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Plenty of notable actors appeared on Gunsmoke over its 20 years on the air, including Bette Davis, Bruce Dern, Angie Dickinson, and Sam Elliott. Also on the list is Leonard Nimoy, who appeared in the 1966 episode “The Treasure of John Walking Fox.” Though Nimoy’s time on the popular Western series was brief, it was memorable, he recalled in interviews later in his life.

Leonard Nimoy appeared on ‘Gunsmoke’ shortly before ‘Star Trek’ premiered Leonard Nimoy in 2013 | Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

In a conversation with the Television Academy Foundation about his long career in TV, Nimoy recalled his last role on Gunsmoke, a show on which he appeared multiple times.

“What was particularly interesting was that Gunsmoke was the last job I did just before I started shooting Star Trek,” he said. “I had already done the Star Trek pilot, and I was hired for this story, playing an Indian.”

In...

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Clint Eastwood was one of the biggest movie stars in the world in 1995, but, up until that point, he was not known for appearing in family-friendly films. CBS' "Rawhide," the television series that launched him in the 1960s, and 1982's "Firefox," with its video game tie-in, are probably his two most kid-appropriate works. "Bronco Billy" and "Honkytonk Man" are also family films in a way, though, really, Eastwood only hit the bullseye with kids when he plopped Clyde the orangutan into the bare-knuckle-brawling adventures of Philo Beddoe in "Every Which Way But Loose" and "Any Which Way You Can" (both of which have no shortage of gleefully raunchy moments).

Eastwood also wasn't known for his romantic dramas, so the summer of 1995 promised to be an outlier for him with his adaptation of Robert James Waller's runaway bestseller "The Bridges of Madison County.

Big screen Westerns might've been falling out of favor at the U.S. box office in 1965 (thus paving the way for Spaghetti Westerns to become a surprise sensation when Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy rode into movie theaters throughout the course of 1967), but television Westerns were still swaggering their way to strong ratings thanks to "Bonanza," "Gunsmoke," and the hybrid Western/spy/sci-fi series "The Wild Wild West." And with "Rawhide" finally drawing to a close that year (thereby allowing its star Clint Eastwood to become a modern Western star), there was suddenly room for a new, sudsy, ranch-bound saga about scheming landowners and warring heirs.

"The Big Valley" whooped it up for a solid four-season run, running out of steam in 1969 at around the same moment the television Westerns began going the way of classical big screen oaters. Until then, viewers were hooked on the doings at the Barkley Ranch,...

With a career spanning 70 years and with 11 Oscar nominations (of which he won 4) to his name, Clint Eastwood has transcended from his role as the Man With No Name to a man of many talents. Immortalized by his work in Hollywood as an actor-director-producer, Eastwood remains one of the few artists hailing from the black & white era of cinema who are still relevant to the industry today.

Flags of Our Fathers (2006) [Credit: Warner Bros.]

As the oldest recipient of a Best Director Oscar at age 74, Eastwood has a full-circle career to reflect on with a lot of overdue leisure time to cash in. However, along with visionaries like Scorsese, Spielberg, and Coppola, the legend of the Spaghetti Westerns shows no sign of stopping now, despite being 94 years old.

Clint Eastwood Brings the Iwo Jima Portrait to Life Flags of Our Fathers recreates the iconic Iwo Jima photograph [Credit: Warner Bros.]

A picture that can...

Getting your first big break in Hollywood can be tricky; the journey to superstardom relies as much upon luck and the correct combination of circumstances as it does innate talent. Even someone like Clint Eastwood — whose impressively prolific career spans several decades and has molded him into a cultural icon — struggled to make a mark when he first set out to act. When Eastwood auditioned for the first time, he was rejected -- a likely occurrence for even the biggest stars today, as the perfect opportunities often boil down to the right connections and a performance suited to the role. After Eastwood dealt with a string of unsuccessful auditions in 1954, he scored a minor, uncredited role in Jack Arnold's "Revenge of the Creature," and went on to star in similar parts that mostly amounted to brief appearances with little to no dialogue.

In an attempt to diversify his career,...

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The year was 1963, and Clint Eastwood was tired of playing a Western hero. As Rowdy Yates on CBS' "Rawhide," he was stuck in a flavorless rut of white-hat derring-do, herding cattle and being an altogether swell guy while contending with stock genre villains. There was a future in this, yes, but it would require Eastwood to play the same note over and over until he became a lasso-wielding self-parody.

So, when he wrapped his fifth season of "Rawhide," he accepted an offer to make a big screen Western with a promising Italian director in Spain. That film was "A Fistful of Dollars," and all it did was launch the "Spaghetti Western" trend, which, along with the revisionist American works of Sam Peckinpah, extended the popularity of the genre for a solid decade.

"A Fistful of Dollars" was not, on the surface,...

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60 years ago this September, Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name stepped on screen for the first time in Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars." It would be a few more years until the low-budget Spaghetti Western made it to America, but the actor's star power and the director's talents were instantly recognizable for early adopters – even if critics took longer to get on board. By the time Leone had released two more Eastwood-led films, rounding out what became known as the Dollars Trilogy, Eastwood's narrowed eyes and steely attitude had become a fundamental image of the movie cowboy.

The Dollars trilogy, which continued with "For A Few Dollars More" and concluded in 1966 with "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly," is now celebrated as one of the best on-screen Western sagas of all time. The genre would...

2025 will officially mark Clint Eastwood's 70th year in the film industry. That's just five years short of the average life expectancy for American men, so you could absolutely call that a magnificent run even if all he ever did was play baddies and barkeeps since the Eisenhower administration. Of course, Eastwood has done a tad more than that. In collaboration with filmmakers Sergio Leone and Don Siegel, Eastwood played a major role in reconfiguring, respectively, the Western and crime genres. He's also won the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director twice (for "Unforgiven" and "Million Dollar Baby"), and, at the age of 94, will release his latest directorial effort, "Juror #2," this November.

Eastwood's been so successful for so long that it's difficult to accept that he ever truly struggled. But 94 years is a long damn time, and film stardom didn't arrive for this big-screen icon until he was in his 30s.

Clint Eastwood's Hollywood career officially began in 1955 when he made a brief, uncredited appearance as a lab technician in Jack Arnold's "Revenge of the Creature." Nine years later, unhappy as a midlevel television star on the CBS Western series "Rawhide," he jetted off to Spain to make a different kind of Western with a very different kind of director named Sergio Leone. The result, "A Fistful of Dollars," changed the face of the genre forever, and set Eastwood down the path to becoming a filmmaker in his own right.

Eastwood's directing career got off to a curiously assured start with the wildly suspenseful thriller "Play Misty for Me," in which the tough, swaggering star of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and "Dirty Harry" played a victimized Bay Area disc jockey. No one expected this from Eastwood, and it's fair to say no one saw this hugely...

Now who doesn’t know Clint Eastwood, an actor and director who pretty much revolutionized the face of Hollywood with his acting and directing talent. A one-of-a-kind star, it wasn’t until he was cast in Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars that he received the much-needed break that would enable him to become an enduring cultural icon of masculinity.

Clint Eastwood | Credits: Gran Torino / Warner Bros Pictures

One of the most iconic collaborations in the history of films, A Fistful of Dollars, not only put Eastwood on the map but also revolutionized the Western genre and the era of ‘Spaghetti Westerns’. However, the film wouldn’t probably have made it so far if hadn’t been for the brilliance of Eastwood, who was a compromise ‘cast’ after Leone failed to sign his first choice.

Sergio Leone on Casting Clint Eastwood in His Breakthrough Role Clint Eastwood in a...

Before "Gilligan's Island," comedian Alan Hale, Jr. had a prolific, decades-long career on stage and screen. He made his stage debut in 1931 at the age 10, began a very busy film career in 1941, and made multiple films a year throughout the 1950s. He played the title characters in both the 1953 adventure series "Biff Baker, U.S.A." and the 1957 Western "Casey Jones." He was a regular visitor of "The Gene Autry Show," and had guest spots in many of the more popular TV shows of the day. He was in "Maverick," "Bonanza," "The Untouchables," "Gunsmoke," and "Rawhide." There was, it seemed, nothing he couldn't do. 

Hale was reported always friendly and affable, and it was his affability that landed him the role of Jonas Grumby, aka The Skipper, on Sherwood Schwartz's 1964 sitcom "Gilligan's Island." The Skipper had to be the outraged, wrathful friend of the bumbling title character, but also...

Clint Eastwood’s always been known for his unapologetic attitude, both on and off the screen. And when it comes to his Dirty Harry movies, he’s not about to change that. Critics may have taken issue with the ethical implications of the films, but Eastwood seems to have shrugged it all off with his signature coolness. Instead of getting bogged down in debates about morality, Eastwood focuses on what he does best: delivering gritty, pulse-pounding entertainment.

Clint Eastwood’s Harry throws away his police badge | Credits: Warner Bros.

So, while some may question the ethics behind Dirty Harry, Eastwood’s response is pretty clear—he’s here to make movies, not moral lessons. In the end, it’s this unflinching approach that keeps audiences coming back for more, decade after decade.

Clint Eastwood’s Rebel Spirit: How Dirty Harry and Escape from Alcatraz Defied Critics and Defined His Legacy...

Clint Eastwood’s rise to global stardom wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. Before becoming the icon he is renowned as today, the actor’s initial days in showbiz saw him working as a contract actor for Universal, which didn’t last long, as he was eventually fired for his Adam’s apple, which Universal claimed stuck out too far.

Clint Eastwood in a still from A Fistful of Dollars | Credit: United Artists

But the setback didn’t hold his career back for too long as he’d soon land his breakout role and later headlined the iconic Dollars trilogy. However, his success outside Hollywood did little to garner him roles when he returned.

Clint Eastwood’s Success Overseas Didn’t Get the Ball Rolling in Hollywood

After rising to prominence following his stint in the CBS hour-long western series Rawhide, which he wasn’t particularly fond of, the actor then...

Back in 2018, comedian Adam Sandler made an impressive return to the comedy special scene with "100% Fresh," which fully delivered on what the title promised. Filmed at several different venues with varying crowd sizes, ranging from a more intimate Comic Strip stand-up club with dozens of fans to a massive theater with hundreds of people, the special featured Sandler doing bits of stand-up mixed with comedic songs about topics like Uber, heated toilet seats, and always remembering your phone, wallet, and keys when you're heading out somewhere. But Sandler also delivered some more nostalgic and lovely songs, such as "Bar Mitzvah Boy" and a heartfelt tribute to the late, great Chris Farley.

This year, the Sandman is back with "Adam Sandler: Love You," a brand new comedy special with all-new material and a surprising director behind the camera: Josh Safdie, one half of the Safdie brothers directing duo responsible for Sandler's intense,...

In the "Star Trek" episode "Spectre of the Gun", the U.S.S. Enterprise attempts to make contact with a xenophobic species of psychics called the Melkotians. When Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and his crew beam to the surface, they are instantly told by a Melkotian that they are trespassing and will be punished. The Melkotian teleports them, bizarrely, to an abstract Old West village where the buildings have no walls. This is an extrapolation of Tombstone, Arizona. Kirk and company find themselves standing in for specific fighters at the notorious Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and are clearly expected to face off against Wyatt Earp (Ron Soble), Morgan Earp (Rex Holman), and Virgil Earp (William Maxwell). 

Luckily, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) discovers that the laws of physics in this bizarre Old West mindscape don't operate the same as in real life, leading him to conclude that it's all an illusion.

James B. Sikking, known for his roles as Lt. Howard Hunter on “Hill Street Blues” and the titular character’s father on “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” has died. He was 90.

Sikking died Saturday of complications from dementia, his publicist Cynthia Synder said in a statement Sunday evening.

“In a remarkable career, Sikking’s wonderfully exciting face gave us drama, comedy, tragedy and hilarious farse,” Snyder shared with Variety. “His career spanned over six decades in television, film and on stage.”

Sikking was widely recognized for his portrayal of Howard Hunter on the police procedural series “Hill Street Blues,” which aired from 1981 to 1987 on NBC. He received an Emmy nomination in 1984 for his performance as the clean-cut, pipe-smoking lieutenant.

After “Hill Street Blues,” Sikking played Dr. David Howser, father of Doogie Howser (Neil Patrick Harris), for all four seasons of the ABC medical sitcom from 1989 to 1993.

He portrayed a police officer again for Steven Bochco,...

James B. Sikking, an actor best known for playing Hill Street Blues‘ Swat leader Lt. Howard Hunter and the father of Doogie Howser M.D., died peacefully at his Los Angeles home, of complications from Dementia, on July 13. He was 90.

“In a remarkable career, Sikking’s wonderfully exciting face gave us drama, comedy, tragedy and hilarious farce. His career spanned over six decades in television, film and on stage,” the late actor’s publicist, Cynthia Snyder, said in a statement. “His talent, integrity and imagination intrigued and delighted audiences.”

More from TVLineJacoby Jones, NFL Great and Dancing With the Stars Finalist,...

Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars" is not the greatest Spaghetti Western ever made, but it is widely considered to be the first. As the film that made Clint Eastwood an global movie star, it is inarguably the most significant. Most importantly in today's movie marketplace, people who've never seen a Spaghetti Western likely know the title, which makes it a viable candidate for a remake.

And this is fitting because "A Fistful of Dollars" is itself a remake. In fact, it was such a brazenly beat-for-beat copy of Akira Kurosawa's 1961 samurai classic "Yojimbo" that U.S. distributors wouldn't release Leone's film until the filmmaker settled up with the Japanese master and his backers at Toho (Kurosawa wound up making more money off this deal than he did with "Yojimbo").

Of course, "Yojimbo" wasn't an original either. Kurosawa openly acknowledged that his film was inspired by Stuart Heisler...

Pluto TV, Paramount’s free streaming service, has revealed its July highlights. The Pluto TV July 2024 schedule includes a new Westerns category and a Yellowstone Fourth of July marathon.

You can also expect fireworks at the Big Brother house when season 26 premieres, and with Pluto TV’s dedicated 24/7 live feeds, you won’t miss a second of the drama. Fans can also relive past seasons of the competition series on a new dedicated channel.

Pluto TV is the leading free streaming television service, delivering hundreds of live, linear channels and thousands of titles on-demand to a global audience. The Emmy Award-winning service curates a diverse lineup of channels in partnership with hundreds of international media companies.

Pluto TV offers various genres, languages, and categories featuring movies, television series, sports, news, lifestyle, kids, and much more. The service can be easily accessed and streamed across mobile, web, and connected TV devices.

Western dramas have been all the rage lately, but there was a time when the genre was falling behind. That is, until Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven was released. The film takes place in Big Whiskey, Wyoming, and follows the story of William Munny, a former outlaw. The film was quite well received by both fans and critics and is still considered one of the best movies of Clint Eastwood’s career.

Clint Eastwood as William Munny in Unforgiven (1992) | Warner Bros.

However, if Clint Eastwood had taken a harsh piece of advice from one of his close associates, he wouldn’t have been a part of the film. The associate strictly told the filmmaker/actor to throw out the script without paying any attention to it and while he complied for a bit, his eyes later fell on the script and he immediately fell in love with the story. Amd the rest,...

Veteran actress Elizabeth MacRae, best known for appearing in soap operas such as General Hospital and Days of Our Lives, has died. She was 88. According to her obituary at CityViewNc.com, MacRae passed away peacefully on Monday, May 27, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. A cause of death was not provided. Born on February 22, 1936, in Columbia, South Carolina, MacRae later moved to Fayetteville with her family and then to Washington D.C., where she attended Holton-Arms, an independent college-preparatory school for girls. After graduating, MacRae decided to pursue an acting career, moving to New York City in 1956 to study with Uta Hagen at the Herbert Berghof Studio. She gained experience playing various characters in off-Broadway and summer-stock productions. She landed her first television role in 1958 in the courtroom series The Verdict Is Yours. From there, MacRae would appear in numerous TV dramas and sitcoms, including 77 Sunset Strip, Burke’s Law, Dr. Kildare,...

Elizabeth MacRae, who played girlfriends of Gomer Pyle and Festus Haggen on television and a woman who seduces Gene Hackman’s surveillance expert in The Conversation, has died. She was 88.

MacRae died Monday in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where she was raised, her family announced.

MacRae showed up as Lou-Ann Poovie on 15 episodes of the CBS comedy Gomer Pyle: Usmc during its final three seasons (1966-69). She was signed to work just one episode, “Love’s Old Sweet Song,” on the Jim Nabors starrer but impressed producers enough to stick around for more.

Earlier, she portrayed April Clomley, the girlfriend of deputy marshal Festus (Ken Curtis), on CBS’ Gunsmoke on four installments from 1962-64.

In The Conversation (1974), written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, MacRae played Meredith, who dances with Hackman’s Harry Caul in his apartment, sleeps with him and then swipes one of his audiotapes. The actress was among...

Clint Eastwood was already 30 years old when he landed his breakout role in the CBS Western "Rawhide." The actor had spent much of the 1950s getting by on bit parts in B movies (most notably the Jack Arnold monster duo of "Revenge of the Creature" and "Tarantula"), and guest roles on TV series like "Maverick" and "Death Valley Days," so you'd think he would've been thrilled. But Eastwood was displeased with his character Rowdy Yates, who, early on in the series' run, was a wet-behind-the-ears ramrod. At his age, he was eager to play a grown, capable man with enough years behind him to allow for a bit of mystery.

Eastwood's restlessness coincided with a shift in filmmakers' approach to the Western genre. Though maestros like John Ford, Howard Hawks, Anthony Mann, and Budd Boetticher had allowed for moral ambiguity in their movies, the vast majority of Westerns were white...

Powerful roles and memorable lines have been the hallmark of Clint Eastwood’s career. Cops, cowboys drifters, soldiers and, generally bad ass men’s men … he’s played them all.

The lines that stick with you? Dirty Harry: “You’ve got to ask yourself a question: ‘Do you feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk.” Josey Wales: “When I get to likin’ someone, they ain’t around long.” Bill Munny in Unforgiven: “It’s a hell of a thing, killin’ a man. Take away all he’s got, and all he’s ever gonna have.” And perhaps the most quoted of all, Harry Callahan in Sudden Impact: “Go ahead, make my day.”

Eastwood has a cop for so long he should be collecting a pension. He joined the force with Dirty Harry in 1971 and his last movie as a cop was A Perfect World in (1993). He made five...

Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation" is his masterpiece in between masterpieces. The legendary filmmaker wrapped principal photography in late February 1973, just one month before he would win the Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay Oscars for "The Godfather" (Albert Ruddy took home the Best Picture Oscar as the mafia classic's producer). Had Paramount released the film that year, it almost certainly would've received nominations for Best Picture and Director (over the wholly forgotten "A Touch of Class"), giving Coppola three consecutive nods in the latter category, a feat only accomplished once in Academy Awards history (by William Wyler). Instead, he wound up competing against himself a year later, when he added three more Oscars to his trophy case with "The Godfather Part II."

While "The Godfather" movies placed him atop Hollywood's director A-list for the rest of the decade, some cinephiles believe "The Conversation" is the superior film. The...

Who could've imagined "Community" launching the careers of so many big-name artists? From the Russo Brothers to Donald Glover and Alison Brie, Dan Harmon's cult-favorite comedy series was a breeding ground for then-budding talents, perhaps none more so than composer Ludwig Göransson. Over the last 15 years, Göransson has cemented himself as one of the best music-making millennials in the business, along the way picking up an Oscar for the sick Afrofuturistic beats of his "Black Panther" soundtrack (although his Oscar-nominated score for "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" was just as impressive). He's now landed a well-deserved second Academy Award for his electrifying work on "Oppenheimer," placing him in some reputable company when it comes to the Oscars.

Specifically, this gives Göransson just as many Oscars as Hans Zimmer. It's actually kind of mind-boggling that the legendary composer doesn't have more than that, considering just how many iconic movie scores he's...

Jean Allison, the familiar character actress who appeared on dozens of TV shows, from Have Gun — Will Travel, Bonanza, Hawaiian Eye and The Rifleman to McCloud, Adam-12, The Waltons and Highway to Heaven, has died. She was 94.

Allison, a resident of Rancho Palos Verdes, died Feb. 28, her family announced.

Allison made her big-screen debut as a woman menaced by a psychopath (Michael Higgins) in the United Artists drama Edge of Fury (1958), and her film résumé also included The Devil’s Partner (1960), Paul Sylbert’s The Steagle (1971), Robert Benton’s Bad Company (1972) and Paul Schrader’s Hardcore (1979).

Born in New York on Oct. 24, 1929, Allison attended Marymount High School in Tarrytown, New York, and Adelphi College, also in New York.

While appearing on stage in the Patricia Joudry drama Teach Me How to Cry, she was spotted and signed by agent Doovid Barskin. Her first TV gig came in 1957 on CBS’ General Electric Theater.

Anne Whitfield, who appeared in the beloved holiday classic White Christmas and on dozens of TV shows, from Father Knows Best, 77 Sunset Strip and Perry Mason to That Girl, Ironside and Emergency!, has died. She was 85.

Whitfield died Feb. 7 at a hospital in Yakima, Washington, after suffering an “unexpected accident” while on a walk in her neighborhood, family members announced.

“She was a powerhouse in life, and we hope her immense positive energy flows out to those who had the pleasure of knowing her,” they wrote.

Whitfield was 15 and had done lots of acting on the radio when she was cast as Susan Waverly, the granddaughter of Dean Jagger’s Major Gen. Thomas F. Waverly — “The Old Man” — in the Michael Curtiz-directed Paramount musical White Christmas (1954). The film starred Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen.

She got to watch White Christmas with her family on the...

Veteran actor William O’Connell, who played memorable villain Thelev on the original series of Star Trek and was a frequent foil in Clint Eastwood movies, has died. He was 94. According to Deadline, O’Connell passed away on Monday, January 15, at his home in Sherman Oaks, California, as confirmed by a family friend. A cause of death was not given. Born on May 12, 1929, in Los Angeles, O’Connell was a prolific actor throughout the 1960s and 1970s, appearing in bit parts in several popular television series of the time. One of his first on-screen roles came in 1959 in the crime drama Highway Patrol. His other television credits include Peter Gunn, The Twilight Zone, Going My Way, My Three Sons, The Lieutenant, The Outer Limits, Valentine’s Day, Rawhide, Bonanza, The Munsters, Batman, The Lucy Show, and many more. #RIPWilliamOConnell William O’Connell was an American film and television actor. pic.twitter.com...

The "Twilight Zone" episode "The Midnight Sun" took place on an Earth that had fallen out of its orbit and was drifting very slowly closer and closer toward the sun. The episode was an exploration of humanity during its waning hours, as seen through the eyes of Norma (Lois Nettleton), a painter who tried desperately to hang on to water and stay cool as temperatures rose and rose. Norma's only recourse is to paint the fires she sees out the window and the burning, growing sun in the sky. Eventually, her neighbor breaks down and implores Norma to paint something cool and refreshing, like a waterfall. The episode ends with Norma being overwhelmed by the heat and her neighbor dying of heat stroke.

There is a twist, of course. Norma wakes up in bed, having dreamed the entire episode. It's revealed that the Earth is, in fact, drifting away from...

Who wouldn’t want to spend the holidays with some of their favorite TV characters? MeTV is making it easy this year with its “A Very Merry MeTV” programming lineup, which includes a selection of very special Thanksgiving and Christmas-themed episodes of classic shows such as The Waltons, The Beverly Hillbillies, Andy Griffith, and more.

The celebration begins on Sunday, Nov. 19 and runs through Dec. 25. Check out some of the highlights below, as well as the full schedule.

‘The Waltons’ Thanksgiving episode airs Nov. 22 and 23 A Verry Merry MeTV | MeTV

Celebrate Thanksgiving with one of TV’s most famous fictional families. In 1973, The Waltons aired its only Thanksgiving special, a two-part episode titled “The Thanksgiving Story.” The season 2 episode focuses on John-Boy Walton (Richard Thomas), who suffers a life-threatening head injury that puts his plans for college at risk. Meanwhile, his sister Mary Ellen (Judy Norton) auditions for the Thanksgiving play,...

Judy Nugent, the former ’50s child actor who co-starred with Jane Wyman in Magnificent Obsession, Annette Funicello in the popular Annette serial on ABC’s The Mickey Mouse Club and flew in the arms of George Reeves’ Superman in a 1954 episode of The Adventures of Superman, died of October 26 cancer, surrounded by family at her ranch in Montana. She was 83.

Her death was announced in a family statement released by daughter-in-law Anne Lockhart, the Chicago Fire actor and daughter of Lost in Space star June Lockhart.

A Los Angeles native – she was the daughter of MGM prop man Carl Nugent – Nugent had already appeared in a handful of uncredited roles, including in the 1951 film Angels in the Outfield, when she landed her breakthrough role as Donna Ruggles in the 1949-52 TV series The Ruggles, an early family sitcom starring comic actor Charles Ruggles (Bringing Up Baby). Nugent played the twin...

Judy Nugent, who portrayed one of the twins on the early TV sitcom The Ruggles and a girl who flies around the world in the arms of the Man of Steel on a heartwarming Adventures of Superman episode, has died. She was 83.

Nugent died on Oct. 26 “surrounded by family at her Montana ranch after a short battle with cancer,” according to a family statement shared by her daughter-in-law and Battlestar Galactica and Chicago Fire actress Anne Lockhart (the older daughter of Lassie and Lost in Space star June Lockhart).

The younger daughter of a prop man at MGM, Nugent also appeared in two films directed by Douglas Sirk: as a wise-cracking tomboy who tries to get a blinded widow (Jane Wyman) to snap out of it in Magnificent Obsession (1954), and as one of the daughters of Fred MacMurray and Joan Bennett’s characters in There’s Always Tomorrow (1956).

Nugent also...

Phyllis Coates, the first actor to portray Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane on television, died on Oct. 11 in Woodland Hills, Calif., her daughter Laura Press confirmed to the New York Times. She was 96.

Coates starred as Lois Lane in the “Adventures of Superman” when the series first aired in 1952, only to leave after one season. She initially played Lois opposite George Reeves as Clark Kent/the Man of Steel in “Superman and the Mole Men.” The 1951 black-and-white superhero film follows Clark and Lois as they arrive in the small town of Silsby, where a race of small, balding humanoids emerge from their underground home deep in an oil well.

The “Adventures of Superman” series debuted the following year, with Reeves and Coates reprising their respective roles as Clark and Lois from “Mole Men.”

Noel Neill, who had played Lois in two 15-part film serials starring Kirk Alyn — “Superman” (1948) and “Atom Man vs. Superman...

Phyllis Coates, who became television’s first Lois Lane when she was cast in the classic Adventures of Superman series starring George Reeves, died yesterday of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills. She was 96.

Her death was announced by daughter Laura Press to our sister publication The Hollywood Reporter.

Born Gypsie Ann Evarts Stell in Wichita Falls, Texas, on January 15, 1927, Coates and her family later moved to Hollywood. Along with some vaudeville-style performances, Coates launched her showbix career as a chorus girl during the 1940s, often touring the the Uso. Later in the decade, she landed small roles in such pictures as Smart Girls Don’t Talk and My Foolish Heart (1949), and appeared in a series of “Joe McDoakes” comedy shorts as Alice MacDoakes.

In 1951, Coates was invited to audition for the role of Lois Lane in the low-budget...

Phyllis Coates, the first actress to play Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane on television, only to leave the Adventures of Superman after just one season, has died. She was 96.

Coates, who also appeared in Republic Pictures serials and in such films as I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, died Wednesday of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, her daughter Laura Press told The Hollywood Reporter.

A native of Wichita Falls, Texas, Coates first portrayed the headstrong Lois opposite George Reeves as the Man of Steel in the dark sci-fi movie Superman and the Mole Men (1951).

The success of that Lippert Pictures film — the first full-length theatrical feature starring the comic-book hero — led to the quick decision to start production on a syndicated show for television.

Coates segued to the series and got into jams as Lois in all 26 episodes of the first season...

Actor Clint Eastwood has worked with a variety of filmmakers during his years in the film industry. In his experience, there was one filmmaking habit he could barely tolerate from other directors.

It might have also showed Eastwood what not to do when he indulged in a career behind the camera.

Clint Eastwood once called out directors who did too many takes Clint Eastwood | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Eastwood became interested in directing fairly early in his acting career. After getting his big break in the classic Western series Rawhide, he asked to direct a couple of episodes.

“Then, the production company reneged on their promise that I could do it,” Eastwood once told DGA.

“They said that CBS didn’t want actors who were in the shows to be directing the shows. So I kind of dropped the idea for a while and then, after I’d been working with...

Clint Eastwood never quits.

On Wednesday, the iconic actor and director turned 93, and his friend Arnold Schwarzenegger honoured the “legend” in a post on Instagram.

Read More: Clint Eastwood Set To Direct ‘Juror No. 2’ For Warner Bros.

“Happy birthday, Clint! You’ve inspired me, you’ve mentored me, and you’re a wonderful friend,” Schwarzenegger wrote, alongside a photo of the pair on skis in the mountains.

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“At 93, you prove that heroes don’t retire – they reload. You’re a legend,” Schwarzenegger added.

And Eastwood really isn’t retiring yet. After directing and starring in the 2021 film “Cry Macho”, he already has his next movie lined up.

The film “Juror #2” is currently in pre-production, with Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, Zoey Deutch and Kiefer Sutherland set to star.

As for how much longer he’ll continue directing, Eastwood told...

Actor Carrie-Anne Moss had her first action role in the 1999 Matrix movie. But she took a lot of inspiration from original action star Clint Eastwood to play Trinity.

How Carrie-Anne Moss took inspiration from Clint Eastwood for Trinity Carrie-Anne Moss | Matthew Eisman/Getty Images

Clint Eastwood has a variety of films under his belt both as an actor and a director. But he was originally known as an action star. Eastwood played the action hero Rowdy Yates in the TV series Rawhide. From there, he moved on to characters who were more morally complex by starring in features like Fistful of Dollars. This was a conscious decision on Eastwood’s part, who didn’t want to play just a pure hero anymore.

“In Rawhide I did get awfully tired of playing the conventional white hat. The hero who kisses old ladies and dogs and was kind to everybody. I decided...

Actor Clint Eastwood became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars after starring in a series of successful hits like his Dirty Harry series. Soon Eastwood planned on leaving acting behind, and retiring when he hit the apex of his career.

But there was one film the actor didn’t count on that ruined his plans.

Clint Eastwood vowed to never perform again after his first experience with acting Clint Eastwood | Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

If someone asked Eastwood, not even he’d be sure how exactly he ended up as one of the world’s top movie stars. Eastwood had some pretty off-putting experiences as an actor. Starting out In his first play ever, he vowed he’d never participate in the craft again.

“As a kid, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was forced to do a one-act play when I was in an English class,...

It's odd to think that there was a time when Clint Eastwood was just a jobbing actor and not the Hollywood legend we know him to be. As an actor and a director, the man has had a career that anyone looking for success in the film industry would envy, being able to make whatever he wanted to make consistently for decades.

Though he's tackled crime stories, romantic melodramas, biopics, and just about everything else you could in the business, we all know Clint Eastwood's bread and butter is the Western, the genre that rocketed him to stardom in the 1960s with the release of Sergio Leone's classic Spaghetti Western "Dollars" trilogy, all three of which hit American movie screens in 1967.

Prior to heading over to Italy to take on the Man with No Name character, Eastwood was the co-star of the television series "Rawhide" for eight years, and...

It was announced today that controversial actor Robert Blake has died at the age of 89. His niece, Noreen Austin, confirmed that he died at his Los Angeles home after a longtime battle with heart disease. Blake was best known for his roles in Richard Brooks’ adaptation of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, David Lynch’s Lost Highway, and for starring in the 1970s detective series Baretta.

Robert Blake got his start as a child actor, appearing as Mickey in forty installments of MGM’s Our Gang short films. He also played Little Beaver in twenty-three installments of the Red Ryder film series. He also appeared in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre as a young Mexican boy who sells a lottery ticket to Humphrey Bogart. Although many child actors can’t transition to adult roles, Blake managed to pull it off. His biggest break came with In Cold Blood,...

Actor Robert Blake, a man with a long and complex legacy, has died, a representative for his son-in-law Gregg Hurwitz confirmed to Variety. The former child actor was best known for his Emmy-winning role as the cockatoo-owning undercover cop in the popular 1970s TV series “Baretta” and, more infamously, for his trial following the 2001 murder of his wife. He was 89.

As reported by the Associated Press, Blake died from heart disease on Thursday at his home in Los Angeles.

These two aspects of Blake’s legacy were inseparable in some ways, and the personal turmoil that made the latter at least circumstantially plausible (the case against Blake hinged on motive — he may have wanted to be free of his rocky marriage) fueled his acting.

Blake was acquitted of the murder charge, as well as of one count of soliciting murder, in his criminal trial in 2005, but in a civil trial later that year,...

There are few cooler screen icons than Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name. The sneering hero of Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy" was quick with a gun, economical with words, and garbed in the most randomly natty getup audiences had ever seen in a Western.

Ask a fan of the films to name one defining piece of attire, and they'll most likely lead with the poncho —) though Leone's fondness for close-ups repeatedly drew our attention to that dust-beaten, leather-banded cowboy hat. Sartorially, the rest is pretty basic: spurred boots, sheepskin vest, and black jeans. It's the accouterments that complete the picture. The pistol, the holster, and those skinny cheroot cigars. Movies have always made smoking look entirely too cool, but Eastwood's gunfighter demanded something nasty clenched between his gritted teeth.

Leone was meticulous with his framing and mise en scène, but when he teamed with Clint Eastwood — a...

Gunsmoke was one of the most popular television shows ever to hit the air. The network, CBS, knew what it had on its hands after its 1955 premiere and milked it for 20 seasons before suddenly canceling it in 1975. The Western genre later died off, as its wave of popularity never quite returned to form. Here’s a list of five other vintage television shows to dig into if Gunsmoke was your jam.

L-r: Milburn Stone as Doc Adams, James Arness as Matt Dillon, Amanda Blake as Kitty Russell, and Ken Curtis as Festus Haggen | CBS via Getty Images ‘Bonanza’ (1959-1973) L-r: Dan Blocker as Eric ‘Hoss’ Cartwright, Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright, Pernell Roberts as Adam Cartwright, and Michael Landon as Joseph ‘Little Joe’ Cartwright | Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images

Bonanza first hit the air in 1959, a few years after Gunsmoke first established its legs among Western shows. The story follows...

It would be difficult to understate just how enormous "Rawhide" was when it debuted in 1959. Directories of TV ratings at the time revealed that "Rawhide" remained in the top 30 most-watched TV shows from its start through its fifth season, peaking at number 6 in its third. The show ran for eight years, and its theme song — performed by Frankie Laine — has been branded into the brains of anyone who has heard it. "Keep them doggies movin'" will cause many to break into song. Notably, one of the lyrics was "Don't try to understand 'em. Just rope an' throw an' brand 'em. Soon we'll be living high and wide." For those weaned on reruns in the 1980s, "Rawhide" was often discussed in hushed tones by the older generations.

"Rawhide" followed the many adventures of cattle ranchers in the Old West. It was a working-class show about the salt-of-the-earth cowboys that formed the American foundation.

Actor Clint Eastwood would have a very different career if it weren’t for A Fistful of Dollars. It was his first leading role in a feature film as the “Man with No Name,” who ultimately became a cultural phenomenon, continuing to influence today’s biggest movies. However, Eastwood could only accept the role because of a strict Rawhide contract condition.

Clint Eastwood played Rowdy Yates on ‘Rawhide’ for 6 years Clint Eastwood as Joe | Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images

Rawhide was a major part of American Western television, which starred Eric Fleming and Eastwood. It aired for eight seasons, running from 1959 until 1965, making it one of the longest-running series in the genre. Over its six years on television, it lasted an impressive 217 episodes.

Eastwood played Rowdy Yates, who assisted Gil Favor (Fleming), the trail boss of a cattle drive. This adventure allowed the characters to run into various characters and wild journeys along the way.

The Western might be the quintessential American film genre, but it probably would've fallen completely out of favor in the 1960s were it not for Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone. With loads of ingenuity and not a lot of money (initially at least), Leone overhauled the increasingly staid formula, and knocked out a surprise international hit via "A Fistful of Dollars." Aside from Leone's striking widescreen compositions, there were two keys to the film's success: Clint Eastwood's taciturn portrayal of The Man with No Name and Ennio Morricone's bizarrely innovative score.

When Eastwood traveled to Spain in 1964 to shoot "A Fistful of Dollars," he was nearing the end of his run as cowboy Rowdy Yates on CBS' Western series "Rawhide." Despite the name, his character was a bit of a cliched bore, so teaming with the up-and-coming Leone far away from Hollywood gave Eastwood the opportunity to transform his...

Clint Eastwood wasn't exactly Clint Eastwood when he was prepping for his directorial debut, "Play Misty for Me," in 1971.

He was primarily viewed as a Western actor who'd parlayed his television success on CBS' "Rawhide" to attain a cultish, pulpy stardom via Sergio Leone's shot-in-Spain "Dollars Trilogy." The films were commercial hits in the United States but despised by most prominent film critics. They found them silly and excessively violent, and thought Eastwood's taciturn demeanor was less an affectation than flat-out lousy acting.

Nevertheless, Eastwood kept knocking out hits, which pleased Universal Pictures enough that they were more than happy to greenlight his first filmmaking effort. Screenwriters Jo Heims and Dean Riesner had crafted a tightly structured thriller about a ladies' man disc jockey who finds himself stalked by a one-night-stand. It was a curious choice for Eastwood in that his character is vulnerable and somewhat unlikeable. He's certainly not the steely,...

Gunsmoke actor Burt Reynolds had a wonderful career that extended into becoming a sex symbol. He knew that he wanted a career in entertainment, but he initially had some difficulties figuring out exactly what kind of roles he would play. Reynolds initially tried to pursue a path similar to Clint Eastwood’s Western path, although it didn’t initially work out as planned.

‘Gunsmoke’ actor Burt Reynolds went from television to movies Burt Reynolds as Quint Asper | CBS via Getty Images

Before Gunsmoke came along, Reynolds originally started working in theater. From there, he took on television roles on shows such as The Lawless Years and Pony Express. However, Reynolds had his first big part in Riverboat as Ben Frazer alongside Darren McGavin until he left due to creative differences with the show’s star.

Reynolds remained a guest-starring actor on television while making his film debut with 1961’s Angel Baby.