Clint Walker roamed the West on TV’s ‘Cheyenne’
A Special Feature
by Mark Randall
news@theeveningtimes.com
Clint Walker might not have been the biggest movie star in Hollywood during his acting days. But as one film historian noted, from 1955 to 1962 he was certainly the biggest man in the West on TV. Walker stood 6 feet 6 inches tall, weighed in at 230 pounds, and had a 48 inch chest and 32 inch waist. His good looks, broad shoulders, and imposing physique helped land him the title role in the popular TV series “Cheyenne.” The show, which was the first hour-long western, was one of ABC’s biggest hits. It followed the adventures of Cheyenne Bodie, a cowboy who roamed the wild west taking on different jobs along the way and making sure the bad guys never won. Walker, 87, was a featured guest this past weekend along with more than a dozen veteran TV and movie heroes at the “Gathering of Guns” at the Memphis Film Festival held at Sam’s Town Hotel & Gambling Hall in Tunica. He spoke at a panel discussion, greeted fans, and signed autographs, along with other screen cowboys Robert Conrad (“The Wild, Wild West), Clu Gulager (“The Virginian”), Robert Fuller (”Wagon Train”), Buck Taylor (”Gunsmoke”) and Robert Colbert (”Maverick). Walker didn’t have much experience in Hollywood when he did the screen test for “Cheyenne.” His only screen credit was in a 1954 Bowery Bowery comedy “Jungle Gents” in which he played Tarzan. “Cheyenne” became a huge hit with audiences and rocketed Walker to stardom. But after only two years in the role, Walker went out on strike in 1958 for better pay, shutting production down for eight months. “When I was doing Cheyenne I was only making $1500 a week,” Walker said. “My stunt double was making more than me. But back then they had me sign a seven year contract. My dispute with them wasn’t so much over money. I just wanted them to live up to what they had promised me. They signed me to do movies then put me in a TV show. James Garner was under contract and he was off making pictures with top notch actors and directors. But they wouldn’t let me. Sophia Loren wanted me for “Houseboat” that Cary Grant ended up doing.” Warner Bros. renegotiated his contract and Walker returned to the show in 1959, but he grew tired of playing the same character. Fitting him into leading roles wasn’t easy, but he did earn his spurs in a trio of well regarded westerns for Warner with director Gordon Douglas in Fort Dobbs (1958), Yellowstone Kelly (1959) and Gold of the Seven Saints in 1961. After “Cheyenne,” Walker managed some non-western roles in films including Send Me No Flowers (1964) with Rock Hudson and Doris Day; and None But the Brave (1965) with Frank Sinatra. One of his most famous roles was as part of an all-star cast in The Dirty Dozen (1976) alongside Lee Marvin, where he played the meek convict Samson Posey, who didn’t like to be pushed. “Not many people know this, but that was based on a real group of soldiers called the Filthy Thirteen,” Walker said. “Only they weren’t prisoners. They did spend some time in the stockade for drinking and fighting, and were disrespectful and disobedient during training. When they were in the field they lived off the land. Jack McNiece told me that when they came into camp the Army brass told everybody to give them whatever supplies they asked for.” The real Filthy Thirteen were an airborne demolition unit of the 101st Airborne Division who parachuted into France during D-Day to blow up a bridge over the Douve River. The mission cost most of the men their lives. They earned their nickname during training in England because they only washed and shaved once a week, and never cleaned their uniforms. The unit became famous after a photo appeared in Stars and Stripes showing two members wearing Mohawk haircuts and applying war paint. The unit’s leader, Jack McNiece, was part Choctaw Indian. “I think they scared the Germans to death,” Walker said. Walker said to this day he still has no idea what happened to his character in the movie. Most of the members are killed in the final battle sequence, but Posey is never seen again. “Who knows?” Walker said. “I might still be there.” Walker let his film career slide rather than take roles in movies he felt weren’t wholesome entertainment. In 1971 he was gravely injured in a freak accident when his heart was punctured by a ski pole while skiing with his daughter. He returned to television in a number of hit made-for-TV movies including Yuma, The Bounty Man (1972 with Richard Basehart), Scream of the Wolf (1974 with Peter Graves), and Killdozer (1974); as well as the short-lived TV series “Kodiak” in 1974. Walker went into semi-retirement after the release of Deadly Harvest (1977 with Kim Cattrall), but in 1998 he reunited with several castmates from The Dirty Dozen to voice Nick Nitro in the 1998 movie Small Soldiers. Walker said he isn’t a fan of the movies or TV shows being produced by Hollywood today, and doubts he would accept another film or TV role. “No, I don’t think so,” Walker said. “But I don’t see a whole lot of them. I don’t like the language in them that you see today. I don’t mind a few ‘hells’ or ‘damns.’ But there is way too much of that today.” Walker added that there aren’t any role models on TV for kids today to look up to like there were when he was making “Cheyenne.” “I get stacks of letters from people who looked up to Cheyenne as their hero,” Walker said. “They tell me whenever they had a problem in their own lives they would ask, ‘I wonder what Cheyenne would do?’ And they want their grandchildren to see the show because we don’t have enough heroes for them to emulate today. What I did was good, clean family entertainment and I’m proud of that.”
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