Rawhide - A History of Television's Longest Cattle Drive

What a superb book. At last Rawhide fans can obtain a great compilation of Rawhide facts. Mr. Greenland has provided a wealth of information and surely this must have been a difficult task as the series commenced over 50 years ago and very few of the crew are still with us. The foreward by Charles Gray was put together by Mr.Greenland from correspondence engaged with the actor. This was due to the fact that sadly Gray passed away before he could write it. There is an interesting interview with frequent guest star Gregory Walcott which reveals a big surprise. I would like to have seen Eastwood himself contribute but my guess is he would be too busy. The only other possibility I could think of would have been actor John Erwin ( semi regular Teddy ). I particularly liked Mr. Greenland's impartiality with Eric Fleming. Several Eastwood bios have gone out of their way to picture him as some sort of ogre and a poor actor. Greenland acknowledges that Fleming had a difficult reputation but he also points out that he was a much better actor than Fleming himself thought. Charles Gray is quoted as saying " Eric did a hell of a job as Gil Favor". Greenland also points out how popular Gil Favor was and how the show struggled without him. This book has been researched thoroughly and I cannot praise Greenland enough. I feel on his episode guide he was probably struggling as this is where the few errors occur, now, this is not a criticism as the author sat through all 217 episodes, sadly at this time only the first 3 seasons were available on release, therefore the author must have viewed the next 5 seasons from edited tv showings. We all know how mutilated these versions can be. Luckily I have all the seasons unedited. Most of these errors the author may be able to correct in a possible reprint. E.g in the review of the episode "Abilene" it is stated that oddly Mushy does not appear, in fact he has 3 scenes, two brief , but one key sequence where Wishbone tricks Mushy into entering the quarantined hotel. In the same episode Favor calls the drover Narbo ( John Hart ) by name, whereas the author thought Narbo was never addressed this way in any episodes. As I said this is not intended to criticise only to point out the incredible job that Greenland did with this book despite a dreadful lack of information. I recommend all fans of this show purchase the book, it's a wonderful piece of work that any Rawhide fan should be proud to own. I admit for myself Fleming was the show but he was ably supported by a great and interesting cast. I would also like to add I think he was a decent man, as a child growing up in the U.K.in the early 60's I wrote to Eric Fleming, imagine how thrilled I was to get a photo and hand written reply. In the end I received 3 letters ( all hand written ), now anyone taking the time to write to a child and knowing how special that would be must have been a good person. Thankyou David Greenland for this excellent book, it's a long overdue publication and I am so glad that a dedicated author took the job on.

My two all-time favorite western series are HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL and RAWHIDE. As a young boy, I remember being glued to the TV Friday nights awaiting the first notes of that classic RAWHIDE theme song to begin. Each week brought a new adventure featuring that wonderfully appealing cast headlined by a hard-nosed, tight-lipped trail boss who seemed to have stepped out of a real Wild West cattle drive. Heady stuff; wonderfully entertaining!RAWHIDE was classic entertainment but, even more importantly, it had an authenticity, a grittiness, an honesty that most of the western series lacked. Eric Fleming's character wasn't the most likable human being but he seemed to personify the drive and determination a real trail boss must have possessed. Likewise, the cast weren't all Hollywood pretty boys. Some - Steve Raines, Rocky Shahan, etc. - looked like they belonged in a saddle.Finally, after so many years there's a book celebrating TELEVISION'S LONGEST CATTLE DRIVE. And David Greenland has done a fine job of detailing the show's creation and history, the actors who keep those doggies moving and so on. Lots of production stills bring back fond memories of Gil Favor, Rowdy, Wishbone, Pete Nolan, Jim Quince, Joe Scarlett and all the others.As much as I enjoyed the book, I was a bit saddened that no one wrote such a book 20 years ago when most of the principals were still alive. All those great stories lost forever.In any case, fans of RAWHIDE and TV westerns in general should pick up a copy of David Greenland's entertaining and informative book. It's a marvelous tribute...and a great read! Highly recommended.

Of all the many Westerns that were seen on television in the 1950s and 1960s, Rawhide was one of the best of the genre. It could be argued that much of the reason for being a leader in that crowded field was because it concentrated on rich story telling rather than shoot 'em ups. It also was on top because of the characters being portrayed and the quality and believability of the actors portraying them. This book takes a closer look at the actors that made up those characters that still ring true a half century later.There is background information that explains how the show was originally developed and sold to the network along with information about the writers and producers through the production of the series.It's a shame that a book such as this had not been started before so many of the regulars on the show had passed away so that one-on-one interviews could have been conducted and first hand memories could have been tapped. This book pulls together as much data as possible about the actors and their experiences on the show, even though relying on secondary sources. It was surprising to me how little is known about some of the supporting actors' background and their lives after Rawhide ended.The episode guide included with the book brought back memories of the shows as I read through it. Along with brief story synopses, additional production information is given in "Notes" for each episode.Recommended for enthusiasts of Rawhide and other classic television shows.

1ST ,I WAS SO SAD TO READ HOW ERIC FLEMING WAS KILLED DOING ..HIGH JUNGLE,,WHY THE HELL DIDNT THEY USE STUNT MEN..YOU WILL SAY,,BUT ERIC AND CO STAR NICO MNARDOS FELT THEY WERE UP FOR THE CHALLENGE ..THEY SHOVED OF IN THIS FOOT DUGOUT CANOE,ON THE RAGING HUALLAGA RIVER..THEY WERE OUT BARELY A MIN .WHEN LATER THEY HIT A STRETCH OF RAPIDS .THAT BEGAN TO SWAMP THE VESSEL ERIC EITHER JUMPED OR FELL INTO THE WATER .WHILE MINARDOS MANAGED TO STAY WITH THE CANOE.UNTIL RESCUED ..ATTEMPTS TO REACH FLEMING FAILED AND THE CREW COULD ONLY WATCH HELPLESSLY AS HE WAS CARRIED DOWNRIVER IN THE CHURNING RAPIDS ,,I ALLWAYS WONDER WHY HIS BODY WAS BURIED.IN PERU ,.IT TOOK THEM A WEEK TO FIND ERIC BODY ,,AND THEY SAY HE WAS ATE BY PIRANHAS,AND GOD NOS WHAT ELSE IN THAT PLACE,I DID LIKE ERIC ACTING AND HE WOULD OF BEEN A STAR IF HE HAD NOT BEEN KILLED SO YOUNG,,HE WAS SO HARD TO GET ON WITH ,,SAY HIS CO STARS ,,HIM AND EASTWOOD HAD MANY FIGHTS,,AND HE WOULD NOT SHAKE HANDS WITH ANYBODY ,AFRAID HE WOULD PICK UP GERMS ..SHEB ONCE SAID HE WAS A LONER,DIFFTRENT FROM THE OTHER GUYS .YOU NEVER EXPECTED A LOT OF WARMTH FROM HIM..HE WOULD WALK OUT OF THE SHOW .THAT RAWHIDE WERE GOING TO GET RID OF HIM ,,THAT MADE ERIC THINK ,,AND HE CAME BACK ..BUT IT WAS ONLY A JOKE TO GET ERIC BACK,,..IT WORKED .UNTILL BEN BRADY TOOK OVER RAWHIDE IN THE 8TH SEASON ,AND GOT RID OF ERIC FOR GOOD .BAD MOVE ,RAWHIDE WAS DEAD AFTER THAT ,,EASTWOOD COULD NOT CARRY THE SHOW ..LIKE ERIC COULD..SO AFTER 13 SHOWS IT WAS DROPED..BRADY DID TRY TO GET ERIC BACK IN THE 8TH SEASON BUT NEGOTIATIONS FAILED IT WAS BIG MONEY ,BUT ERIC SAID NO,,..ANOTHER THING ABOUT ERIC HE NEVER WEAR SHOES ,,HE WAS SO DIFFTERNT ,,ITS ALL IN THIS BOOK .IF YOU LOVE RAWHIDE YOU WILL LOVE THIS BOOK,,WISHBONE ,SAYS MUSHY HIS NOT VERY BRIGHT ..YOU HAVE TO READ IT ALL SHEB WOOLEY HAS IS SAY ABOUT IT ALL .HAS THEY ALL DO ..BUY IT NOW ..HEAD EM UP MOVE EM OUT

This is an excellent book for fans of the TV series Rawhide. The book is printed on request, so takes a few days to reach you. Well worth the wait. The photographs and the text are informative. The book is split into sections. Part one contains short biogrpahies of Clint Eastwood and Eric Fleming, also details on the series. Part two covers information about all "The Incidents" in chronological order. It gives details of script writers, directors, guest cast members and a brief outline of the story. There is a intersting interview with Gregory Walcott, a regular guest star, and a clear index. A book to compliment the new DVD collection of the Rawhide seasons. I certainly recommend this book by David R Greenland.

great history of this great TV series chronicalling every episode they ever made

If you are a fan of Rawhide, then you'll find this book fascinating.

As a book about a 1960s TV series published in 2011, this volume was bound to be somewhat unsatisfactory as the majority of Rawhide actors have passed on and could not be interviewed. However, I would have expected that the greatest of them, Clint Eastwood, would have been interviewed for this book. Sadly, this is not the case. Indeed, the author recognises in his Acknowledgements that some of the actors he contacted for his book "had no specific recollection of their Rawhide experiences, even after viewing a videotape [sic] of their performance". The book's Interview with Gregory Walcott is a case in point, very frustrating to read, with the author almost providing more information to the actor than the other way around. The Foreword by Charles Gray, too, is not a foreword at all, very uninformative to the extent of being pointless.To be fair to the author, in his Introduction,he admits that "the definite history of Rawhide, sadly, can never be written. Too many regular cast members [etc] are no longer among the living. The purpose of this book is to not only pay tribute to Rawhide, but to gather in one place all the widely scattered information about the show [...] as possible."This book has 72 pages (including some photographs) of the TV series' history. The majority of the publication is made up of 139 pages of an Episode Guide, with director/writer and abbreviated cast credits, and a scant synopsis each episode.A revelation this book is not. An addition to a Rawhide fan's collection, yes.