WDOA 101 The Martin Poster .avi Wanted Dead Or Alive (Steve McQueen)

Wanted: Dead or Alive is an American Western television series starring Steve McQueen as the bounty hunter Josh Randall. It aired on CBS for three seasons from 1958-1961. The black-and-white program was a spin-off of a March 1958 episode of Trackdown, a 1957-1959 western series starring Robert Culp. Both series were produced by Four Star Television in association with CBS Television.

The series launched McQueen into becoming the first television star to cross over into comparable status on the big screen.[1]

McQueen's character of Josh Randall is a Confederate veteran and bounty hunter with a soft heart. He often donates his earnings to the needy and helps his prisoners if they have been wrongly accused. Randall carries a shortened Winchester Model 1892 carbine, called the "Mare's Leg," in a holster patterned after "gunslinger" rigs then popular in movies and television. Randall had the ability to draw and fire this gun with blazing speed, as fast as, or in many cases much faster than, his adversaries with handguns that were much smaller. Two Mare's Legs were used in the series, differing in the shape of the lever, round versus oval.

For several episodes in 1960 Randall had a sidekick named Jason Nichols (Wright King), a former deputy sheriff turned bounty hunter. Their partnership ended after Nichols killed three men, much to the chagrin of Randall who felt the men could have been taken alive.

Guest stars

Guest stars included Jay North, Noah Beery, Jr., Lon Chaney, Jr., Alan Hale, Jr., James Best, James Coburn, John Dehner, DeForest Kelley, Michael Landon, Warren Oates, Luana Patten, Suzanne Storrs, and William Schallert.
Production notes

The series was filmed in black and white at the Selznick Studios and produced by Four Star Television. Writers included Samuel A. Peeples and Charles Beaumont.

The first season theme song was written and conducted by Bill Loose. It was replaced by a new theme titled "Wanted". This theme was used until the end of the series and was written and conducted by Herschel Burke Gilbert.

Genre Western
Starring Steve McQueen
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 3
No. of episodes 94
Production
Camera setup Single-camera
Running time 25 mins.
Production company(s)

Four Star Television
Malcom Enterprises, Inc

CBS Television
Broadcast
Original channel CBS
Picture format Black-and-white
Audio format Monaural
Original run September 6, 1958 – March 29, 1961