Way Too Much Bruce Dern and James Whitmore.......

Don't forget Richard Anderson. I believe he had the same number of appearances as Dern, always as different characters. He later ended up a regular on the Six Million Dollar Man.

I really like The Big Valley and a fan of Whitmore & Dern, however I agree with your statement !
Also lets not forget one of my favorite character actors James Gregory,
(was great in Barney Miller) played the same type of role too much on The Big Valley. Of course this is just my humble opinion.

This is much more noticeable in syndication, where for example, there are 2 Big Valley programs on each night on a local religious channel here in Texas. Of course, in its original iteration, you might see an actor once a year. I had forgotten what a good show this western was. Coincidentally, Bruce Dern was on tonight, and Richard Anderson was on the other show, and Whitmore was on yesterday. I have always like Whitmore as a bad guy. One of my favorite Twilight Zones has him playing a not so benevolent leader of a stranded Martian colony.

I agree that they're both terrific character actors, IMO better at playing bad guys than good guys. Now with MeTV which plays great TV westerns like TBV, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Wild Wild West, and The Rifleman (my personal favorite, especially of the 30-minute shows), you'll see many repeat appearances by other great character actors like John Anderson, John Carradine, Royal Dano, Bradford Dillman, Albert Salmi, Chris Alcaide. It's great to catch them on other shows -- Johnny Crawford, who played Mark McCain on The Rifleman, playing a deputy on TBV, or Paul Fix, who was Marshal Torrence on TR playing a judge on Bonanza, or Bill Quinn the bartender ... but seldom the other way around, only before their big breaks ... seeing Michael Landon and Dan Blocker (with a laughable mustache) on The Rifleman.

Another actor who was used at least 3 times was Richard Anderson. He was in the episode where Audra had appendicitis on the train, when Audra went missing in the hotel, and one other that escapes me at the moment.

Just couldn't stand the character of Howdy Doody or whoever that James Whitmore played.

THE RIFLEMAN used a lot of the same actors over and over as well (JOHN ANDERSON, JOHN MILFORD, PETER WHITNEY, etc) In fact, going as recently forward as QUINCY in the late 70's/early 80's, that show, too, used a lot of the same guest actors over and over (JOHN ANDERSON, again! MICHAEL CONSTANTINE, CHARLES AIDMAN, etc) I agree that maybe BV could've used Dern, Whitmore, or RICHARD ANDERSON a time or two less, but I never considered it distracting! As long as the script clearly dictates it's a different character---even if it's the same actor playing him---I could always convincingly tell myself "Hey! That guy looks just like the psycho killer from last season", and leave it at that! BTW, classic LAW & ORDER fans should be similarly freaked out, as the late, longtime star JERRY ORBACH first appeared on "L & O" in an unrelated guest role as an attorney the year before he signed on for his memorable regular gig as "Lennie Briscoe"!

Lots of shows "re-used" actors - almost like an acting ensemble. George Petrie was in many episodes of "The Honeymoonersplaying different characters - not to mention Harv Smithfield on "Dallas". "Barney Miller" was another show that rotated an ensemble of actors as different characters.

I kind of think it lends a certain charm to "The Big Valley". It also makes some sense because the producers would lean on actors who had some ability to look like they belonged in the west in the 1870s - especially if they had any kind of skills with a horse.

If you were watching MeTV yesterday, you were treated to a two-hour James Whitmore marathon on The Big Valley (villain) followed by Gunsmoke (hero).

DrakeStraw
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