Wanted: Dead or Alive 

A Civil War veteran with a sawed-off rifle as a holstered weapon makes a living as a bounty hunter in the Wild West of the 1870s.

Stars:

Steve McQueen, Wright King, Olan Soule

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Steve McQueen	...	Josh Randall 94 episodes, 1958-1961

Storyline

A Civil War veteran with a sawed-off rifle as a holstered weapon makes a living as a bounty hunter in the Wild West of the 1870s.

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Plot Keywords:

arizona ranger | mescalero apache | yuma territorial prison | two gun holster | superstition mountains | 

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 September 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Wanted: Dead or Alive

Filming Locations:

Old Tucson - 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Four Star Productions, Malcolm Enterprises, CBS Television Network

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) Woody Strode used a sawed down Winchester Model 1892 rifle, "Mare's Leg" as his weapon at the opening duel in a tribute to the Western series, Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958-1961).

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Alternate Versions

Also available in a computer colorized version.

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Connections

Referenced in Da Vinci's Inquest: Bring Back the Dead (2000)

User Reviews

Steve McQueen, Josh Randal, Mr. Cool

Throughout the '60's Steve McQueen was often referred to as Mr. Cool, and it all started with Wanted Dead or Alive back in the days when TV westerns had not yet succumbed to the liberal non-violence boohooing about too much violence on TV. How many of us kids from the '50's who fought in Vietnam didn't carry just a little of what we learned, rightly or wrongly, about cowboy right and wrong from Josh Randal, Paladin, Marshal Dillon, Cheyenne, John Wayne (multiple roles), etc? Josh Randal, like myself was bred and born a Southerner; unlike today after a couple generations of historical revision, back then to be a Son of the South was a point of respected honor from the entire country including Hollywood...it was the "fight" not the issues, boys and girls, that have made Southerners the most decorated soldiers throughout the entirety of this nation's existence.

Yes, the mare's leg was odd and impractical, and it sounded funny, too when fired, but the cat-quick grace of this newcomer, Steve McQueen, is what captured our little boy imaginations back then. Until recently, I had not seen any of the old Wanted Dead or Alive shows in over 50 years, and I found it surprising how much time affects our memory of details. Of course much of what I've seen lately, I don't remember at all except for that Christmas episode where the boy asks Josh to find Santa Claus...turns out that I remember that one in an altogether different fashion, too! Anyway, given what VH1, BET, MTV, Hollywood in general, the video gaming industry, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, etc. have given (or done) to two or three generations of American youth, I can truly say that being raised in the 1950's rural South with one TV station that shared both ABC and CBS programing that I had a much more imaginatively rich upbringing than the sad majority of the entitled obligate mouth-breathing government dependent generation of today.