Stuart Randall's Birthday

Stuart Randall, best known for his role as Sheriff Mort Cory on the popular TV Western Laramie (1959-63), was born on July 24, 1909. His birth name was Clarence Maxwell. He began performing in plays at school at a young age, and in 1929, he was bound for California with the intentions of becoming a full-time entertainer.

As Larry Sothern, he had a short-lived, but successful singing career, which was interrupted in a terrible way when he lost his voice. It took three years and several operations to restore his speaking voice; he was able to sing professionally again in 1938. (A few of his songs can be heard on Internet Archive, such as this one, if you search for "Larry Sothern.")

Laramie

Laramie was one of the most popular family Westerns on TV during the time it ran on NBC (Sept. 1959 - May, 1963; 124 episodes), and was an even bigger hit in foreign countries such as Germany and Japan.  
The show had several different directors, including Lesley Selander, Bill Witney, and Joe Kane. 



Cast:

John Smith . . . as Slim Sherman
Robert Fuller . . . as Jess Harper
Robert Crawford, Jr. . . . as Andy Sherman
Hoagy Carmichael . . . as Jonsey
Spring Byington . . . as Daisy Cooper
Dennis Holmes . . . as Mike Williams
Stuart Randall . . . as Sheriff Mort Corey
Eddy Waller . . . as Mose




Laramie DVDs on Amazon.com

 

  Season One              Season Two                 Season Three                  Season Four




Setting:
      
     Twelve miles west of Laramie, WY, on the Sherman Ranch during the first few years of the 1870s.  The ranch is also a relay station for the Overland Stage Co.



Story:

     Stories focus on either Slim or Jess, both Slim and Jess, or the sometimes the other characters.  
     A well-used storyline revolves around someone who either once saved Slim or Jess's life, or had their life saved by Slim or Jess, coming around with a request for a favor ("hide me from the law," "I need fifty dollars," etc.).
     Slim and/or Jess frequently venture away from Laramie.  For example, Slim and Jess head up the Lolo Trail in "Fugitive Road"; Jess goes to Mexico in "Run to Tumavaca"; Jess goes to Billings, MT, in "The Fatal Step," and Slim does a bit of traveling in "The Road to Helena."  Colorado and other parts of Wyoming are visited most often.



Characters:

Slim Sherman 
     Slim Sherman is one of the two main characters of Laramie.  He is honest--perhaps to a fault--and sometimes hot-headed.  He's big and tall (John Smith was 6'2"), with blue eyes and dark blonde hair, and meant to be in his late twenties or early thirties.
     Slim's parents both passed away many years ago, leaving Slim and his younger brother, Andy, alone except for Jonsey.  The story of how Matt and Mary Sherman died is told in an episode in season four called "The Last Battleground."
     Slim fought for the North during the War.



Jess Harper
     Jess Harper is the exact opposite of Slim Sherman; instead of being an honest rancher, he is a drifter who goes by instinct and feelings, even if it means slighting what other people call "right."  Instead of being hot-headed, he has a smoldering temper that can be dangerous, especially if someone he loves is in jeopardy.
     Dark-haired, blue eyed Jess is a couple years younger and a couple inches shorter than Slim.
     Jess lost most of his family in a fire set by an outlaw named Bannister.  Episodes that focus on Jess's family history include: "Fugitive Road" (season one), "Men of Defiance" (season one), and "Shadow of the Past" (season four).
     Jess fought for the Confederacy during the War.



Andy Sherman
     Slim's little brother, Andy, is a young teenager who is somewhat of a dreamer; he occasionally butts heads with Slim, who is doing his best to give Andy the good rearing that their parents could not give him, but sometimes Slim tries too hard.  Andy likes Jess right from the start, and would rather grow up to be more like Jess than Slim.
     At the end of the first season, Andy leaves to go to school in St. Louis, although he appears in a few episodes of season two, including "Ride the Wild Wind," in which he has more screen time than Slim and Jess.
   


Jonsey
     Jonesy was played by Hoagy Carmichael, composer of such well-known jazz tunes as  "Georgia On My Mind," "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," and "Stardust."
     Jonesy is the middle-aged (Carmichael was around 60 years old) sort-of-handyman/housekeeper for the Sherman household.  But he's mostly there to say, "Now, Slim . . . ." when Slim needs reined in.
     "Jonesy" was only in the first season, and then he takes Andy to school in St. Louis and is never mentioned again.  In real life, Carmichael just had better things to do (like play golf and write music) so he let go of the part. 
     


Daisy Cooper
      Daisy is in the third and fourth seasons.  She arrives at the Sherman ranch ("Ladies Day," season three, episode two) quite by accident; she thinks she has bought a store in Sherman, WY, but no such place exists!  Someone cheated her, but everything turns out for the best when she decides to stay on at the ranch and take care of Mike.
     In her seventies, Ms. Cooper is a widow, who also lost her son during the War Between the States.  She was a medical nurse for the Union, and her medical knowledge, along with her general wisdom, comes in handy on the ranch.
     

  
  Mike Williams
      Mike is orphaned when his parents are killed by Indians, near Laramie.  He is found by a group of traveling entertainers and brought to the Sherman ranch ("Dragon at the Door" season three, episode one).  Mike is in the third and fourth seasons.




Sources:

http://robertfuller.info/careertv/laramie.html

http://laramierelaystation.com/index

Lentz III, Harris M., Televison Westerns Episode Guide, MacFarland & Co., 1997 

Stuart Randall

Stuart Randall
Born:  July 24, 1909 (in Indiana, USA) (as Clarence Maxwell*)
Died:  June 22, 1988  (in San Bernadino, CA)
Spouse(s): ?
Children: ?
Parents: Walter and Allie Maxwell*
Movies:
    1950
         Bells of Coronado
         Rustlers on Horseback
         Rider from Tucson
         Dynamite Pass (uncredited)
    1951
        Fixed Bayonets! (uncredited)
        The Bushwhackers
        The Lady Pays Off  (uncredited)
        Arizona Manhunt
        Tomorrow Is Another Day
        The Hoodlum
        Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison (uncredited)
        Wells Fargo Gunmaster
        Tomahawk
        Rough Riders of Durango
        Storm Warning
    1952
         Hiawatha
         Pony Soldier
         Captive Women
         Hurricane Smith
         Park Row
         O. Henry's Full House (segment "The Clarion Call") (uncredited)
         Diplomatic Courier  (uncredited)
         The Half-Breed  (uncredited)
         The Pride of St. Louis  (uncredited)
         Kid Monk Baroni
         Carbine Williams
         Bugles in the Afternoon
         Rancho Notorious (uncredited)
         This Woman Is Dangerous  (uncredited)
    1953
        Captain John Smith and Pocahontas
        Mexican Manhunt
        Vicki (uncredited)
        Champ for a Day (uncredited)
        The Man from the Alamo  (uncredited)
        Hannah Lee: An American Primitive
        Arena
        Pickup on South Street  (uncredited)
        Pony Express
        Destination Gobi  (uncredited)
        Sword of Venus
    1954
        This Is My Love
        Naked Alibi
        The Far Country (uncredited)
        Man with the Steel Whip
        They Rode West
        Southwest Passage
        The Great Diamond Robbery (uncredited)
   1955
        Texas Lady  (uncredited)
        Headline Hunters
        Female on the Beach
        Chief Crazy Horse
    1956
        Miami Exposé
        Pardners
        Star in the Dust
        Indestructible Man
        The Ten Commandments (uncredited)
    1957
        Run of the Arrow
    1959
        The Big Fisherman
        Verboten!
    1960
        College Confidential (uncredited)
        From the Terrace (uncredited)
        The Gallant Hours (uncredited)
        Home from the Hill (uncredited)
        I'll Give My Life
    1961
        Posse from Hell
        Frontier Uprising
    1963
        Lassie: A Christmas Tail
    1964
        Taggart
    1965
        Fluffy
    1969
        True Grit (uncredited)


TV Shows:
    Alias Smith and Jones
         - Dreadful Sorry Clementine (1971)
    The Big Valley
         - Shadow of a Giant (1968)
    The Bold Ones: The New Doctors
         - To Save a Life (1969)
    Bonanza
         - The Spanish Grant (1960)
         - Breed of Violence (1960)
         - The Lila Conrad Story (1964)
         - The Real People of Muddy Creek (1968)
         - The Wagon (1970)
         - Shadow of a Hero (1971)
    Border Patrol
         - Political Killer (1959)
    Broken Arrow
         - Old Enemy (1958)
    Buckskin
         - China Boy (1958)
    The Californians
         - The Vigilantes Begin (1957)
    Cavalcade of America
         - The Paper Sword (1954)
    Charlie Chan, The New Adventures of
         - The Secret of the Sea (1957)
    Checkmate
         - The Cyanide Touch (1960)
    Cheyenne
         - Hard Bargain (1957)
         - Apache Blood (1960)
    Cimarron City (semi-regular as Sheriff Art Simpson/Sampson; see below for    
                                 episodes list)
         - To Become a Man (1958)
         - Medicine Man (1958)
         - Kid on a Calico Horse (1958)
         - A Respectable Girl (1958)
         - Child of Fear (1959)
    City Detective
         - Handcuffs (1953)
    Colt .45
         - Gallows at Granite Gap (1957)
         - The Golden Gun (1958)
    Daniel Boone
         - The Courtship of Jericho Jones (1965)
    Death Valley Days
         - The Courtship of Carrie Huntington (1966)
         - The Pieces of the Puzzle (1968)
    Destry
         - Big Deal at Little River (1964)
    Dr. Fu Manchu, The Adventures of
         - The Secret of Fu Manchu (1956)
    Dundee and the Culhane
         - The Thy Brother's Keeper Brief (1967)
    the Falcon, Adventures of the
         - The Wheel of Fortune (1955)
    Frontier
         - Cattle Drive to Casper (1955)
    The High Chaparral
         - The Lieutenant (1970)
    Ironside
         - In the Line of Duty (1971)
    It's a Great Life
         - The Vacuum Cleaner Salesman (1954)
    Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre
          - The Pendulum (1957)
    The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial
         - The Case of the Double Trouble (1957)
    Lancer
         - The Measure of a Man (1969)
    Laramie (regular as Sheriff Mort Corey, 33 episodes, 1960-1963)
         - Ride into Darkness (1960)
         - The Dark Trail (1960)
    Lassie
         - Stable Mates (1959)
         - Eager Beaver (1962)
         - A Specialist for Lassie (1963)
         - High Tension (1963)
         - Lassie's Gift of Love (Part 1) (1963)
         - Lassie's Gift of Love: Part 2 (1963)
         - Lassie and the Savage (1964)
         - The Old Man in the Forest (1965)
         - Cry of the Wild (1967)
         - The Guardian (1967)
         - Starfire (1967)
    Lawman
         - The Outcast (1958)
         - The Promise (1961)
    The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
         - Mr. Cousin and Mr. Brother (1956)  (uncredited)
         - One (1958)
         - Two (1958)
         - Three (1958)
         - Four (1958)
         - Horse Race (1959)
         - The Ring of Death (1959)
    The Lone Ranger
         - Masked Deputy (1950)
         - The Globe (1954)
         - Heritage of Treason (1955)
    The Loretta Young Show
         - You're Driving Me Crazy (1954)
         - Case Book (1955)
         - The Little Teacher (1955)
    Marcus Welby, M.D.
         - Let Ernest Come Over (1969)
    Maverick
         - The Ghost Soldiers (1959)
    The Millionaire
         - The Ed Murdock Story (1956)
    Mr. & Mrs. North
         - Flight 217 (1954)
    M Squad
         - The Teacher (1959)
    National Velvet
         - Jeopardy (1962)
    Navy Log
         - Thach Weaves a Trap (1957)
         - Capture of the U-505 (1957)
    Northwest Passage
         - The Deserter (1959)
    Official Detective
         - Loan Companies (1957)
    Overland Trail
         - The Reckoning (1960)
    Passport to Danger
         - Havana (1956)
    Perry Mason
        - The Case of the Fifty Millionth Frenchman (1964)
    Public Defender
         - The Forger (1954)
         - Out of the Past (1954)
         - When Credit Is Due (1954)
    Racket Squad
         - Big Trap (1952)
    The Restless Gun
         - Jenny (1957)
         - The Shooting of Jett King (1957)
         - Aunt Emma (1958)
         - The Way Back (1958)
         - The Pawn (1959)
    The Rifleman
         - The Gaucho (1958)
         - The Grasshopper (1960)
    Riverboat
         - Fort Epitaph (1960)  (uncredited)
         - Hang the Men High (1960)
         - The Quota (1960)
    The Rough Riders
         - The Promise (1959)
    Schlitz Playhouse
         - The Devil's Other Name (1953)
         - Midnight Haul (1954)
         - Too Late to Run (1955)
         - The Roustabout (1956)
         - A Tale of Wells Fargo (1956)
    Shotgun Slade
         - The Smell of Money (1960)
    Stage 7
         - End of the Line (1955)
    The Star and the Story
         - Ferry to Fox Island (1955)
         - The Whizzer (1956)
    Steve Donovan, Western Marshal
         - Journey Into Danger (1955)
    Stories of the Century
         - Belle Starr (1954)
    Sugarfoot
         - The Strange Land (1957)
         - The Bullet and the Cross (1958)
         - The Canary Kid (1958)
    Superman, Adventures of
         - Superman on Earth (1952)
    Tales of Wells Fargo
         - Alder Gulch (1957)
    Telephone Time
         - Arithmetic Sailor (1957)
    The Texan
         - The Hemp Tree (1958)
         - Letter of the Law (1959)
         - No Way Out (1959)
    The Thin Man
         - Bat McKidderick (1959)
    Tightrope
         - The Long Odds (1960)
         - A Matter of Money (1960)
    Thriller
         - Late Date (1961)
    The 20th Century-Fox Hour
         - Gun in His Hand (1956)
    Two Faces West
         - The Trigger (1961)
    The Virginian
        - Ride a Dark Trail (1963)
        - Lost Yesterday (1965)
        - The Brothers (1965)
        - That Saunders Woman (1966)
        - The Lady from Wichita (1967)
        - Fox, Hound and the Widow McCloud (1969)
        - The Stranger (1969) (uncredited)
    Wagon Train
         - The Jean LeBec Story (1957)
         - The Estaban Zamora Story (1959)
    Wanted: Dead or Alive
         - Black Belt (1960)
         - Baa-Baa (1961)
    Waterfront
         - Sunken Treasure (1954)
         - Cap'n Long John (1954)
    Whirlybirds
         - Missing Witness (1957)
    Wire Service
         - The Blood Rock Mine
         - A Matter of Conscience (1957)
    Yancy Derringer
         - Gone But Not Forgotten (1959)
    Zane Grey Theater
         - You Only Run Once (1956)
         - Until the Man Dies (1957)



Regular and Semi-Regular Shows:

Cimarron City (September, 1958 to April, 1959, 26 episodes)

     Randall appeared in Cimarron City as the semi-regular sheriff, Art Sampson (or "Simpson").  He was in five episodes.
     George Montgomery starred in Cimarron City as the mayor, Matt Rockford.
John Smith co-starred as Lane Temple, lawman/blacksmith, and Audrey Totter co-starred as Beth Purcell, owner of Cimarron City's hotel.  Dan Blocker also appeared regularly as Tiny Budinger.
     The show revolved around at least one of the three main characters -- Montgomery, Smith, or Totter -- and was driven by the plot, rather than the action. 

Cimarron City on DVD:

Complete Series 




Laramie (September, 1959 - May, 1963, 124 episodes)

     On Laramie, Stuart Randall played Sheriff Mort Cory for thirty-three episodes, providing level-headed balance for John Smith's "Slim Sherman" and Robert Fuller's "Jess Harper," and helping them out of predicaments,  occasionally having to lock them up in jail.  Of course, there are several times when Slim and Jess are the ones helping out Mort.
     At different points in the series, Mort has a wife ("Sarah") and a nephew ("Johnny"), but neither last long; his father also makes a brief appearance in one episode, "Killer Legend."
     In season one, episode "Hour After Dawn," Mort Cory is played by Robert Osterloh, and "Sarah" appears in this episode.

Laramie on DVD:

Season One
Season Two 
Season Three 
Season Four




Lassie

    Stuart Randall had a recurring role on Lassie as "Al Livermore" (5 episodes).  He also appeared three different times as "Len Briggs."


***************

Although Stuart Randall played a variety of roles, from army officer to Indian chief, he most frequently played a lawman of sorts -- a sheriff, a deputy, or a marshal. Here's a rough list of parts he played as a lawman:


Movies:
    1950
        Bells of Coronado
    1952
        Carbine Williams
    1960
        College Confidential
    1964
        Taggart
    1965
        Fluffy

TV Shows:
     Bonanza (6 episodes)
     Broken Arrow  (1 episode)
     Checkmate   (1 episode)
     Cheyenne (2 episodes)
     Cimarron City   (5 episodes)
     Colt .45     (1 episode)
     Death Valley Days  (1 episode)
     Destry     (1 episode)
     Lancer (1 episode)
     Laramie    (34 episodes)
     Overland Trail (1 episode)
     Perry Mason (1 episode)
     The Restless Gun (4 episodes)
     The Rifleman (1 episode)
     Schlitz Playhouse (1 episode)
     Shotgun Slade      (1 episode)
     Stories of the Century (1 episode)
     Sugarfoot   (2 episodes)
     The Texan  (2 episodes)
     The Thin Man (1 episode)
     The Virginian  (1 episode)
     Wagon Train (2 episodes)
     Yancy Derringer (1 episode)


And not only did he play the sheriff of Laramie, WY, in the Laramie tv series, he also appeared as sheriff of that same town on Overland Trail and The Virginian.

**************


Not much is known about Stuart Randall aside from the roles he played, but the May/June 2013 issue of Western Clippings has a piece written about him under the Characters and Heavies column.  According to this, he was in the service during WWII, and was married at the time of enlistment. 

In 1969, Randall was the grand marshal of the Hesperia Days Parade in Hesperia, CA (The San Bernardino County Sun,  May 20, 1969).

The May 27, 1952 issue of The Southeast Missourian newspaper contains an interesting bit of information:

Stuart Randall, a Clark Gable-ish newcomer who played the role of the general in "Fixed Bayonets" will be Gloria Swanson's leading man in Albert Zugsmith's production of "Crosstown."   

Crosstown never was made.  According to Gloria Swanson: The Ultimate Star, by Stephen Michael Shearer, the picture fell through because of Swanson's demands for more money. 






*Randall's birth name and the names of his parents are also credit of Boyd Magers and the May/June 2013 issue of Western Clippings (#113).   




*************************

Movie/TV credit information is taken from Internet Movie Database, unless otherwise noted, and is updated and corrected if needed.