Series Description

The Captains and the Kings was a 540 minute miniseries that aired on NBC about a penniless Irish immigrant who travels to American in the middle of the 1800s, determined to become wealthy at any cost. Along the way he forgets about the other important things in life like family and friends and the other things that give life true meaning.

Captains and the Kings Miniseries Cast

Richard Jordan .... Joseph Armagh
Perry King .... Rory Armagh
Patty Duke .... Bernadette Hennessey Armagh
Blair Brown .... Elizabeth Healey Hennessey
Ray Bolger .... R.J. Squibbs
John Carradine .... Father Hale
Charles Durning .... Ed Healey
Henry Fonda .... Senator Enfield Bassett
Celeste Holm .... Sister Angela
John Houseman .... Judge Newell Chisholm
Burl Ives .... Old Syrup
Vic Morrow .... Tom Hennessey
Barbara Parkins .... Martinique
Joanna Pettet .... Katherine Hennessey
Jane Seymour .... Marjorie Chisholm Armagh
Ann Sothern .... Mrs. Finch
Robert Vaughn .... Charles Desmond
Neville Brand .... O'Herlihy
Pernell Roberts .... Braithwaite
Beverly D'Angelo .... Miss Emmy
Tracey Gold .... Rosemary Armagh
David Huffman .... Sean Armagh
Katherine Crawford .... Moira / Mary Armagh
Harvey Jason .... Haroun "Harry" Zieff
Joe Kapp .... Strickland
Elizabeth Cheshire .... Young Bernadette
Johnny Doran .... Young Joseph
Kristopher Marquis .... Sean Armagh (As a Child)
Missy Gold .... Mary Armagh (As a Child)
Peter Donat .... Clair Montrose
Doug Heyes Jr. .... Kevin Armagh
Terry Kiser .... Courtney Wickersham
Clifton James .... Governor Skerritt
Cliff De Young .... Brian Armagh
Alan Hewitt .... Governor Hackett
George Gaynes .... Orestes Bradley
Ford Rainey .... Abraham Lincoln
William Prince .... Jay Regan
Jenny Sullivan .... Honora Houlihan Armagh
Richard Matheson .... President Garfield
Roger Robinson .... Corporal Lincoln Douglas
Ann Dusenberry .... Ann-Marie Armagh
Philip Bourneuf .... Father Scanlon
Mills Watson .... Preston
Lee de Broux .... Teddy Roosevelt
Cynthia Sikes .... Claudia Desmond Armagh
Kermit Murdock .... James Spaulding
John Herbsleb .... Young Courtney
Patrick Labyorteaux .... Young Rory
Robert Donner .... Wounded Texan
Ken Swofford .... Captain Muldoon
Stephen Coit .... President McKinley
Giorgio Tozzi .... Foreign Gentleman
Byron Webster .... William Jennings Bryan
John de Lancie .... Timothy Armagh
Connie Kreski .... Pearl Gray
Sian Barbara Allen .... Cara Leslie
Bill Quinn .... Dr. Harris Herbert
Stefan Gierasch .... Gannon
Linda Kelsey .... Peg
Sean McClory .... Boland
Severn Darden .... Plover
Sally Kirkland .... Aggie

Captains and the Kings Miniseries Trivia:

This miniseries was based on a 1972 best-selling with the same name written by Taylor Caldwell. The Captains and the Kings miniseries was filmed in the Bradbury Building at 304 S. Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, California. Numerous other movies and TV series were filmed there including "Chinatown (1974 Film)", "Blade Runner (1982 Film)", "Pay It Forward (2000 Film)", "The Outer Limits (1963 TV Series)" and "City of Angels (1976 TV Series)".

There's little doubt that the power mad Joseph Armagh character was based on the real-life Joeseph Kennedy. Armagh ran contraband during the civil war to begin his fortune while Kennedy was often rumored to have illegally run liquor during prohibition to start his fortune. Both married powerful politician's daughters. Armagh's daughter suffered a debilitating brain injury in an accident and Kennedy's daughter was born mentally challenged. Both also had sons who were assassinated while running for President of the United States!

Beverly D'Angelo ("Entourage") got her first credited acting role on Captains and the Kings and she most definitely made an impression. During a love scene they placed a matte on the lens to just barely cover her nipples. That had been a common practice for years but the director didn't realize that a new type of television with a longer field of vision was just out and the picture on those sets saw just a bit more than the monitor on the set! The morning after that scene aired, Producer Jo Swerling Jr. got a frenzied call from NBC's broadcast standards division saying that he had violated the nudity ban! Millions of viewers had seen Beverly in her glory! The amazing thing is that NBC did not receive one single complaint call or letter from the public or the FCC!

Ric Waite won an Emmy for "Outstanding Cinematography in Entertainment Programming for a Series" for his work as the cinematographer on Chapter 1. Other nominees on this award were "Baretta", "Kojak", "M*A*S*H", "Once an Eagle" and "Roots".

Patty Duke also won an Emmy for "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series". The other nominees were Susan Flannery on "Arthur Hailey's the Moneychangers", Jane Seymour also for "Captains and the Kings", and Eva Marie Saint on "How the West Was Won".

In addition to the two Emmy wins above, Captains and the Kings received six additional nominations.

Richard Jordan won a Golden Globe for "Best TV Actor - Drama". The other nominees for that award were Telly Savalas for "Kojak", Nick Nolte for "Rich Man, Poor Man", Peter Strauss also for Rich Man, Poor Man, and Lee Majors for "The Six Million Dollar Man". Captains and the Kings also received two additional Golden Globe nominations.