Jack Warden

Question: What was the last show Brian Keith did? The one with the car, I mean. Thank you.

Answer: Well, that's really two answers, Mary Pat. The late Keith's last show wasn't ABC's Hardcastle & McCormick, which ran from September 1983 to July 1986. That would be NBC's sitcom Walter and Emily, which was on the schedule for a year beginning in November 1991, and even that was preceded by CBS' 1989 comedy Heartland and ABC's Pursuit of Happiness.

Hardcastle was a hit for ABC for a short while, and it's funny that you remember it as "the one with the car." I'm sure Keith, who played crusty retired judge Milton Hardcastle, and costar Daniel Hugh-Kelly, who played sidekick and crack driver "Skid" McCormick, would have much preferred their show to be remembered as a buddy comedy. In fact, in a 1984 TV Guide interview, the equ read more

Question: Sir, could you please tell me who the main stars were on Wagon Train? Thank you.

Answer: Thanks for the respect, Teri (I get so little), but as the old boot-camp admonishment goes, don't call me "sir" — I work for a living!

There are a few answers to that question, the first being the cast list (which I'll run down in a moment) and the second being a list of guest stars, since episodes revolved around one-shot characters who came and went. But any fan of the show would whittle it down to one actor: the opinionated, tough-as-leather Ward Bond.

In the series, which ran on NBC from 1957-62 before jumping to ABC and finishing out its run there in 1965, Bond played Major Seth Adams, who led the train each season from St. Louis to California with assistant wagon master Bill Hawks (Terry Wilson) and cook Charlie Wooster (Frank McGrath) by h read more