Hugh O'Brian, the 81-year-old star of 1950s TV series Wyatt Earp, married for the first time at a California cemetery over the weekend. O'Brian married his girlfriend of 18 years, teacher Virginia Barber, 54. The wedding, which was described as "a wedding to die for," was held at celebrity cemetery Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. The actor said, "This is my first, and most definitely, my last trip down the aisle." Some 300 guests witnessed the ceremony at the cemetery's Hall of Crucifixion-Resurrection, according to O'Brian's publicist, Monique Moss. The Rev. Robert Schuller, pastor of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, officiated, and the couple was serenaded by close friend Debbie Reynolds.
- 6/27/2006
- WENN
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