The Guns of Will Sonnett (1967-1969)

Information from IMDb

Plot Summary
Ex-cavalry scout and gunfighter Will Sonnett and his grandson, Jeff,
search the West for Will's son - and Jeff's father - Jim Sonnett,
a former lawman and gunslinger, who has avoided seeing his son
in order to keep him away from the assortment of killers
and bounty hunters who are after him.
Written by frankfob2

Series Cast
Walter Brennan ... Will Sonnett (50 episodes, 1967-1969)
Dack Rambo ... Jeff Sonnett (50 episodes, 1967-1969)
Jason Evers ... James 'Jim' Sonnett (13 episodes, 1967-1969)
Chuck Horne ... Higlin / ... (7 episodes, 1967-1969)
Rex Holman ... Lannie / ... (4 episodes, 1967-1969)
Dennis Cross ... Charlie / ... (4 episodes, 1967-1969)
Bing Russell ... Charlie - Henchman / ... (4 episodes, 1967-1969)
Don Wilbanks ... Fargo / ... (4 episodes, 1967-1969)
Bill Coontz ... Henchman / ... (4 episodes, 1967-1969)
Cosmo Sardo ... Barfly / ... (4 episodes, 1967-1969)
Myron Healey ... Jack Curson / ... (3 episodes, 1967-1969)
Bartlett Robinson ... Banker / ... (3 episodes, 1967-1969)
William Smith ... Deputy / ... (3 episodes, 1967-1968)
Harry Swoger ... Bartender / ... (3 episodes, 1968-1969)
Walter Burke ... Gideon Stark / ... (3 episodes, 1968)
Hal Baylor ... Blacksmith / ... (3 episodes, 1967-1968)
Jonathan Hole ... Banker Clevenger / ... (3 episodes, 1967-1968)
Chubby Johnson ... Clem - Old Timer / ... (3 episodes, 1968-1969)
Harry Harvey ... Sheriff / ... (3 episodes, 1967-1969)
Eddie Quillan ... Bartender / ... (3 episodes, 1967-1969)
Paul Sorensen ... Ben Archer / ... (3 episodes, 1967-1969)
James McCallion ... Bartender / ... (3 episodes, 1967-1969)
William Phipps ... Craig / ... (3 episodes, 1968-1969)
Michael Hinn ... Sheriff / ... (3 episodes, 1968-1969)
Owen Bush ... Charlie - Telegraph Operator / ... (3 episodes, 1967-1969)
Jimmie Booth ... Barfly / ... (3 episodes, 1967-1969)
James Best ... Harley Bass / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1969)
Royal Dano ... Arvis Peebles / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Paul Richards ... Dave Henry / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Tom Tully ... Corky Dobbs / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1969)
Paul Fix ... Buck Cobb / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Robert J. Wilke ... Sheriff Dan Butler / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Strother Martin ... Harvey Bains / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
James Wainwright ... Deputy Crewes / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Sean McClory ... Pat Murphy (2 episodes, 1969)
Robert Donner ... Arch Merceen / ... (2 episodes, 1968)
Bo Hopkins ... Ben Merceen / ... (2 episodes, 1968)
Ed Bakey ... Hal Jellicoe / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1969)
Jay Novello ... Father Felipe / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1969)
Jim Boles ... Janney / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Don Haggerty ... Sheriff (2 episodes, 1968)
Mort Mills ... Ben Adams (2 episodes, 1969)
Charlie Briggs ... Lyle Merceen / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Norman Leavitt ... Shelby Witty / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Ford Rainey ... Doc Sales / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Bruce Glover ... Billy / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1969)
Joe Higgins ... Bartender (2 episodes, 1968-1969)
William Fawcett ... Manager Gilliam / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1969)
Harry Lauter ... Elihu Long / ... (2 episodes, 1968-1969)
Rayford Barnes ... Chihuahua - Henchman / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1969)
Lonny Chapman ... Newspaper Editor O'Brian / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Perry Cook ... Desk Clerk / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Robert Karnes ... Sheriff Frank Barlow / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Dub Taylor ... Charley McQuade / ... (2 episodes, 1968-1969)
Jerry Catron ... Al Burke [Cowboy] / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Robert Foulk ... Luke Landry / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Sam Edwards ... Ed - Clerk / ... (2 episodes, 1968-1969)
Janice Yarbrough ... Marcie Stevens / ... (2 episodes, 1967)
Don Keefer ... Defense Attorney Sawyer / ... (2 episodes, 1968-1969)
Duane Grey ... Bartender / ... (2 episodes, 1968)
Robert F. Hoy ... Jo Jo - Henchman / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1969)
Carlos Romero ... Carlos (2 episodes, 1969)
Bill Zuckert ... Tucker (2 episodes, 1969)
Nick Borgani ... Church Member / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1969)
Jack Tornek ... Townsman / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Arthur Tovey ... Piano Player / ... (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Phil Schumacher ... Barfly (2 episodes, 1968-1969)
Michael Jeffers ... Sheriff / ... (2 episodes, 1968)

Series Directed
Jean Yarbrough (34 episodes, 1967-1969)
Thomas Carr (4 episodes, 1967-1968)
Richard C. Sarafian (3 episodes, 1967)
Jack Arnold (2 episodes, 1968)
Michael O'Herlihy (2 episodes, 1968)

Series Produced
Andy Brennan .... associate producer / producer (50 episodes, 1967-1969)
Aaron Spelling .... producer / supervising producer (50 episodes, 1967-1969)
Danny Thomas .... executive producer / producer (50 episodes, 1967-1969)
Dick Clark .... producer (unknown episodes)
Shelley Hull .... associate producer (unknown episodes)

Series Writing Credits
Richard Carr (50 episodes, 1967-1969)
Aaron Spelling (50 episodes, 1967-1969)
Kathleen Hite (8 episodes, 1967-1969)
Jameson Brewer (4 episodes, 1968-1969)
Cliff Gould (3 episodes, 1967-1969)
Edward J. Lakso (3 episodes, 1967-1968)
Larry Gordon (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Cliff Todd (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
James Komack (2 episodes, 1968-1969)
Robert Pirosh (2 episodes, 1968)

Series Original Music
Fred Steiner (46 episodes, 1967-1969)
Hugo Friedhofer (3 episodes, 1967)
Earle Hagen (unknown episodes)

Series Cinematography
Henry Cronjager Jr. (49 episodes, 1967-1969)

Trivia
Will's horse was Marauder.

Besides Walter Brennan, other Duke 'Pals' to look out for in this series are
Paul Fix, Strother Martin, William Fawcett, Dub Taylor

Memorable Quote

Filming Locations
Bronson Caves, Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA
Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA
Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

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[extendedmedia]

The Guns of Will Sonnett is a Western television series set in the 1870s which ran on the ABC television network from 1967 to 1969.
The series was the first production collaboration between Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas,
who would later go on to produce one of ABC's most-memorable hits, The Mod Squad.
Today, the series is distributed by King World (now CBS Television Distribution),
and, when telecast, is usually seen in tandem with Branded.

User Review

Quote

The Guns of Will Sonnett
12 April 2008 | by raysond (Chapel Hill,North Carolina)
Oscar winning actor Walter Brennan played all sorts of characters. From crusty sidekicks(opposite John Wayne and Dean Martin in Rio Bravo),to meddling old fools(Disney's The One and Only,Original Family Band),and evil baddies(opposite Henry Fonda in My Darling Clementine and alongside James Stewart in How The West Was Won). Brennan also portrayed lovable but cranky family members(like his character Amos McCoy on the 1950's situation television comedy series The Real McCoys which ran from 1957-1963 on two major television networks,ABC and then CBS and was produced by Sheldon Leonard and based on the characters created by Irving Pincus). Rarely did he play a tough guy,a mentor or a sage until this series came along.

"The Guns of Will Sonnett",was producer Aaron Spelling's first and only attempt at doing a weekly western series. Created by Aaron Spelling and produced by Danny Thomas,this series produced 50 episodes all in color and it ran from September 8,1967-March 21,1969 for the ABC network. Produced by Spelling-Thomas Productions under the executive producers Danny Thomas and Aaron Spelling along with producers Shelley Hull and Dick Clark. Filmed at Desilu-Paramount Studios. Walter Brennan played Will Sonnett,a elderly older man and father figure who was quick with a gun unless it was absolutely necessary. He's leading his grandson(Dack Rambo),Jeff Sonnett from town-to-town looking for the older son,Jim Sonnett(Jason Evers)he never got the chance to meet whom in just above every episode they've seem to missed him. This series was reminiscent of the David Janssen's classic series "The Fugitive" where each week the two Sonnetts come even close to meeting their long-lost family member. Along the way they encounter gun-slingers and low-lifes that come in between there quest. This was ABC's sleeper hits during its line-up of shows for the 1967-1968 season.

This was a brilliant western series that lasted three seasons,even at the time went the show went into its second season(for the 1968-1969 season),Spelling and Thomas were producing another great series,"The Mod Squad",which became one of the greatest cop shows ever to come out of the late 1960's and well into the early 1970's. "The Guns of Will Sonnett" was in fact Spelling's only attempt at making a weekly western and after the show went off the air in March of 1969,Spelling continue into his foray of cop shows and dramas.