WRCW Radio - Home Of Gunsmoke

29/07/2024

Gunsmoke 52/05/31
Carmen
�Written by John Meston
With Michael Ann Barrett as Connie Dell, Jeanette Nolan as Big Kate, Harry Bartell as Major Randell/townsman, and Don Diamond as Shiloh/townsman

Two soldiers were killed last Saturday while driving a supply wagon (including payroll) from town to Fort Dodge. The Major confronts Matt telling him to either do something to catch the culprits or he will put Dodge under martial law
Matt tells the Major that if he declares martial law that there will be bad trouble. The Major gives Matt a week to make an arrest or else. Matt goes to see Big Kate. On the way, a drunken Shiloh confronts Matt about the possibility of martial law. Matt fed up with Shiloh's ignorance, slugs him. Big Kate calls one of her girls named Connie Dell to join her and the Marshal for a drink in her room. Connie has been seeing Corporal Bowers from the fort. Bowers is a clerk at the fort. Matt becomes suspicious and finds out from Big Kate that she came from Hays City. Matt tells Chester to wire Sheriff Bill Hickok over in Hays City and find out any info. Later Chester returns from Mr. Hightower's office over at the depot with a reply from Hickok. Hickok says Connie Dell worked at the Golden Horn Bar and left town a month ago with a man named Billie Grounds, "a wild one."�Shiloh comes into the jail and says a soldier has been killed behind the Long Branch. Matt rides out to Fort Dodge to tell the Major about the killing. Matt ask the Major to keep all soldiers out of Dodge for the next 48 hours, in exchange, Matt will find the culprits. Doc tells Matt that the dead private was named Bone and that he was shot with an old Cavalry pistol. Big Kate tells Matt that the "girls" tell her that Connie has been riding out late at night along the Arkansas down by Brandy Bend, maybe to meet Billy Grounds. Connie was seen riding out with Corporal Bowers the night before the payroll robbery. �Matt asks Connie some pointed questions. Afterward Connie invites Matt to ride out along the Arkansas near Brandy Bend. Matt tells Chester to ride to the fort and tell the Major to arrest Corporal Bowers for the murder of Private Bone. Matt tells Chester that he knows he is about to ride into an ambush. Matt tells Chester that Connie is a "nice girl - bad company".

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29/07/2024

GUNSMOKE SHOWS
REAL WEST JUSTICE

GUNSMOKE PROVES tonight that even in the early days of the West justice had its own way of emerging triumphant. Sometimes that way was a bit awkward.

William Conrad, in the role of U. S. Marshal Matt Dillon finds his duties extending beyond the ordinary limits of the law when he discovers that the case against a convicted defendant is incomplete. He sets out to correct the wrong done to an innocent man. Co-starring with Conrad are Georgia Ellis as Kitty, Parley Baer as Chester and Howard McNear as Doc. WFBL carries the program at 8.
Syracuse Herald Journal – Sat. March 12, 1955

29/07/2024

'Gunsmoke' on
Radio Sets
High Standard
By JOHN CROSBY
NEW YORK, Aug. 25.—There seems to be a small trend I'd like to explore today toward a higher level of culture on radio these days. And what's more important it seems to be paying off. Prime exhibit is "Gunsmoke," (KCBS, 6 p.m. Tuesdays), CBS's highly literate western radio drama which has been called the ' "High Noon" of broadcasting. ''Gunsmoke” plots are characterized by realism, intelligence, and honest characterization. Perhaps its most surprising aspect is that its hero, Marshal Mat Dillon, whose job is to keep order in Dodge City, Kan., is cast in something less than heroic mold—at least not in the tradition of Hopalong Cassidy.
Marshal Dillon (William Conrad) is a composite of some of the most famous men of the early West—Wild Bill Hickock, Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp and the Younger brothers. Norman MacDonnell, producer-director of the program, says of him: "He is a lonely, sad, tragic man—a quiet, unhappy, confused Marshal. These days, we'd send him to an analyst."
Shades of William S. Hart! The gratifying thing about "Gunsmoke," which is as far removed from the average western as "Dragnet" -is from the average cops-and-robbers epics, is that it has attracted a healthy audience and a wealthy sponsor — (Chesterfield). It was fourth in the last Nielsen ratings, which just goes to show that there are more egg-heads around than you might suppose.
Source: Oakland Tribune Wens. August 25, 1954

28/12/2022

14/01/2022

Congratulations to WRCW Radio - Home Of Gunsoke.
On the air now since 1997.

06/05/2021

And so with a less than 23 sec announcement and a plug for the return of Suspense, Gunsmoke as a radio show went off the air with a whimper.
Here is an article that ran in the newspapers a couple of weeks later:

The Daily Review, Hayward, California July 09, 1961 “Tic Tac TV” by Hal Humphrey
Somebody should have said a few appropriate words when the radio version of "Gunsmoke" folded a couple of Sundays ago. Probably no program in the annals of broadcasting ever had more influence on the entertainment we've witnessed during the past five years.
It was in the spring of 1952 that a CBS radio producer named Norman Macdonnell finally persuaded a skeptical program director that a western series didn't have to be done in the Roy Rogers-Hopalong Cassidy tradition. Macdonnell and writer John Meston launched "Gunsmoke" with a cast which played the lead roles throughout the nine years it remained on radio. Bill Conrad was Matt, Georgia Ellis did Kitty, Parley Baer played the slow-witted Chester and Howard McNair was Doc. The radio "Gunsmoke" was acclaimed critically right from the start, but CBS couldn't get it sponsored until it had been on the air a year.
“Adult Western”
"General Foods bought it first," recalls Macdonnell, "but one of its executives thought there should be what he referred to as 'a wholesome boy' in the regular cast. Meston and I refused to bring anything into the show which we felt didn't fit, and Lester Gottlieb (who was in-charge of CBS radio then) backed us up. General Foods bought the show anyway." Macdonnell called his brainchild an "adult western," and according to the record books, this was the first use of this now overworked phrase.
As the radio "Gunsmoke" became more and more popular, the men on the TV side of the network became interested, but it was three years later before they got around to doing anything about it. When they did, it was with a whole new cast, and Macdonnell at first was only given an associate producer's post. Bill Conrad was considered too short and rotund to be Matt on TV. He didn't fit into what Hollywood has fabricated as the model western hero. When the six-foot-six Jim Arness was chosen as Matt for TV, it was decided to recast all the leads.
Lean Storylines
After the TV debut of "Gunsmoke" in the fall of 1955, Macdonnell fought valiantly to retain the simple plots and flavor which he and writer Meston had created on radio. After the first season, Macdonnell was given full producer authority, and Meston was rewriting his radio scripts for TV.
The success of the TV "Gunsmoke" had everyone in Hollywood looking for an "adult western" to do. It was more frantic than the old Oklahoma land-rush of 1889. ABC's “Wyatt
Earp" TV series started that same season,' and by the following season, "adult westerns" had multiplied like jack rabbits. None of them, however, had the lean and simple storylines which Meston was writing. Many "Gunsmoke" episodes-are minor classics and did as much for the real Old West as Paddy Chayefsky did for New York's Lower East Side.@

06/05/2021

John Dehner

In the course of many years, Dehner amassed a remarkable series of radio acting credits, most notably starring as Paladin in "Have Gun - Will Travel" and in similarly popular action programmers like "Gunsmoke" and "Fort Laramie" (this, in spite of turning down several offers to play Marshall Matt Dillon on TV because he did not want to be typecast in westerns!). In films from the mid-40s, Dehner served a lengthy apprenticeship in assorted bit parts before graduating as one of Hollywood's most reliable villains, be they suave gamblers, crooked bankers, grifters or gunslingers. Just as often, his authoritarian demeanor proved perfect casting for stern fathers, military brass or cops. In The Left Handed Gun (1958), Dehner received second billing as Pat Garrett, co-starring opposite Paul Newman's Billy the Kid. On the small screen, he invariably made an impact as guest star in myriad classic TV shows, including Yancy Derringer (1958), Tales of Wells Fargo (1957), The Roaring 20's (1960), Maverick (1957), Bronco (1958), 77 Sunset Strip (1958), Rawhide (1959) and The Doris Day Show (1968) (a regular part during seasons four and five, as Doris's editor Cy Bennett). Dehner appeared in three episodes of The Twilight Zone (1959), reserving one of his best performances (displaying a wonderfully dry comic talent) as the titular huckster in late 1800s Arizona, in the episode "Mr. Garrity and the Graves" (1963).

One of Hollywood's most hard-working character actors, John Dehner died in Santa Barbara, California, on February 4 at the age of 76.

06/05/2021

Gunsmoke 52/05/24 Ben Slade's Saloon
Written by Norman MacDonnell
with Hy Averbach, Jack Kruschen, Richard Beals as Alvin Jones, Anne Morrison as Mrs. Jones, Georgia Ellis as Elvalita Ramirez and Herb Ellis

Two Buffalo hunters find Les Jones stabbed to death next to his wagon and hitched horses near Cimarron Crossing. He had been playing faro* at Tad Slade's Saloon. He had won $3000 at the saloon. No money was found at the table. This is the third stabbing and murder in the last month. Doc says he’s no “Pinkerton man”** but the killer could have been the same person. Matt rides to the Jones' place out on the Arkansas River. Les’ son, Little Alvin Jones, meets Matt and offers to water Matt’s horse. Matt tells Mrs. Jones that her husband was murdered. Matt asks Mrs. Jones to try to get her son to understand what happened to his dad. He is concerned that Alvin will turn bitter and become bad.
Tad Slade says that he doesn't know anything about Jones death. Tad says his partner Ben Ramirez had run the bar the night of the killing. Matt goes out to the Ramirez house to talk to him about the killing. Instead he meets Ben's sister Elvalita (Eve for short). She tells Matt that she is engaged to Tad Slade. Elvalita begins to flirt with Matt when her brother Ben arrives. Ben accuses Matt of trying to frame Tad and himself in Jone's murder. Ben runs Matt off his property at gunpoint.
Next morning Chester wakes Matt at 4:00AM and tells him that some of the ranchers are about to hang Tad Slade in front of his saloon. Another man has been murdered. Matt stops Harrison and his mob from hanging Slade. Chester said that a man named Olsen had won at the saloon. Chester found Olsen before he died. Olsen said that he had just tried to be friendly, but he had got a shot. Matt has Slade put in jail and then heads for the Ramirez home.
Matt wants to see Eve. Matt tells Ramirez that his sister is the killer. He also notes that there is blood on the porch and in the kitchen. Ramirez tries to shoot Matt but gets fatally wounded himself. Ramirez tells Matt that Eve is really his wife and not his sister (he then dies).
Eve takes the opportunity to make an escape on a horse. Matt finds Eve thrown from her horse and bleeding to
death from Olsen's shot. She admits she killed all four men for their money. She asks Matt to hold her hand while she dies. Ben and Evalita Ramirez are buried along the banks of the Arkansas (and life goes on in Dodge).

NOTE: The title "Ben-Slade's Saloon" refers to Ben Ramirez and his partner Tad Slade. The dialogue clearly calls the bar "Tad Slade's Saloon".

18/02/2021

Episode Summary:

GUNSMOKE
Dodge City Killer 05/17/1952
Script by Hugh Purdum
With Ben Wright, Vici Raaf, Paul DuBov, Larry Dobkin, Lillian Buyeff, Lou Krugman, Ralph Moody

PLOT
Saloon and hotel owner Jack Grace fancies himself a ladies man,
especially with his female employees. Dillon saves Grace from being shot by an employee, Annie, who resisted his unwanted, amorous advances.
Chester arrives and lets Matt know that an old friend, Clancy Yarr, is waiting for him at the front desk of Grace's hotel. Yarr has brought his
wife Narisha, the daughter of the Comanche warrior chief Black Eagle, with him and Grace is refusing to give them a room. Matt convinces Grace to provide accommodations for the Yarrs. The Marshal treats his friend's wife with great respect and Narisha has made her first friend in Dodge.
Moreau, the storekeeper, lets Matt know that some folks in Dodge want to
run Narisha out of town. Dillon expects trouble and it happens that night
during a card game between Matt, Clancy, Moreau, and a new man in town, Morgan Wade. Wade, a gunman working for Grace, draws his guns and gets the drop on his fellow card players. The three men turn the tables on Wade when they convince him that each of them has a gun under the table pointed at the gunman. Wade folds under their bluff and Matt makes Wade unload his guns. When the bluff is made clear to an angry Wade and he threatens them, Matt orders the gunman to get out of town.
Chester enters the saloon with news that Narisha has stabbed Jack Grace. When Matt reaches the dying Grace, he notices that the man has scratches on his face and a bite mark on his arm. Clancy identifies the knife used to
kill Grace as Narisha's. She has taken a horse and fled Dodge.
Dillon refuses to form a posse composed of angry townsmen; he and Clancy will go after the woman and bring her back to stand trial. At nightfall,
Matt makes an obvious camp. He believes that Narisha is nearby because she wants to stay close to Clancy, so she will see the camp and perhaps come in when she realizes who is after her.

While waiting for Narisha to show up, Matt and Clancy come under rifle fire. Clancy is slightly wounded. The two men then maneuver to catch their unseen assailant and encounter Narisha holding a rifle. She has knocked out the shooter: the disgruntled Morgan Wade.
Matt knows that Narisha will not get a fair trial in Dodge, so he gathers sworn affidavits from Doc and other witnesses and with Chester, takes her before Judge Craddock in Hays City. When the Judge listens to Narisha's testimony on how Grace attacked her and reads the affidavits regarding the injuries she sustained during Grace's attack, Grace's previous attacks on other women, and the scratches and bite mark on Jack Grace, the Judge finds Narisha innocent of any criminal act.
Later, Matt reminds Clancy and Narisha that Kansas is still on the frontier and many people still have bitter memories of loved ones killed during the Indian wars and it will take time for those memories to fade. The Yarrs and Matt part as friends.
*************************************************

22/01/2021

Happy New Year to all listeners!

05/05/2020

Episode Summary

Gunsmoke 52/05/10 Jaliscoe

Written by Les Crutchfield

with Harry Bartell as Ben “King” Roark, Lou Krugman as Col. Blake, Barney Phillips as Red Dudley trail boss of the Circle Bar B “Curly Wolves” & Kitawsit, Jack Kruschen as Ezra Hawkins, Vivi Janiss as Mrs. Thompson and Johnny McGovern as Will Thompson’s son.

Will Thompson's son staggers thru the door of the Dodge Jail and with his dying breath says that their house on Mulberry Creek has been burned to the ground and that his family (mother, father and sister) have been murdered by four night riders. Matt and Chester ride out to the home and find Mrs. Thompson dying with a silver spur in her hand from one of her attackers. Mr. Thompson and his daughter have been murdered and scalped. Even the dog has been killed. Jaliscoe Pete owns a pair of silver Mexican spurs just like the one found at the Thompsons. Cattle Rancher, Ben "King" Roark is Jaliscoe's boss and he hates homesteaders.
Col. Blake tells Matt that he plans on sending the Calvary into Indian Territory. Matt asks for 24 hours to prove the Indians had nothing to do with this. Ezra Hawkins meets Matt on behalf of the "Homesteaders". Ezra tells Matt that he can't control his people much longer. A Range War looms in sight*.
Meanwhile a group of Texas Panhandle Cattlemen (the Curly Wolves) led by trail boss, Dudley start shooting up the town. Matt arrests Duddly, puts him in jail overnight and fines him $50.00.
Jaliscoe Pete turns up shot dead and scalped. Doc says the scalping has not been done by Indians. Kitty tells Matt that Jaliscoe Pete had been in the bar the night before. Three friends came in the bar to get Jaliscoe. Kitty said one of the men was called Red Dudley and one was called Tulsa Jim. They had talked about working at the Circle Bar B Ranch in the Pecos.
Meanwhile Ben Roark and his cattlemen have captured an Indian named Kitawsit and are about to lynch him when Matt and Ezra Hawkins and the Homesteaders show up. The Indian worked for the Homesteaders tracking down fence cutters. The Circle Bar B Boys have shown up at the jail and spring Red Dudley from jail. Chester hears the Bar B Boys admit to killing the Thompsons and Jaliscoe Pete. Chester also heard the Bar B Boys say they were going to wait at the Arkansas Room. Matt and Chester have a gun fight with Dudley and his gang which kills off the Circle Bar B Boys

24/01/2020

Episode Summary:

Gunsmoke 52/05/03 Ben Thompson
Written by Herb Purdum

CAST
William Conrad as Matt Dillon Parley Baer as Chester Proudfoot Howard McNear as Doc Adams Harry Bartell as Harry (barkeep) Harry Bartell as Texas
Bob Griffin as Ben Thompson Lawrence Dobkin as Lassiter Michael Ann Barrett as Vi Lassiter Sam Edwards as Man (braggart) Don Diamond as Nueces

EPISODE NOTE:
Several of the early GUNSMOKE episodes had no titles on the scripts. The script for this episode was simply labeled GUNSMOKE #2. This episode received the title "Ben Thompson" at an unknown, later date; perhaps by Norman Macdonnell.

PLOT:
Lassiter, a notorious gunman, forces Matt Dillon into a gunfight and is killed. His irate wife, Vi, tells Dillon that she plans to ruin the Marshal's reputation before she has him killed.
Sometime later, Texas, a drunk who Dillon disarmed and arrested, tells him
that three gunmen: Ben Thompson, Tom Tom Henderson, and Nueces Smith are

coming to Dodge to kill the Marshal. The three outlaws commit several unsolved, petty robberies around Dodge and Thompson leaves vague notes signed by "Ben" that taunt Dillon, but do not provide enough information to find the gunmen. Apparently, Vi Lassiter has hired them to implement her plan to discredit and kill Dillon.
Matters come to a head when a, young drunk, egged on by Nueces, claims to be Ben and belittles the Marshal. Dillon knocks out the young braggart and is taking him to jail when Thompson gets the drop on him. Thompson takes Dillon's gun and knife, makes Matt leave the unconscious young man with Henderson, and then forces him to walk to the edge of Dodge. Thompson tells Matt where he can find him later that evening and tells him to come alone.
When Matt gets back to town, he finds out that the young man has been killed, stabbed in the back with the Marshal's knife. Dillon knows that he must go after Thompson and his gang to clear his name. He also knows that Thompson cannot be trusted to provide a fair fight.
Texas volunteers to go with Matt. Dillon won't let him go along and tells him that he has figured out that Texas is really a lawman, a Texas Ranger. Texas confirms Matt's assumption and tells that he is after Thompson. Dillon relents and allows Texas to follow him at a distance.
At the outlaws' hideout Matt tells Vi Lassiter that she didn't really know her husband. Lassiter was a killer, an outlaw and a gunman, who was obsessed with proving that was faster with a gun than Dillon, but at least Lassiter faced the men he killed. Matt tells her that Thompson had an unconscious boy murdered to make Matt look guilty.
When Vi confronts Thompson, he admits to the murder and tells her that she isn't giving the orders any more. Thompson tells Vi that he wants her and that she'll get use to his ways.
Nueces tries to take the Marshal and Dillon kills him. Texas knocks out Henderson who was going to shoot Dillon in the back.
Thompson uses Vi as an unwilling shield until he reaches his horse. When he tries to stop Thompson's escape, Texas is wounded.
Dillon corners the outlaw leader when Thompson's horse goes lame. Matt then uses ricochet shots to convince Thompson to surrender.
Back in Dodge, Matt tells the recovering Texas that he has ordered Vi to get out of town. When Texas asks why he didn't kill the no good Thompson, Matt replies,
Let's just say I don't like having to shoot a man, Texas.
Somehow, to me. . . it just isn't any fun.

05/01/2020

Episode Summary:

Gunsmoke 52/04/26 Billy the Kid
Story written by Walter Brown Newman
with Don Diamond as Pete “the Dutchman” Ziegler, Harry Bartell as Mr. Hightower & as angry bar patron, Richard Beals as William “Billy the Kid” Bonnie, Paul DuBov as Adam Richards (brother of Clay Richards) & Ernie, Mr. Hightower’s assistant & angry bar patron & Mary Lansing as Mrs. Bonnie Note: Georgia Ellis has the role of Francie Richards in this episode.
Clay "Red" Richards is wanted for murder. He murdered an old man, Mr. Grinnell (the bank cashier) and a Chinese cook during a botched bank robbery. But before Mr. Hightower can even print the Wanted! Posters, Pete "the Dutchman" Ziegler comes up the road with Richard's body tossed like a "sack of wheat across the saddle".
Ziegler claims he just found Richards body. Ziegler and Richards had been friends and partners. The good town’s people of Dodge seem to think that Ziegler killed Clay. Matt asks Doc for inquest. Doc is thrilled at the money he is earning for autopsy. He revels in the days back in California in 1853 when the killed Joaquin Murrieta.*
A young run away from Cottonwood is being held by Chester until his mother can come and get him. Matt teaches the young boy about guns and how to clean them.
Clay's brother Adam Richards wants to revenge his brother's death by going after the Dutchman. Adam accuses Matt of protecting the Dutchman so that Matt can get Clay's widow Francie Richards. Doc reports that the cashier probably wounded Clay during the robbery, but death was caused by a knife wound in the back. After Adam gets good and stinking drunk, he leads a lynch party to the Dodge Jail. Matt kills Adam Richards and thereby effectively disperses the crowd.
Mrs. Bonnie arrives at the jail to get her boy William. The boy has run off and it becomes obvious that he finished off Clay Richards with his Barlow knife* to get his .44 cal pistol. Matt tells Mr. Hightower that he needs new posters printed for William "Billy the Kid" Bonnie - Wanted for Murder.

28/12/2019

13/12/2019

PARLEY BAER BIO

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Baer had a circus background, but began his radio career at Utah station KSL. With a fairly high pitched voice often accompanied by a Western twang, he became one of the busiest radio performers in the late 1940s and 1950s.
His first network show was The Whistler which was soon followed by appearances on Escape (notably narrating "Wild Jack Rhett" and as the title patriot in an adaptation of Stephen Vincent Benet's "A Tooth for Paul Revere"), Suspense, Tales of the Texas Rangers (as various local sheriffs), Dragnet, The CBS Radio Workshop, Lux Radio Theater, The Six Shooter, and more.
In 1952, he began playing Chester, the unofficial deputy to Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke, eventually ad-libbing the character's full name, ""Chester Wesley Proudfoot"". (The character's name was changed to ""Chester Goode"" in the television series, which featured an entirely different cast.) Baer's portrayal of Chester was generally considered his finest and most memorable r!!le and, as he often said, the one he found most fulfilling. Baer worked on several other Norman MacDonnell-produced radio shows, including the situation comedy The Harold Peary Show (aka Honest Harold) as Pete the Marshal, Rogers of the Gazette (loosely based on the early life of Will Rogers) as Doc Clemens, Fort Laramie , and The Adventures of Philip Marlowe.
As a charter member of CBS Radio's dramatic stock company, Baer played character roles on other CBS shows, including recurring appearances on Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. Other recurring r!!les included Eb the farm hand on Granby's Green Acres (the radio predecessor to television's Green Acres), Gramps on The Truitts, and Rene the manservant on the radio version of The Count of Monte Cristo. His later radio work included playing Reginald Duffield and Uncle Joe Finneman on the Focus on the Family series Adventures in Odyssey in the 1980s and 1990s. He also made a guest appearance as a cooking contest judge on Three's Company in the early 1980s.
As an on-camera performer, he was recognizable by both his voice and his balding, paunchy appearance, often as fussy or obstinate officials or neighbors. Television roles included obnoxious Mayor Stoner on The Andy Griffith Show, neighbor Darby on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, frequent guest appearances on The Addams Family as insurance man Arthur J. Henson, and in later years, Miles Dugan on The Young and the Restless in the late 1990s. Film roles included parts in several live action Disney features, including Follow Me, Boys! (again as a mayor), The Ugly Dachshund, and Those Calloways. He also appeared in Two on a Guillotine and Dave (as the Senate majority leader).
He also voiced Ernie Keebler in the cookie commercials before suffering a stroke in 1997 which affected both speech and movement. He recovered sufficiently to make a handful of appearances at old-time radio conventions and a guest appearance on Star Trek: Voyager before finally passing away from related
complications in 2002, at the age of 88.

13/12/2019

We are almost at 200 likes. Thanks everyone!!!!!

22/11/2019

HOWARD MCNEAR BIO

Howard McNear was born Los Angeles, California to Luzetta M. Spencer and Franklin E. McNear.
McNear worked in radio from the late 1930s, distinguishing himself in the 1938-1940 radio serial Speed Gibson of the International Secret Police as ace operator Clint Barlow. McNear could be effective in such authoritative roles, but he gravitated more toward character roles, often comic. He created the role of Doc Charles Adams in CBS Radio's Gunsmoke (1952-1961)[3]. McNear was under contract to CBS for many years and was featured in many of the network's radio and TV programs. From 1955 to 1960 he appeared frequently, in various quirky roles, in the popular radio detective series Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar.[4] In the TV sitcom Leave It to Beaver, McNear made an appearance as a barber named Andy, a role which proved prophetic.
McNear was best known for his performances as the vague, chatty barber Floyd Lawson on The Andy Griffith Show. During production McNear suffered a stroke that rendered him unable to walk. He continued in the role, however, with the production crew accommodating his disability. In early episodes, he is seen standing and working in his barber shop. After the stroke, he is usually seen seated (in his barber chair or a park bench, etc.). The stagehands constructed a stand for him, which allowed him to stand and appear to be working, usually to comb hair (one-handed, of course).
McNear died in the San Fernando Valley from the effects of a stroke. After his passing in 1969, Howard McNear was interred in the Los Angeles National Cemetery, a former U.S. Veterans Administration cemetery in Los Angeles.

24/09/2019

We are back up and running on Live365. https://live365.com/station/WRCW-RADIO---Home-Of-Gunsmoke--a64449
A link to our pop up player:
http://player.live365.com/a64449

As for our other stream, it remains up as always. Thanks for listening.

17/09/2017

Update: WRCW 2 Home Of The Old Time Westerns is now on Live365 along with WRCW Gunsmoke. Visit our website, or go to Live365 to connect.
http://wrcwradio.com/wrcw-radio-2-home-of-the.html
http://player.live365.com/a75141

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13/09/2017

19/07/2017

Here's the playlist for the Six Shooter Marathon now playing on our sister station WRCW Radio 2.
http://wrcwradio.com/wrcw-radio-2-home-of-the.html
The Six Shooter - Audition Program (23:28)
The Six Shooter - Jenny (28:24)
The Six Shooter - The Coward (29:30)
The Six Shooter - The Stampede (28:28)
The Six Shooter - Silver Annie (28:38)
The Six Shooter - Rink Larkin (28:52)
The Six Shooter - Red Lawson's Revenge (28:42)
The Six Shooter - Ben Scofield (29:31)
The Six Shooter - The Capture Of Stacy Gault (28:42)
The Six Shooter - Escape From Smoke Falls (28:59)
The Six Shooter - Gabriel Starbuck (29:18)
The Six Shooter - Sheriff Billy (28:49)
The Six Shooter - A Pressing Engagement (28:05)
The Six Shooter - More Than Kin (28:16)
The Six Shooter - Britt Poncett's Christmas Carol (28:58)
The Six Shooter - Cora Plummer Quincy (28:37)
The Six Shooter - A Friend In Need (28:21)
The Six Shooter - Hiram's Gold Strike (28:21)
The Six Shooter - The Silver Buckle (28:45)
The Six Shooter - Helen Bricker (28:14)
The Six Shooter - Trail To Sunset (28:30)
The Six Shooter - Apron Faced Sorrel (28:32)
The Six Shooter - Quiet City (28:35)
The Six Shooter - Battle At Tower Rock (26:36)
The Six Shooter - Cheyenne Express (28:56)
The Six Shooter - Thicker Than Water (29:47)
The Six Shooter - Duel At Lockwood (29:53)
The Six Shooter - Aunt Emma (29:17)
The Six Shooter - General Guilford's Widow (29:41)
The Six Shooter - Crisis At Easter Creek (29:49)
The Six Shooter - Johnny Springer (29:47)
The Six Shooter - Revenge at Harness Creek (30:10)
The Six Shooter - Anna Norquest (29:43)
The Six Shooter - The Double Seven (29:56)
The Six Shooter - The Shooting Of Wyatt King (29:46)
The Six Shooter - Blood Relations (29:32)
The Six Shooter - Silver Threads (29:33)
The Six Shooter - The New Sheriff (28:57)
The Six Shooter - When The Shoe Doesn't Fit (28:59)
The Six Shooter - Myra Barker (28:56)