RIP Johnny Crawford - the Rifleman’s kid

[cyber888]

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/johnny-crawford-original-mouseketeer-rifleman-132535660.html

 

[JRon]

grew up watching the Rifleman. Thought Jonny Crawford’s character was a bit to wimpy, but really liked his Dad, Lucas McCain - The Rifleman.

 

[ncbill]

bummer...enjoyed the bumpers he did for MeTV for his "dad's" show.

 

[Sue J]

He may have been my first TV crush!

I remember watching The Rifleman with my Dad. He was into the story and the characters. I was watching the horses and the son.

 

[Koolau]

I tried never to miss the show. Mark (Johnny) was only a year old than I. My favorite episode had Sammy Davis Jr. doing his utterly amazing gun handling. I was as much in awe as Mark seemed to be in the show. YMMV

 

[aja8888]

I tried never to miss the show. Mark (Johnny) was only a year old than I. My favorite episode had Sammy Davis Jr. doing his utterly amazing gun handling. I was as much in awe as Mark seemed to be in the show. YMMV

When TV was worth watching.

 

[Ian S]

Only parts of one episode actually stuck with me from my childhood: the one where Mark contracts typhoid fever. Interestingly, it was Crawford's favorite episode. https://www.metv.com/stories/johnny...eman-happened-to-be-the-most-painful-to-shoot

 

[bada bing]

Bummer. I had the plastic version of the Rifleman rifle with the loop lever. I practiced the signature flip-cock so many times until I had bashed the thing to pieces.

Wonder why he wasn't vaccinated (if he wasn't).

 

[nap470]

I still watch episodes of The Rifleman and Gunsmoke in re-runs. As they say, it is "must see tv"

 

[cyber888]

So for many years .. even after 2010 .. there was that "talk" and "plan" to revive the Rifleman either as a limited TV series or a TV movie .. with Johnny (Mark) as the new Rifleman .. kept on waiting .. and it never happened. 'sigh' Now he's gone.

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

When TV was worth watching.

Depending on your reception. Until the late 1960s, around 1967 on, we had a simple B&W set that got perhaps no more than five channels, often with some static. Color cable TV, when we could finally afford it, was a god-send.

Mom bought our new color TV set at the local Firestone Tire store. Yep, that's true--at the tire store. Besides the TV, it had a nice record-player and stereo speakers built-in. That TV-stereo cabinet remained in the family for decades. I listened to tons of music, that I still love today, on that piece of furniture.

 

[street]

WOW! I just watched a little of the Rifleman today when I got home. Westerns all day on Saturday. I the winter I get saddle sores watching so many westerns. Lol

Sorry to hear about the news. He will live on for many years to come, on the rifleman thou.

 

[harley]

RIP, Johnny.

However, I must admit that I thought his character Mark was the whiniest, most helpless kid on TV. I used to wish Chuck would just tell him to rub some dirt on it and walk it off.

 

[Koolau]

Bummer. I had the plastic version of the Rifleman rifle with the loop lever. I practiced the signature flip-cock so many times until I had bashed the thing to pieces.

Wonder why he wasn't vaccinated (if he wasn't).

Can't believe my dad actually bought me (with my money) a lever action .22 from Sears (J. C. Higgins) during the run of the show. It was quite different from the Rifleman rifle, but it WAS lever action which is what I wanted. I learned to empty the tube magazine very quickly indeed. I finally broke the firing pin sometime when I was in my 20s. By then, I'd outgrown the "phase" (thankfully.) That rifle was one of the items we sold at auction as we were leaving for the Islands. I made money on it! (Heh, heh, if you don't count inflation, anyway.)

Good memories are flooding back - thank you Johnny and RIP.

 

[VanWinkle]

The Rifleman is my "go to sleep" show every night. There are 5 seasons on youtube through filmrise. Lucas is a good father and Mark tries his patience on many occasions. RIP Johnny(Mark McCain).

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

It is a bit bizarre how many long-running TV shows of the 1960s we kids watched that had motherless households: Bonanza, The Beverly Hillbillies, My Three Sons, The Andy Griffith Show, The Rifleman, Family Affair and ...?

 

[harley]

The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Flipper (I think).

And we can't forget Jonny Quest!

And I don't know if Grandpa counts, but if so, The Guns of Will Sonnet.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

How about single moms? The first I can recall is Julia (starring Diahann Carroll) in 1968.

 

[Montecfo]

Guns of Will Sonnet, hey that's another great show I never missed.

No brag, just fact.

 

[razztazz]

How about single moms? The first I can recall is Julia (starring Diahann Carroll) in 1968.

The Lucy Show 1962. First show to have a regular character who was divorced too. Lucy was the widow, Vivian Vance was divorced but it was mentioned only occasionally for "moral" reasons.

 

[Rushmore]

I too had a crush on him too

I most enjoyed his music. His early stuff and then his big band stuff. I play his cd sweeping the clouds away

 

[Koolau]

Guns of Will Sonnet, hey that's another great show I never missed.

No brag, just fact.

Yeah, I still use that line occasionally.

 

[jazz4cash]

I barely remember The Rifleman. That clip of Sammy Davis Jr was amazing.

 

[Time2]

My wife and I watch the Rifleman on METV fairly regularly. I thought Johnny (Mark) was a pretty good horse rider as a boy!


Our favorite is Gunsmoke, and then Bonanza. I like wanted dead or alive.
I remember liking 'Branded' also, but haven't seen it since I was a kid.

 

[harley]

Johnny Crawford was also one of the original Mousketeers on the Mickey Mouse Club, but just for the first year (1955). That was when I was <1, so I don't remember it.