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Johnny Crawford

Johnny Crawford

Born on March 26th, 1946

Los Angeles, California, USA

Died on April 29th, 2021

Biography

John Ernest Crawford was an American actor, singer, and musician. He first performed before a national audience as a Mouseketeer. At age 12, Crawford rose to prominence playing Mark McCain in the ABC Western series, The Rifleman. Crawford was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor at age 13 for his work on The Rifleman, which aired from 1958 to 1963. Disney started out with 24 original Mouseketeers. However, at the end of the first season, the studio reduced the number to 12, and Crawford was released from his contract. His first important break as an actor followed with the title role in a Lux Video Theatre production of "Little Boy Lost", a live NBC broadcast on March 15, 1956. He also appeared in the popular Western series The Lone Ranger, in 1956, in one of the few color episodes of that series. Following that performance, the young actor worked steadily with many seasoned actors and directors. Freelancing for two and one-half years, he accumulated almost 60 television credits, including featured roles in three episodes of NBC's The Loretta Young Show and an appearance as Manuel in, "I Am an American", an episode of the syndicated crime drama Sheriff of Cochise. He starred as Bobby Adams in the 1958 drama "Courage of Black Beauty". By the spring of 1958, he had also performed 14 demanding roles in live teleplays for NBC's Matinee Theatre, appeared on CBS's sitcom, Mr. Adams and Eve, in the Wagon Train episode "The Sally Potter Story" (in which Martin Milner also appeared) and on the syndicated series, Crossroads, Sheriff of Cochise, and Whirlybirds, and made three pilots of TV series. The third pilot, which was made as an episode of Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater, was picked up by ABC and the first season of The Rifleman began filming in July 1958. Crawford had a brief career as a recording artist in the 1950s and 1960s. He continued to act on television and in film as an adult. Beginning in 1992, Crawford led the California-based Johnny Crawford Orchestra, a vintage dance orchestra that performed at special events.

Filmography

Bill Tilghman and the Outlaws

2019

Character TBA

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The Thirteenth Floor

1999

Singer

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Bloodhounds of Broadway

1989

Musician

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Crossbow: The Movie

1989

Prince Ignatius

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The Gambler: The Adventure Continues

1983

Masket

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Macbeth

1981

Seyton

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When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion

1979

Self

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The Shootist

1976

Books' Victim in Flashback (archive footage / uncredited)

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The Great Texas Dynamite Chase

1976

Slim

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The inbreaker

1974

Character TBA

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Sonic Boom

1974

Charlton Heston

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The Naked Ape

1973

Lee

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The Resurrection of Broncho Billy

1970

Broncho Billy

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The Movie Orgy

1968

Self (archive footage)

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El Dorado

1966

Luke MacDonald

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The Restless Ones

1965

David Winton

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Village of the Giants

1965

Horsey

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Indian Paint

1965

Nishko

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One Man's Challenge

1962

Self

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The Space Children

1958

Ken Brewster

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Courage of Black Beauty

1957

Bobby Adams

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