James Child Drury was born in New York, New York, on April 18, 1934 where his father was a New York University professor of marketing and he was brought up in both New York and Oregon.
After a series of bit roles and playing second-lead for Walt Disney, in 1962 James Drury got a substantial role as a lascivious gold prospector in the early Sam Peckinpah western “Ride the High Country”, and also landed the top-billed leading role of the ranch foreman on “The Virginian”, a lavish series which had nine seasons. The show was based on a book written be Owen Wister.
James Drury was probably due to a vague resemblance to Gary Cooper, who had played the part in an early film version. In the series, as the novel, the actual name of “The Virginian” has never been revealed. James Drury also
played the part in a refurbished version called “The Men From Shiloh”. James Drury had a cameo role in the 2000 T.V. movie of “The Virginian” starring Bill Pullman. This film follows Wister's novel a little bit closer than the television series had.
James Drury appeared in a number of films and other television programs, including the T.V. cowboy reunion movie “The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw” with Doug McClure, who played Trampas for the entire run of “The Virginian”. Other James Drury costars on “The Virginian” included Lee J. Cobb, Randy Boone, Roberta Shore, Gary Clarke, Clu Gulager, and toward the end of the run, Tim Matheson.
James Drury also appeared on the TV western Alias Smith and Jones costarring Pete Duel and Ben Murphy. Drury played a sheriff who was a former outlaw. Drury had also worked with Duel twice before in different episodes of “The Virginian”.
Why is James Drury famous?
James Drury is an American actor who played the title role in the 90-minute weekly Western television series “The Virginian”, broadcast on NBC between 1962 and 1971. The series had perhaps the most demanding production schedules in the history of network T.V.
James Child Drury was born in New York, New York, on April 18, 1934 where his father was a New York University professor of marketing and he was brought up in both New York and Oregon.
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