Handsome American leading man Guy Madison stumbled into a film career and became a television star and hero to the Baby Boom generation. As a young man he worked as a telephone lineman, but entered the Coast Guard at the beginning of the Second World War. While on liberty one weekend in Hollywood, he attended a Lux Radio Theatre broadcast and was spotted in the audience by an assistant to Henry Willson, an executive for David O. Selznick. Selznick wanted an unknown sailor to play a small but prominent part in Since You Went Away (1944), and promptly signed Robert Moseley to a contract. Selznick and Willson concocted the screen name Guy Madison (the "guy" girls would like to meet, and Madison from a passing Dolly Madison cake wagon). Madison filmed his one scene on a weekend pass and returned to duty. The film's release brought thousands of fan letters for Madison's lonely, strikingly handsome young sailor, and at war's end he returned to find himself a star-in-the-making. Despite an initial amateurishness to his acting, Madison grew as a performer, studying and working in theatre. He played leads in a series of programmers before being cast as legendary lawman Wild Bill Hickok in the TV series Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951). He played Hickok on TV and radio for much of the 1950s, and many of the TV episodes were strung together and released as feature films. Madison managed to squeeze in some more adult-oriented roles during his off-time from the series, but much of this work was also in westerns. After the Hickok series ended Madison found work scarce in the U.S. and traveled to Europe, where he became a popular star of Italian westerns and German adventure films. In the 1970s he returned to the U.S., but appeared mainly in cameo roles. Physical ailments limited his work in later years, and he died from emphysema in 1996. His first wife was actress Gail Russell.
Handsome American leading man Guy Madison stumbled into a film career and became a television star and hero to the Baby Boom generation. As a young man he worked as a telephone lineman, but entered the Coast Guard at the beginning of the Second World War. While on liberty one weekend in Hollywood, he attended a Lux Radio Theatre broadcast and was spotted in the audience by an assistant to Henry Willson, an executive for David O. Selznick. Selznick wanted an unknown sailor to play a small but prominent part in Since You Went Away (1944), and promptly signed Robert Moseley to a contract. Selznick and Willson concocted the screen name Guy Madison (the "guy" girls would like to meet, and Madison from a passing Dolly Madison cake wagon). Madison filmed his one scene on a weekend pass and returned to duty. The film's release brought thousands of fan letters for Madison's lonely, strikingly handsome young sailor, and at war's end he returned to find himself a star-in-the-making. Despite an initial amateurishness to his acting, Madison grew as a performer, studying and working in theatre. He played leads in a series of programmers before being cast as legendary lawman Wild Bill Hickok in the TV series Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951). He played Hickok on TV and radio for much of the 1950s, and many of the TV episodes were strung together and released as feature films. Madison managed to squeeze in some more adult-oriented roles during his off-time from the series, but much of this work was also in westerns. After the Hickok series ended Madison found work scarce in the U.S. and traveled to Europe, where he became a popular star of Italian westerns and German adventure films. In the 1970s he returned to the U.S., but appeared mainly in cameo roles. Physical ailments limited his work in later years, and he died from emphysema in 1996. His first wife was actress Gail Russell.
Date of Birth 19 January 1922, Pumpkin Center, California
Date of Death 6 February 1996, Palm Springs, California (emphysema)
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0534972
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1557542
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Filmography (Movies)
Los Angeles Plays Itself
Character:Cliff Harper in Till the End of Time (archive footage)
Release Date:28/07/2004
Crossbow: The Movie
Character:Gerrish
Release Date:01/01/1989
Red River
Character:Bill Meeker, Rancher
Release Date:10/04/1988
When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion
Character:Self
Release Date:05/06/1979
The Rebels
Character:Lt. Mayo
Release Date:14/05/1979
Where's Willie?
Character:Tony Flore
Release Date:12/04/1978
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood
Character:Star at Screening
Release Date:26/07/1976
The Pacific Connection
Character:The Old Man
Release Date:14/11/1974
The Silk Worm
Character:Robert, Smeralda's ex-husband
Release Date:01/03/1974
Reverend's Colt
Character:Miller Colt
Release Date:24/12/1970
The War Devils
Character:Capt. George Vincent
Release Date:19/12/1969
Hell Commandos
Character:Major Carter
Release Date:07/06/1969
The Battle of the Last Panzer
Character:Lofty
Release Date:23/01/1969
A Place In Hell
Character:Major Mac Graves
Release Date:10/01/1969
Hell in Normandy
Character:Capt. Jack Murphy
Release Date:13/08/1968
This Man Can't Die
Character:Martin Benson
Release Date:05/04/1968
Superargo and the Faceless Giants
Character:Prof. Wendland Wond
Release Date:26/01/1968
The Bang-Bang Kid
Character:Bear Bullock
Release Date:14/11/1967
The Devil's Man
Character:Mike Harway
Release Date:30/06/1967
Son of Django
Character:Father Fleming
Release Date:26/05/1967
Payment in Blood
Character:Colonel Thomas Blake
Release Date:14/04/1967
LSD Flesh of Devil
Character:Rex Miller
Release Date:02/02/1967
Five for Revenge
Character:Tex
Release Date:01/01/1966
Legacy of the Incas
Character:Jaguar / Karl Hansen
Release Date:08/09/1965
Adventurer of Tortuga
Character:Alfonso di Montélimar
Release Date:12/08/1965
Kidnapped to Mystery Island
Character:Souyadhana
Release Date:27/12/1964
Gunmen Of The Rio Grande
Character:Wyatt Earp / Laramie
Release Date:19/11/1964
Return of Sandokan
Character:Yanez
Release Date:18/10/1964
Sandokan Fights Back
Character:Yanez
Release Date:13/08/1964
Gentlemen of the Night
Character:Massimo
Release Date:10/05/1964
Old Shatterhand
Character:Capt. Bradley
Release Date:30/04/1964
Blood of the Executioner
Character:Rodrigo Zeno
Release Date:19/09/1963
Women of Devil's Island
Character:Henri Vallière
Release Date:27/07/1962
Sword of the Conqueror
Character:Amalchi
Release Date:24/08/1961
Slave of Rome
Character:Marco Valerio
Release Date:02/02/1961
Jet Over The Atlantic
Character:Brett Murphy
Release Date:04/11/1959
Bullwhip
Character:Steve Daley
Release Date:25/05/1958
The Hard Man
Character:Steve Burden
Release Date:01/12/1957
Not One Shall Die
Character:Stefan Gross
Release Date:01/01/1957
Reprisal!
Character:Frank Madden
Release Date:02/11/1956
The Beast of Hollow Mountain
Character:Jimmy Ryan
Release Date:01/08/1956
Hilda Crane
Character:Russell Burns
Release Date:08/05/1956
On the Threshold of Space
Character:Capt. Jim Hollenbeck
Release Date:29/03/1956
The Last Frontier
Character:Captain Glenn Riordan
Release Date:07/12/1955
5 Against the House
Character:Al Mercer
Release Date:10/06/1955
The Tilted Tenderfoot
Character:Wild Bill Hickok
Release Date:08/05/1955
The Matchmaking Marshal
Character:Wild Bill Hickok
Release Date:08/05/1955
Phantom Trails
Character:Wild Bill Hickok
Release Date:08/05/1955
Timber Country Trouble
Character:Wild Bill Hickok
Release Date:08/05/1955
Trouble on the Trail
Character:Wild Bill Hickok
Release Date:26/12/1954
Outlaw's Son
Character:Wild Bill Hickok
Release Date:26/12/1954
Marshals in Disguise
Character:Wild Bill Hickok
Release Date:26/12/1954
The Two Gun Teacher
Character:Wild Bill Hickok
Release Date:26/12/1954
The Command
Character:Capt. Robert MacClaw
Release Date:13/02/1954
Six Gun Decision
Character:Marshal James Butler 'Wild Bill' Hickok
Release Date:15/11/1953
Secret of Outlaw Flats
Character:Marshal James Butler 'Wild Bill' Hickok
Release Date:15/11/1953
Two Gun Marshal
Character:Wild Bill Hickok
Release Date:15/11/1953
Border City Rustlers
Character:Wild Bill Hickok
Release Date:15/11/1953
The Charge at Feather River
Character:Miles Archer
Release Date:11/07/1953
Behind Southern Lines
Character:Wild Bill Hickok
Release Date:02/11/1952
Trail of the Arrow
Character:Wild Bill Hickok
Release Date:02/11/1952
The Yellow Haired Kid
Character:Wild Bill Hickok
Release Date:02/11/1952
The Ghost of Crossbone Canyon
Character:Marshal James Butler 'Wild Bill' Hickok
Release Date:01/11/1952
Red Snow
Character:Lt. Phil Johnson
Release Date:07/07/1952
Drums in the Deep South
Character:Maj. Will Denning
Release Date:01/09/1951
Massacre River
Character:Larry Knight
Release Date:26/06/1949
Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven
Character:Eddie Tayloe
Release Date:16/07/1948
Honeymoon
Character:Corporal Phil Vaughn
Release Date:17/05/1947
Till the End of Time
Character:Cliff W. Harper
Release Date:23/07/1946
Since You Went Away
Character:Sailor Harold E. Smith
Release Date:30/06/1944
Television Appearances
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Character:Jericho - Federal Agent
Climax!
Character:
General Electric Theater
Character:Adam Tenney
The Ford Television Theatre
Character:John Harpurhey
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Character:
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
Character:Wild Bill Hickok
What's My Line?
Character:Self
Images
