Harold Robbins was an American author of popular novels. One of the best-selling writers of all time, he wrote over 25 best-sellers, selling over 750 million copies in 32 languages.
Bonanza is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, Bonanza is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U.S. network television, and one of the longest-running, live-action American series. The show continues to air in syndication. The show is set in the 1860s and centers on the wealthy Cartwright family, who live in the vicinity of Virginia City, Nevada, bordering Lake Tahoe. The series initially starred Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker and Michael Landon and later featured Guy Williams, David Canary, Mitch Vogel and Tim Matheson. The show is known for presenting pressing moral dilemmas.
Lorne Hyman Greene was a Canadian actor, musician, singer and radio personality. His notable television roles include Ben Cartwright on the Western Bonanza and Commander Adama in the original science-fiction television series Battlestar Galactica and Galactica 1980. He also worked on the Canadian television nature documentary series Lorne Greene's New Wilderness and in television commercials.
William West Anderson, professionally known as Adam West, was an American actor. He portrayed Batman in the 1960s ABC series of the same name and its 1966 theatrical feature film, reprising the role in various media until 2017. West began acting in films in the 1950s. He played opposite Chuck Connors in Geronimo (1962) and The Three Stooges in The Outlaws Is Coming (1965). He also appeared in the science fiction film Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) and performed voice work on The Fairly OddParents (2003–2008), The Simpsons, and Family Guy (2000–2019), playing fictionalized versions of himself in all three.
The Carpetbaggers is a 1961 bestselling novel by Harold Robbins, which was adapted into a 1964 film of the same title. The prequel Nevada Smith (1966) was also based on a character in the novel.
The Alamo: 13 Days to Glory is a 1987 American Western television miniseries later edited into a feature film about the 1836 Battle of the Alamo written and directed by Burt Kennedy, starring James Arness as James Bowie, Brian Keith as Davy Crockett, Alec Baldwin as William Barrett Travis, Raul Julia as Antonio López de Santa Anna, and featuring a single scene cameo by Lorne Greene as Sam Houston. Unlike most other films about the Alamo — the most prominent other exception being the 1955 film The Last Command — it focuses on Bowie as the main character rather than Crockett.
Nevada Smith is a 1966 American Western film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Steve McQueen, Karl Malden, Brian Keith, Arthur Kennedy and Suzanne Pleshette. The film was made by Solar Productions, in association with and released by Paramount Pictures. The movie was a prequel to The Carpetbaggers, a highly successful film of two years earlier based on the 1961 Harold Robbins novel, with Alan Ladd playing McQueen's part as an older man. Nevada Smith depicts Smith's first meeting with another "Carpetbaggers" character, Jonas Cord Sr., and delves into Nevada Smith's background as summarized in a scene from the original film.
Autumn Leaves is a 1956 American psychological drama film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Joan Crawford in an older woman/younger man tale of mental illness. The film was distributed by Columbia Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jean Rouverol and Hugo Butler, though it was credited to Jack Jevne, since Rouverol and Butler were blacklisted at the time of the film's release.
Donald Barry de Acosta, also known as Red Barry and Milton Poimboeuf, was an American film and television actor. He was nicknamed "Red" after appearing as the first Red Ryder in the highly successful 1940 film Adventures of Red Ryder with Noah Beery Sr.; the character was played in later films by "Wild Bill" Elliott and Allan Lane. Barry went on to bigger budget films following Red Ryder, but none reached his previous level of success. He played Red Doyle in the 1964 Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Simple Simon".
Cliff Potts is an American television and film actor whose roles include Andy Wolf in the 1972 science fiction film, Silent Running starring Bruce Dern.
Elizabeth Ann Cole, known professionally as Elizabeth Ashley, is an American actress of theatre, film, and television. She has been nominated for three Tony Awards, winning once in 1962 for Take Her, She's Mine. Ashley was also nominated for the BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for her supporting performance in The Carpetbaggers (1964), and was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1991 for Evening Shade. Elizabeth was a guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson 24 times. She appeared in several episodes of In the Heat of the Night as Maybelle Chesboro. She also appeared in an episode of Mannix, "The Dark Hours", in 1974.
Bonanza: The Next Generation is a 1988 American Western television film and a sequel to the 1959–1973 television series Bonanza starring John Ireland, Robert Fuller, Barbara Anderson, Michael Landon Jr., Brian A. Smith and John Amos.
The Carpetbaggers is a 1964 American drama film directed by Edward Dmytryk, based on the best-selling 1961 novel The Carpetbaggers by Harold Robbins and starring George Peppard as Jonas Cord, a character based loosely on Howard Hughes, and Alan Ladd in his last role as Nevada Smith, a former Western gunslinger turned actor. The supporting cast features Carroll Baker as a character extremely loosely based on Jean Harlow as well as Martha Hyer, Bob Cummings, Elizabeth Ashley, Lew Ayres, Ralph Taeger, Leif Erickson, Archie Moore and Tom Tully.
The Gift of Love is a 1958 American CinemaScope drama romance film directed by Jean Negulesco and starring Lauren Bacall and Robert Stack.
Best of the Badmen is a 1951 Western film directed by William D. Russell that is set in Missouri during the post-American Civil War period. It stars Robert Ryan, Claire Trevor and Robert Preston. It was a loose follow-up to Return of the Bad Men (1948).
The Man I Marry is a 1936 American drama film directed by Ralph Murphy and written by Harry Clork and M. Coates Webster. The film stars Doris Nolan, Michael Whalen, Charles "Chic" Sale, Nigel Bruce, Richard "Skeets" Gallagher, Marjorie Gateson, Cliff Edwards and Gerald Oliver Smith. The film was released on November 1, 1936, by Universal Pictures.
The Last of the Fast Guns is a 1958 American Western film directed by George Sherman and written by David P. Harmon. The film stars Jock Mahoney, Gilbert Roland, Linda Cristal, Eduard Franz, Lorne Greene and Carl Benton Reid. The film was released in July 1958, by Universal Pictures.
Gun Law is a 1933 American pre-Code Western film directed by Lewis D. Collins and starring Jack Hoxie, Betty Boyd and Mary Carr. It was remade in 1937 as Melody of the Plains.
Nevada Smith is a 1966 American Western film.
