James Drury -- the
star of the Western series, "The Virginian" -- has died. He was 85.
The actor's
assistant, Karen Lindsey, confirmed his death in a Facebook post, stating that
he died of natural causes on Monday.
"THE COWBOY
took his last ride," Lindsey wrote. "It is with immense sadness that
I let you all know that James Drury, our beloved Virginian and dear friend
passed away this morning of natural causes, Monday, April 6, 2020. He will be
missed so much. It is beyond words."
Lindsey added that a
memorial service will be determined at a later date.
Drury was born on
April 18, 1934, in New York City. Growing up, he spent a lot of time on his
family's ranch in Oregon, and it was there that he developed a love for horses
and the outdoors.
He first started
acting at the age of 8 when he starred as Herod in a children’s Christmas play.
Drury, who was trained as an actor at New York University, left the theatre in
New York for Hollywood in 1954.
He went on to appear
in films like "Blackboard Jungle," "Forbidden Planet,"
"The Tender Trap," "Love Me Tender," "The Last
Wagon," "Pollyanna," "Ten Who Dared," "Ride the
High Country," among others.
Drury also
guest-starred on TV series including, "Playhouse 90,"
"Gunsmoke," "Rifleman," "Cheyenne," "Alfred
Hitchcock Presents," "Perry Mason," "Wagon Train,"
"Rawhide," "Death Valley Days," before he landed the role
in "The Virginian" in 1962.
The NBC series ran
for nine seasons until 1971. According to Variety, “The Virginian" had the
third-longest run of any TV Western. It was topped only by CBS’s “Gunsmoke"
and NBC’s “Bonanza. Drury and co-star Doug McClure appeared in all 249
episodes.
“There were
times when we had five Virginian episodes shooting on the same day,” Drury
recalled in his biography on his website. “I would literally ride on horseback
from set to set to give two lines here, three lines there, then over here to do
10 pages of script.”
Following "The
Virginian," Drury appeared in a handful of projects, including the
1974 show, "Firehouse," "The Fall Guy" in 1983, and
"Walker, Texas Ranger" in 1993.
His third wife, Carl
Ann, died in August 2019. They were married for over 40 years