The Searchers: Jeffrey Hunter

Whilst enjoying Star Trek: Discovery (2017-present) Season Two (the series continues to be uniformly exceptional) including a reinvigorated Captain Christopher Pike, played with precision by Anson Mount, it unexpectedly tied me to a look back at the original Captain Christopher Pike from Star Trek: The Original Series pilot episode The Cage (1965).

 

 

The original Captain Christopher Pike was played expertly by actor Jeffrey Hunter.

 

 

A recent viewing of the John Ford-directed, John Wayne helmed classic The Searchers (1956) presented an opportunity to share some pictures of the man in this real, non-space Western for the role of Martin Pawley, one of the stars of the historic film.

 

 

Sadly, Hunter did not live long and prosper passing away at the ripe young age of just 42 in 1969 following complications resulting from a film's on set explosion.

 

Little House On The Prairie: Johnny Cash

The late great singer/songwriter Johnny Cash (1932-2003) starred as Caleb Hodgekiss in the season opener for Little House On The Prairie, Season Three, The Collection in a terrific performance.

 

 

People say to me 'Little House On The Prairie? Really?!' Like as if Michael effin' Landon isn't good enough for you. Well he was good enough for Johnny Cash.

 

While not a sci-fi icon I know, it was still such a pleasure to watch him perform in this fine episode. I love the voice behind Jackson, Ring Of Fire and so many more.

 

Little House On The Prairie gets the street cred it deserves. Hell yeah!

Lost In Space: Warren Oates

The late, great Warren Oates (1928-1982) starred in a wildly entertaining turn as Jimmy Hapgood in Lost In Space, Season One, Episode 6, Welcome Stranger.

Oates has featured in a whole plethora of must see films including a number of Westerns. Ride The High Country (1962), The Shooting (1966), The Wild Bunch (1969), Barquero (1970), The Hired Hand (1971) and Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia (1974) are all worth your time to name a few. The fantastic 1941 (1979), Stripes (1981), The Border (1982) and Blue Thunder (1983) would follow rounding out a stellar career with his passing in 1982.

Nighthawks: Rutger Hauer

The late great Rutger Hauer (1944-2019) was a big part of the success behind Nighthawks (1981) by Bruce Malmuth along with actor Sylvester Stallone.

He was such a sensation as terrorist Wulfgar and still holds our attention for what amounts to a fairly standard thriller.

It's also a pleasure to see a number of faces who graced science fiction worlds. Lindsay Wagner appears hot off The Bionic Woman (1976-1978) along with Billy Dee Williams (The Empire Strikes Back), Nigel Davenport (The Island Of Dr. Moreau) and even Persis Khambatta (Star Trek: The Motion Picture).

This post was completed in honor of the actor. Nighthawks was the first film I had seen featuring Hauer prior to the incomparable science fiction classic Blade Runner (1982) by Ridley Scott. In Nighthawks he really commands the screen as he would the aforementioned masterpiece.

 

Images taken from the Shout release of Nighthawks.