50 Fun Facts About The Rifleman

Who starred as rancher Lucas McCain in The Rifleman?

Connors was a former professional baseball and basketball player before acting. He got the part after catching a rifle the director suddenly threw at him.

What was the name of Lucas McCain's son in The Rifleman?

He was played by Crawford, a former Mouseketeer who was 12 when the show began.

Which child actor played Lucas McCain's son and earned an Emmy nomination at age 13?

He was one of Disney's original 24 Mouseketeers in 1955, then cut when the troupe was trimmed to 12.

The Rifleman was set in North Fork, a fictional town in which territory?

The show was set in the 1880s; a plaque by the McCain house says it was rebuilt by Lucas and Mark in August 1881.

On which network did The Rifleman air from 1958 to 1963?

It ran for 168 half-hour episodes, all in black and white, produced by Dick Powell's Four Star company.

The Rifleman was one of the first primetime US series to depict what?

Lucas McCain was a widower; his wife Margaret had died when Mark was six, before the family moved from Oklahoma.

Which rifle did Lucas McCain famously use, an anachronism for a show set in the 1880s?

John Browning did not design the Model 1892 until about a decade after the show's setting. It was modified for rapid fire and one-handed cocking.

What was the name of the one-handed technique McCain used to cycle his rifle's large loop lever?

The lever's set screw tripped the trigger each time the action closed, so he did not have to put his finger inside the trigger guard.

How many shots does McCain fire during The Rifleman's opening credits, on screen?

Seven come in the first close-up and five in the second view; a 13th shot was dubbed onto the soundtrack so the firing ended in time with the theme music.

Roughly how many villains does Lucas McCain kill over the show's five-year run?

Despite the body count, McCain tries to solve most problems without shooting, and he almost never carries a pistol.

What was the name of North Fork's marshal, a recovering alcoholic played by Paul Fix?

McCain gives him a job on the ranch in 'The Marshal', a running theme being that people deserve a second chance. Fix played the town doctor in the very first episode.

Which actor was the original marshal of North Fork for two early episodes before Paul Fix took over?

Armstrong appeared in the first and fourth episodes. Eight different actors played the town doctor over the run.

Which future director of The Wild Bunch developed The Rifleman and wrote many early episodes?

He drew on his own ranch childhood, and his insistence on violent realism put him at odds with Four Star. He left to create the short-lived The Westerner.

Who created The Rifleman?

Laven's company Levy-Gardner-Laven produced the show and, decades later, released the complete restored series on DVD.

The Rifleman's pilot, 'The Sharpshooter', first aired in 1958 as an episode of which anthology series?

It ran on CBS under Dick Powell's banner before ABC picked up the series and re-aired an edited version as the first episode.

Which future Easy Rider star guest-starred in The Rifleman's pilot episode?

Hopper played the young gunman Vernon Tippert; the script came from the show's developer.

Which entertainer played former circus trick-shot artist Tip Corey in the episode 'Two Ounces of Tin'?

Corey calls McCain a hypocrite for objecting to gunplay, since McCain earned his own deadly nickname in the Indian Territory.

Where did Lucas McCain first earn the nickname 'the Rifleman'?

He and Mark had come to North Fork from Oklahoma after Mark's mother died.

Lucas McCain was a Union veteran who received a battlefield commission at which battle?

He was a lieutenant in the 11th Indiana Infantry. Another episode contradicts this, placing him at Fort Donelson.

Which two Brooklyn Dodgers pitchers and future Hall of Famers made cameo appearances on The Rifleman?

Connors had himself played for the Dodgers in 1949, which explains the baseball cameos.

Which of these was NOT a Rifleman guest star, according to its cast records?

More than 500 actors appeared in over 970 credited roles; then-newcomers included Landon, Coburn, Vaughn, Dan Blocker and Harry Dean Stanton.

Which star of Bonanza guest-starred on The Rifleman while his own series was on the air?

Landon and Blocker also appeared, but before Bonanza made them famous.

Which director of the noir classic Gun Crazy helmed 51 episodes of The Rifleman?

Only one episode, 'The Assault', was directed by a woman.

Which actress directed The Rifleman episode 'The Assault'?

Lupino was the only woman directing episodic TV Westerns regularly in the era; she also directed episodes of Have Gun – Will Travel and The Untouchables.

Which star of Trackdown, and later I Spy, wrote a two-part episode of The Rifleman?

Trackdown was another Four Star production. Connors also wrote several episodes himself.

The Rifleman was partly filmed in Wildwood Regional Park in which California city?

The park's rock formations stood in for the McCain ranch country. Bonanza and Gunsmoke crews shot there too.

Which studio produced The Rifleman?

Four Star, co-founded by Dick Powell, also made Trackdown, Wanted Dead or Alive and Burke's Law.

How many episodes of The Rifleman were made?

Season one alone had 40 episodes; the count fell each year to 26 in the fifth and final season.

Where did The Rifleman rank in the Nielsen ratings for its first season, 1958–59?

It drew a 33.1 rating, behind only Gunsmoke, Wagon Train and Have Gun – Will Travel, then slid every year and fell out of the top 30 by season five.

A 1959 Rifleman episode, 'The Indian', served as the pilot for which NBC series starring Michael Ansara?

Ansara played Apache marshal Sam Buckhart, who returned to North Fork in the episode 'The Raid'.

What was the 1991 TV movie in which Connors reprised Lucas McCain with other Western stars?

The Kenny Rogers film also featured cameos by Hugh O'Brian as Wyatt Earp, Gene Barry as Bat Masterson and David Carradine as Caine.

Which director was slated to lead CBS's 2011 attempt to remake The Rifleman?

The Home Alone and Harry Potter director's project was cancelled within months, before a pilot was shot.

Which toy company sold a copy of McCain's rifle known as the 'Flip Special' or 'Ring Rifle'?

Marx Toys sold a rival called the Wild West, essentially its Lone Ranger Winchester with a loop lever added.

Which comics publisher put out a Rifleman comic book drawn by Dan Spiegle?

Spiegle was a prolific artist for TV tie-in comics, including Maverick and Sea Hunt.

Which two Major League teams did Connors play baseball for before acting?

He is one of only 13 athletes to have played in both MLB and the NBA, having spent two seasons with the Boston Celtics.

With the 1946 Boston Celtics, Connors became the first pro basketball player to do what?

The Celtics were then part of the newly formed Basketball Association of America. He played baseball for the Dodgers three years later.

Which 1957 Disney film, in which Connors played a strong father figure, helped him land The Rifleman?

The show's producers took their own children to see it a few days after his audition.

Which world leader loved The Rifleman and leapt into Connors' arms on a tarmac in 1973?

Few US programs were allowed on Soviet television, but this one was. Connors gave him a pair of Colt six-shooters and visited Moscow that December.

After The Rifleman, Connors starred as a cashiered cavalry officer in which 1965–66 NBC Western?

Typecast as the single-father rancher, he cycled through several short-lived series. Branded's hero, Jason McCord, was wrongly accused of cowardice.

Connors earned an Emmy nomination playing a slave owner in which 1977 miniseries?

The role of Tom Moore was a deliberate turn against his heroic image.

Crawford's 1962 single 'Cindy's Birthday' peaked at what position on the Billboard chart?

The teen idol had four Top 40 hits on Del-Fi Records while still playing Mark McCain. He later led a vintage dance orchestra.

Before The Rifleman, Crawford was one of the original 1955 cast of which children's TV show?

Disney began with 24 Mouseketeers and cut the group to 12 after the first season, dropping Crawford.

Which actor, a longtime friend of John Wayne, played the marshal of North Fork?

Fix appeared in dozens of Wayne films and is often credited with coaching the Duke's famous walk.

Which recurring Rifleman character ran the North Fork saloon?

Bill Quinn's bartender appeared in 38 episodes, more than any regular except the three leads. Swenson was the blacksmith and Hamilton the banker.

Which actress played hotel owner Lou Mallory, a late-series love interest for Lucas McCain?

Blair appeared in 22 episodes and later played Rebecca Boone on Daniel Boone. Joan Taylor's storekeeper Milly Scott preceded her.

Where had the McCains lived before moving to North Fork, following the death of Lucas's wife?

In the pilot, Lucas buys a ranch 'about three miles' outside town after years as a homesteader.

Which short-lived series did Sam Peckinpah create after quitting The Rifleman?

His insistence on violent realism and hard lessons for McCain's son had put him at odds with the producers.

Why did the opening-credits soundtrack include a dubbed 13th rifle shot?

On screen Connors fires twelve times; nearly all the rifle sound effects were dubbed, which is why the gun sounded unlike others on the show.

Which Spanish-made 'knockabout' rifle stood in for the Winchester in stunts where damage was likely?

The El Tigre was a near-copy of the Model 1892, used when the rifle was thrown, swung as a club or left in a saddle scabbard.

Roughly how many actors made guest appearances over the show's five-year run?

Between them they filled more than 970 credited roles across the 168 episodes.