Series Description

The Rifleman TV show starred Chuck Connors in this 30 minute family western action series on ABC. Connors portrayed a widower who raised his son Mark to be a decent and caring, but strong man in the old West. His one desire was to successfully homestead his ranch in North Fork, New Mexico. The Marshall of North Fork, however, had a difficult time handling the weekly "bad guys" and in each episode Lucas had to get out his Winchester Rifle and help the marshall protect himself, his son, and his neighbors.

The Rifleman Cast

Chuck Connors .... Lucas McCain (The Rifleman)
Johnny Crawford .... Mark McCain
Paul Fix .... Marshal Micah Torrance
Hope Summers .... Hattie Denton
Harlan Warde .... John Hamilton (1958-62)
John Harmon .... Eddie Halstead (1958-62)
Joan Taylor .... Milly Scott (1960-62)
Edgar Buchanan .... Doc Burrage (1958-59)
Rhys Williams .... Doc Burrage (1959-60)
Ralph Moody .... Doc Burrage (1960-63)
Patricia Blair .... Lou Mallory (1962-1963)
Bill Quinn .... Sweeney the Bartender
Joe Higgins .... Nils Swenson (1961-63)

The Rifleman Trivia

The Rifleman TV show had a "spinoff" series titled, "Law of the Plainsman". It main characters appeared in The Rifleman episodes #21, "The Indian" and #37, "The Raid". Those two episodes are generally considered to be the pilot episodes for Law of the Plainsman!

Chuck Connors played major league baseball for the Chicago Cubs and professional basketball for the Boston Celtics. He was 6'5" tall!

Three years before appearing on the Rifleman TV show, Johnny Crawford was a "Muscateer" on the Mickey Mouse Club TV show.

Leonid Brezhnev, the leader of the Soviet Union, during a visit to the United States was asked if he'd like to meet any famous Americans. He asked ONLY for Chuck Connors. They met, became good friends, and Chuck Connors later made several trips to Russia! Apparently, he was a big Rifleman fan!

Hope Summers appeared on the very first episode of the series, "Starsky and Hutch". She played the part of "Sarah Wilson" in the episode titled "Savage Sunday".

The rifle used by Chuck Connors on the TV show could fire 8 shots in 2.5 seconds!