Laramie - "The High Country" - 9:00 pm Thursday, October 23 on KTLN WEST Network

John Smith (Actor) .. Slim Sherman

Born: March 06, 1931
Died: January 25, 1995

Trivia: Actor John Smith may best be remembered for starring in the television westerns Cimarron City (1958-60) and Laramie (1959-63), but he also played supporting roles in numerous feature films. Smith was born Robert Earl Van Orden in Los Angeles. He began his career singing with the Bob Mitchell Choir Boys. The musical group appeared in two Bing Crosby efforts Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St. Mary's (1946). While one might think a distinguished-sounding name such as Robert Van Orden has as star quality all its own, the actor himself didn't agree and partially as a jest decided to change his name to the more generic John Smith. Accompanied by agent Henry Willson (the man who provided Tab Hunter and Rock Hudson with their stage names), Van Orden went before a skeptical judge. When asked why he would adopt such a plain-jane name, Van Orden claimed that he would be the only actor in Hollywood with that name. Thus far, he has been right. As John Smith, his film credits include The Kettles on Old Mac Donald's Farm (1957), Circus World (1964) and Justin Morgan Had a Horse (1981).

Robert Fuller (Actor) .. Jess Harper

Born: July 29, 1933
Birthplace: Troy, New York, United States

Trivia: Robert Fuller spent his first decade in show business trying his best to avoid performing. After his film debut in 1952's Above and Beyond, Fuller studied acting with Sanford Meisner at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse but never exhibited any real dedication. He tried to become a dancer but gave that up as well, determining that dancing was "sissified." Fuller rose to nominal stardom fairly rapidly in the role of Jess Harper on the popular TV western Laramie (1959-63). Once he found his niche in cowboy attire, he stuck at it in another series, Wagon Train, turning down virtually all offers for "contemporary" roles. When westerns began dying out on television in the late 1960s, Fuller worked as a voiceover actor in commercials, earning some $65,000 per year (a tidy sum in 1969). On the strength of his performance in the Burt Topper-directed motorcycle flick The Hard Ride, Fuller was cast by producer Jack Webb as chief paramedic Kelly Brackett on the weekly TVer Emergency, which ran from 1972 through 1977. In 1994, Robert Fuller was one of several former TV western stars who showed up in cameo roles in the Mel Gibson movie vehicle Maverick.

Dennis Holmes (Actor) .. Mike

Spring Byington (Actor)

Born: October 17, 1886
Died: September 07, 1971

Trivia: Orphaned as a child, Colorado-born Spring Byington became a professional actress with the Elitch Garden stock company at age 14. Even as a young woman, Ms. Byington specialized in portraying middle-aged dowagers, fussbudgets, flibbertigibbets and small-town gossips. Her first Broadway success was in the role of Louella Parsons clone Helen Hobart in Kaufman and Hart's Once in a Lifetime (1930). Three years later, she made her film debut as Marmee in Little Women. Her myriad of film credits included You Can't Take It With You (1938), for which she was Oscar-nominated. Her TV acting credits include her portrayal of Lily Ruskin on the popular sitcom December Bride, which ran from 1954 through 1959; she then rather unexpectedly popped up as a regular on a western, Laramie. One of Spring Byington's last performances was as society dowager "J. Pauline Spaghetti" on a 1967 episode of Batman.

Laramie: The High Country

9:00 pm - 10:00 pm, Today on KTLN WEST Network (68.4)

The High Country

Season 3, Episode 19