Annie Oakley (TV series)


Annie Oakley is an American Western television series that fictionalizes the life of the famous Annie Oakley. Featuring actress Gail Davis in the title role, the weekly program ran from January 1954 to February 1957 in syndication. A total of 81 black-and-white episodes were produced, with each installment running 25 minutes in length. ABC aired daytime reruns of the series on Saturdays and Sundays from 1959 to 1960 and then again from 1964 to 1965.

Synopsis

The show starred Gail Davis as Annie Oakley, with Brad Johnson in the role of Deputy Sheriff Lofty Craig and Jimmy Hawkins as Annie's little brother, Tagg Oakley. Hawkins would ultimately play Tagg in 80 of the series' 81 episodes. In the pilot episode, "Bull's Eye", Tagg was performed by Billy Gray, who is better known for his role as James "Bud" Anderson, Jr., on the television version of Father Knows Best. Following his portrayal of Tagg in the Annie Oakley pilot, Gray opted to join the cast of Father Knows Best, which premiered on television in October 1954, nine months after the initial broadcast of Annie Oakley.
In the series, Annie Oakley rode a horse named Target; Tagg's horse was Pixie; and Lofty's mount was named Forest. Annie and Tagg lived in the town of Diablo, Arizona, with their uncle, Sheriff Luke MacTavish, who was frequently away whenever trouble started. It would then be up to straight-shooting Annie and her "silent suitor" Lofty Craig to rescue law-abiding neighbors and arrest outlaws. Often Tagg would be told to stay in town and out of the way; but through either disobedience, the need to relay important new information, or being captured by outlaws, he would usually end up in the middle of each episode's adventure.
Annie always wore the same fringed cowgirl outfit, of which 15 or more copies were made throughout the show's production. Her hairstyle was braided pigtails.
Additional episodes were being considered, but Jimmy Hawkins had a growth spurt and outgrew the part of Annie's little brother.
Annie Oakley was among Gene Autry's Flying A Productions.

Guest stars

appeared fifteen times in assorted roles during the course of the series; Harry Lauter, twelve times; Stanley Andrews and Gregg Barton, eleven times each; Myron Healey, ten times; Roy Barcroft, eight times; William Fawcett, prior to his role as Pete Wilkey in Fury, seven times; William Tannen, six times, and Don C. Harvey, five times.
Approximately two dozen episodes lapsed into the public domain and are currently available on DVD in North America and elsewhere.
On March 31, 2009, Mill Creek Entertainment released Gun Justice Featuring The Lone Ranger, with other television Westerns such as Annie Oakley.
VCI Entertainment released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 for the first time on October 21, 2014.

Comics

A number of American comics were based on the TV series:
Many of these issues were later reprinted in black and white by L. Miller and World Distributors Ltd.

Books

At least three "Authorized TV Adventures" were published by Whitman Publishing Company.