This was a very popular Television series from the late fifties both in the USA and here in Britain

John Ernest Crawford
(March 26, 1946 – April 29, 2021)

Johnny Crawford, the child actor who was absolutely wonderful as Mark McCain (son of Chuck Connors as Lucas McCain) in The Rifleman, has passed away aged 75.

Johnny was in 168 episodes and even at that time he had clocked up quite a few appearances in Film and Television including The Lone Ranger, Have Gun Will Travel, Whirlybirds and Wagon Train – not to mention Wild Bill Hicock

Johnny not only co-starred in one of the best Western series ever, he recorded a single or two with the great Bobby Fuller, and appeared in Howard Hawks’ El Dorado (1967).

In the 90s, he assembled a big band, the Johnny Crawford Orchestra. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a few years ago. He was a very nice person.

BELOW – Taken from his Obituary in the New York Times earlier this year

Johnny Crawford, the soulful young actor who became a child star on the western “The Rifleman” in the late 1950s and had some success as a pop singer, died on April 29 in Los Angeles. He was 75.

The death, at an assisted-living home, was announced on the website johnnycrawfordlegacy.com by his wife, Charlotte McKenna-Crawford. It was revealed in 2019 that he had Alzheimer’s disease, and he had been in failing health since his hospitalisation last year with Covid-19 and pneumonia.

“The Rifleman,” which ran from 1958 to 1963, was a low-key half-hour series on ABC about Luke McCain (Chuck Connors), a widowed Civil War veteran and sharpshooter raising his son on their ranch in the New Mexico territory. The boy, Mark, was always identifiable by his Stetson hat and always had an intense expression — usually one of concern or hero worship.

John Ernest Crawford was born on March 26, 1946, in Los Angeles, the son of Robert Lawrence Crawford Sr., a film editor, and Betty (Megerlin) Crawford, a concert pianist. His maternal grandfather was Alfred Eugene Megerlin, the Belgian violinist who became concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

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Another episode had none other than Sammy Davies Junior in a starring role – apparently one of the very best episodes

“Two Ounces Of Tin, a 1962 episode of The Rifleman.

It’s The one where Sammy Davis, Jr. is the gunslinger who’d been in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. He’s in another one, too.

This gives Sammy Davis a chance to show off his gun-handling skills, which are really something to see.