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Eric Fleming (born Edward Heddy Jr.; July 4, 1925 – September 28, 1966) was an American actor known primarily for his role as Gil Favor in the long-running CBS Western television series Rawhide.
Born with a club foot, he needed crutches to get around and was often severely beaten by his father. At the age of eight, he attempted to kill his father with a gun, which jammed. He left home shortly after, first to Los Angeles, and then to Chicago, where he lived roughly and associated with gangsters, doing odd jobs for them to make money. At the age of 11, after being wounded in a gunfight between some gangsters and hospitalized, he was returned home to his mother, who had recently divorced.
During the Depression, he dropped out of school and worked at various jobs until he joined the Merchant Marine, before joining the United States Navy in 1942 for World War II. He was a Seabee in the 88th Naval Construction Battalion as a carpenter. He served until 1945 and became a petty officer second class.
He received severe facial injuries during a bet in which he was attempting to lift a weight and had to undergo extensive plastic surgery to reconstruct his forehead, nose, and jaw. Before this, Fleming had always thought himself "ugly" and considered the incident a "wonderful balance of values."
After his facial reconstruction, he returned to Paramount Studios, where he had been working as a construction worker, grip, and carpenter. He made a bet with an actor that he could do a better audition. He lost the bet and it cost him $100 and "I lost a lot of pride too, which hurt but the $100 hurt worse." Upon deciding that acting had cost him $100, and acting would get it back, he entered acting classes at the studio in the evenings. "Eric Fleming- Rawhide Star, actor". . trivia.ellenthorp.com. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
Fleming's acting debut came in a road company production of Happy Birthday. He appeared on stage in Chicago and in a number of successful Broadway theatre plays, including the musical Plain and Fancy. He began acting in television shows about the same time. Fleming then moved to Hollywood and starred in several low-budget films, including Fright, Curse of the Undead, and the cult classic Queen of Outer Space.
The top-rated Western, with co-stars Clint Eastwood, Sheb Wooley, and Paul Brinegar, ran from 1959 to 1966. Fleming and Eastwood more or less rotated in playing the lead from week-to-week, but the former was always billed first. Fleming also co-wrote two Rawhide scripts—"Incident of the Night on the Town" (season three, episode 29) and "A Woman's Place" (season four, episode 25).
Fleming, Wooley (trail scout Pete Nolan), James Murdock (Wishbone's clumsy meal assistant Mushy), Robert Cabal (wrangler Hey Soos), and Rocky Shahan (drover Joe Scarlet) were all dismissed by Ben Brady during Rawhide’s summer 1965 hiatus prior to shooting the eighth season. The recently installed sixth executive producer of Rawhide had been tasked with revitalizing the series and reversing declining ratings. Fleming boasted to TV Guide that "CBS fired me because they were paying me a million dollars a year" (only $220,000 to be exact). "Rawhide Star Eric Fleming Had the Roughest and Most Rugged Life of Any TV Star". MeTV. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
With Eastwood promoted against his better judgment to trail boss, the cattle drive continued for 13 episodes before CBS chief William S. Paley preemptively axed it that December. "I Used to Watch Rawhide As a ...". TV Guide. Retrieved March 4, 2020. Another cancellation factor, according to Eastwood, was that " Rawhide had been the network's only show to get a rating on Friday night, so they switched us to Tuesday opposite a show with the same type of male audience, Combat!" (ABC's gritty World War II drama starring Rick Jason and Vic Morrow involving the Western Front).
Rawhide
In 1958, the 6-foot, 3-inch () Fleming landed the starring role as trail boss Gil Favor in Rawhide. Set in the 1860s, Rawhide portrayed the challenges faced by the men of the cattle drive from San Antonio, Texas, to Sedalia, Missouri. Producer Charles Marquis Warren called on the diary written in 1866 by trail boss George C. Duffield to shape the character of Favor: a savvy, strong, and fair leader who persevered and got the job done.
The Glass Bottom Boat and Bonanza
Fleming rebounded with a supporting role as a suave spy in The Glass Bottom Boat, a Doris Day Star vehicle, and also guest-starred in three episodes of the number-one rated, family-themed NBC Western Bonanza alongside Michael Landon (as Little Joe Cartwright) and action director William Witney. Effective as the sadistic Wes Dunn in the titular "Peace Officer" from season seven, Fleming was brought back by series creator David Dortort for the subsequent season to star as honorable Mormon rancher Heber Clauson in "The Pursued", a two-parter exploring religious persecution and intolerance. The first installment was aired only four days after Fleming's accidental death.
High Jungle and death
Fleming signed to star in High Jungle, a two-part episode of the short-lived Off to See the Wizard, also intended for theatrical distribution in Europe. Six weeks into the location shoot in Peru, Fleming and co-star Nico Minardos were in a dugout canoe that overturned in the Huallaga River. Minardos managed to swim to safety. Fleming was swept away by the current and drowned on September 28, 1966, at age 41, leaving behind fiancée Lynne Garber. His body was recovered three days later. Production of the episode was terminated.
Selected filmography
1955 Conquest of Space Capt. Barney Merritt 1956 Fright Dr. James Hamilton 1958 Queen of Outer Space Capt. Neal Patterson 1959 Curse of the Undead Preacher Dan 1966 The Glass Bottom Boat Edgar Hill
Selected television appearances
1956 Secret File, U.S.A. German Sergeant Episode "Mission Rhino" 1956 The Big Story Episode "The Victor Reisel Story " 1956 The Phil Silvers Show Rory Mundane Episode "Hollywood" 1956 The Phil Silvers Show USN Recruiting Chief Episode "The Recruiting Sergeant " 1956 The Phil Silvers Show Private Mike McLusty Episode "The Face on the Recruiting Poster " 1957 Suspicion Episode "Heartbeat" 1958 The Silent Service Lt. Cmdr. C. C. Kirkpatrick Episode "The Triton's Christmas" 1958 Studio One Jace Farrow Episode "The Strong Man" 1958 Flight Episode "Master Sergeant" 1959-1965 Rawhide Gil Favor Cast Regular 1966 Bonanza Heber Clauson Episode "The Pursued, part I and 2" 1966 Bonanza Wes Dunn Episode "Peace Officer" 1967 Off to See the Wizard Episode "High Jungle"
External links
Categories: 1925 Births, 1966 Deaths, 20th-century American Male Actors, Accidental Deaths In Peru, American Male Film Actors, American Male Television Actors, Deaths By Drowning, Filmed Deaths Of Entertainers, Male Actors From California, Military Personnel From California, People From Santa Paula, California, United States Merchant Mariners, United States Navy Non-commissioned Officers, United States Navy Personnel Of World War Ii, Western Television Actors, Seabees
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