Doug McClure

McClure's early TV roles include "The Sky's the Limit" (CBS, 1960), the detective series "Checkmate" (CBS, 1960-62) and the Western "Overland Trail" (syndicated, 1960). Stardom finally arrived when he was cast as a boisterous cowboy opposite James Drury's mysterious, taciturn "Virginian." The show ran through 1970 and Drury and McClure, who had gone to high school together, became off-screen smoking and drinking buddies. McClure went on to work in a handful of other series: "The Men from Shiloh" (NBC, 1970-71), "Search" (NBC, 1972-73), "The Barbary Coast," with William Shatner (ABC, 1975-76), the Ninja outing "The Master" (NBC, 1984) and the sci-fi comedy "Out of This World" (syndicated, 1987-91), in which he played a former TV actor turned politician.His TV-movies and miniseries, ranging from comedies to Westerns to social dramas, helped to make McClure well-known: he was featured in over 15 between 1967 and 1994. Many were thrillers, such as "Terror in the Sky" (CBS, 1971), "Satan's Triangle" (ABC, 1975), "SST--Death Flight" (ABC, 1977) and "Nightside" (ABC, 1980). Others include "The Judge and Jake Wyler," with Bette Davis, (NBC, 1972), "Playmates," with Alan Alda, Connie Stevens and Barbara Feldon, (ABC, 1972), the acclaimed miniseries "Roots" (ABC, 1977), the detective mystery "The King of Jazz" (ABC, 1989) and his swan song, the Western "Dead Man's Revenge" (USA, 1994). McClure had formed his own production company and directed several documentaries, including one on country-western singer Billy Mize. By the 1990s, the much-married McClure was affectionately regarded as an old-timer, parodied on "The Simpsons" (Fox) as washed-up actor Troy McClure (voiced by Phil Hartman). The real McClure was filming an episode of "One West Waikiki" (CBS, 1994) when he collapsed with what turned out to be lung cancer. He died at his Sherman Oaks ranch on February 5, 1995.