"The Big Valley" (1965)TV series 1965-1969

Creators:

A.I. Bezzerides
Louis F. Edelman
(more)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Release Date:

15 September 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

Victoria Barkley heads her adult brood on the Barkley Ranch in California's San Joaquin Valley, near Stockton...

Plot Keywords:

Sibling Relationship | Bastard | Railroad Construction | Lawyer | Amnesia

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Richard Long	...	Jarrod Barkley (112 episodes, 1965-1969)
Lee Majors	...	Heath Barkley (112 episodes, 1965-1969)
Linda Evans	...	Audra Barkley (112 episodes, 1965-1969)
Barbara Stanwyck	...	Victoria Barkley (112 episodes, 1965-1969)
Peter Breck	...	Nick Barkley (102 episodes, 1965-1969)

(more)

Series Directed by
Virgil W. Vogel		(48 episodes, 1965-1969)
Bernard McEveety		(11 episodes, 1965-1968)
Paul Henreid		(9 episodes, 1965-1968)
Arnold Laven		(6 episodes, 1965-1968)
Joseph Mazzuca		(5 episodes, 1967-1969)
Arthur H. Nadel		(4 episodes, 1966)
Joseph H. Lewis		(3 episodes, 1965-1966)
Michael Ritchie		(3 episodes, 1966)
Norman S. Powell		(3 episodes, 1967-1969)
Charles S. Dubin		(3 episodes, 1967-1968)
Paul Wendkos		(2 episodes, 1965)
Richard Long		(2 episodes, 1967-1969)
Lawrence Dobkin		(2 episodes, 1969)

Series Writing credits
A.I. Bezzerides		(112 episodes, 1965-1969)
Louis F. Edelman		(112 episodes, 1965-1969)
Ken Pettus		(14 episodes, 1966-1969)
Mel Goldberg		(13 episodes, 1965-1969)
Margaret Armen		(10 episodes, 1965-1969)
Jay Simms		(6 episodes, 1965-1969)
Harry Kronman		(5 episodes, 1965-1967)
Arthur Browne Jr.		(5 episodes, 1966-1969)
Don Ingalls		(5 episodes, 1966-1969)
William W. Norton		(4 episodes, 1965-1969)
Peter Packer		(4 episodes, 1965-1966)
Lou Morheim		(4 episodes, 1966-1968)
Ken Trevey		(4 episodes, 1966-1967)
John O'Dea		(4 episodes, 1967-1969)
Sasha Gilien		(4 episodes, 1968-1969)
Jack Curtis		(3 episodes, 1965-1966)
Paul Savage		(3 episodes, 1965-1966)
Steven W. Carabatsos		(3 episodes, 1966-1967)
Gilbert Ralston		(3 episodes, 1966-1967)
Edward J. Lakso		(3 episodes, 1968-1969)
Judith Barrows		(2 episodes, 1965-1966)
Carey Wilber		(2 episodes, 1965-1966)
Christopher Knopf		(2 episodes, 1965)
Michael Gleason		(2 episodes, 1967)
Arthur Rowe		(2 episodes, 1967)
D.C. Fontana		(2 episodes, 1968-1969)
Lee Erwin		(2 episodes, 1968)

Series Produced by
Arthur Gardner	....	producer / executive producer (112 episodes, 1965-1969)
Arnold Laven	....	producer / executive producer (112 episodes, 1965-1969)
Jules V. Levy	....	producer / executive producer (112 episodes, 1965-1969)
Lou Morheim	....	associate producer / producer (112 episodes, 1965-1969)

Series Original Music by
Lalo Schifrin		(26 episodes, 1968-1969)
Elmer Bernstein		(24 episodes, 1967-1968)
George Duning		(5 episodes, 1965-1967)
Joseph Mullendore		(2 episodes, 1967)

Series Cinematography by
Wilfred M. Cline		(74 episodes, 1965-1969)
Charles Burke		(36 episodes, 1966-1969)

Series Film Editing by
Sherman Todd		(34 episodes, 1965-1969)
Arthur Hilton		(27 episodes, 1966-1969)
Desmond Marquette		(25 episodes, 1966-1969)
Tom Rolf		(10 episodes, 1965-1967)
Sherman A. Rose		(8 episodes, 1965-1966)
Anthony Wollner		(7 episodes, 1965-1966)

Series Casting by
Robert Walker		(60 episodes, 1965-1967)
Harvey Clermont		(49 episodes, 1967-1969)
Betty Martin		(3 episodes, 1967)

Series Art Direction by
Jack De Shields		(112 episodes, 1965-1969)
Bill Ross		(30 episodes, 1965-1966)

Series Set Decoration by
Pierre Ludlum		(111 episodes, 1965-1969)

Series Makeup Department
Sidney Perell	....	makeup artist (108 episodes, 1965-1969)
Scotty Rackin	....	hair stylist (60 episodes, 1965-1967)
Gale McGarry	....	hair stylist (51 episodes, 1967-1969)
Beau Hickman	....	hair stylist (2 episodes, 1967)

Series Production Management
Norman S. Powell	....	production supervisor (112 episodes, 1965-1969)
Don Torpin	....	production manager (98 episodes, 1965-1969)
Bob White	....	production manager (3 episodes, 1968-1969)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bob White	....	assistant director (38 episodes, 1966-1969)
Edward Teets	....	assistant director (32 episodes, 1966-1969)
Marty Moss	....	assistant director (16 episodes, 1965-1966)
Mike Moder	....	assistant director (12 episodes, 1965-1966)
Don Torpin	....	assistant director (6 episodes, 1966)
Jack Roe	....	assistant director (5 episodes, 1966)
Martin Cohan	....	assistant director (3 episodes, 1968-1969)

Series Sound Department
Don Rush	....	sound (108 episodes, 1965-1969)
Kay Rose	....	sound effects (88 episodes, 1965-1969)
Mandine Rogne	....	sound effects (22 episodes, 1965-1966)
John Dignan	....	sound (3 episodes, 1966)
Milton C. Burrow	....	sound effects (2 episodes, 1965)

Series Stunts
Jeannie Epper	....	stunt double (112 episodes, 1965-1969)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Earl C. Williman	....	lamp operator (30 episodes, 1965-1966)

Series Costume and Wardrobe Department
Robert B. Harris	....	wardrobe (112 episodes, 1965-1969)
Jack Muhs	....	costumes: Barbara Stanwyck (79 episodes, 1965-1968)

Series Editorial Department
Bernard W. Burton	....	editorial supervisor (77 episodes, 1965-1968)
Richard E. Reilly	....	editorial administrator (26 episodes, 1968-1969)

Series Music Department
Alfred Perry	....	music supervisor (112 episodes, 1965-1969)
Harry King	....	music editor (110 episodes, 1965-1969)
George Duning	....	composer: theme music (28 episodes, 1965-1968)
Al Friede	....	music editor (2 episodes, 1965)

Series Transportation Department
Frank Khoury	....	driver (1 episode, 1966)

Series Other crew
Marilyn Fiebelkorn	....	assistant to producer (112 episodes, 1965-1969)
Marian Carpenter	....	assistant to producer (91 episodes, 1965-1969)
Tom Rolf	....	production coordinator (82 episodes, 1966-1969)
Joseph Mazzuca	....	script supervisor (49 episodes, 1965-1967)
Penny Danz	....	assistant to producer (16 episodes, 1968-1969)
James Heinz	....	script supervisor (4 episodes, 1967)

Production Companies

• Four Star Productions
• Margate

Distributors

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1965-1969) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD) (season 1)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD) (season 2)
• Four Star Productions (1969-1998) (USA) (TV) (syndication)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (USA) (TV) (1998-) (syndication)
• United American Video (1988) (USA) (VHS) (episode "Legend of a General")

Other Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation  copyright holder
• CBS Studio Center  filmed at

Runtime:

60 min (112 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Golden Oak Ranch - 19802 Placerita Canyon Road, Newhall, California, USA

Company:

Four Star Productions

Trivia:

Victoria's horse was Misty Girl, while Nick rode Coco.

Quotes:

Heath: Well its no pride I got in him for a daddy, but its a proud name, and I'm gonna wear it. And Boy Howdy! People are gonna look up to me!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Thing That Couldn't Die (#9.5)" (1997)

Barbara Stanwyck's Own Western

I just read a biography of Barbara Stanwyck and one thing that was made abundantly clear, the woman really liked westerns. She loved doing them from the earliest time in her career right up to her stint with The Big Valley. In fact one of the great disappointments in her life was not doing a film with John Wayne. Who knows why that didn't happen because the two of them were in sync politically.

But she did a bunch of them with co-stars like Joel McCrea, Ronald Reagan, Walter Huston, Barry Sullivan, Ray Milland, etc. So when it came time to choose a television project, Barbara went west.

The Big Valley cast her as Victoria Barkley, matriarch of the Barkley ranch with three sons and a daughter to hold the fort against all comers. The pilot of the show introduced her husband's illegitimate son into the household played by young Lee Majors. Her children were Richard Long, Peter Breck, Linda Evans, and Charles Briles.

Briles got dropped after eight episodes as the youngest, Eugene. They just sent him off to college in the east and he wasn't heard from again. Reading the IMDb notes on him, I find he got himself drafted. All I can say is BUMMER.

Richard Long as Jarrod was also college educated, an attorney, which was a good plot device allowing the show to get off the ranch and into town. Peter Breck was Nick, who was a tough son of a gun. I met Peter Breck a few years before The Big Valley. His family lived in Rochester, New York across from my grandparents house and he was visiting while starring in another shortlived series Black Saddle. My siblings and cousins got to meet him then. A very gracious and nice man.

Of course Linda Evans and Lee Majors both had really great careers after the show. Linda as Audra was a sweet and innocent child, not anything like Crystal Carrington. And Lee Majors got to be The Fall Guy and The Six Million Dollar Man after he was Heath Barkley. I would love to have that man's residuals.

Richard Long did Nanny and the Professor and tragically died right after the run of that show. He was always a player of great class and I enjoyed seeing him in anything he did.

The Barkleys ran into all manner of people and were constantly helping them out of their various predicaments. They were pretty rich of course, as rich as Bonanza's Cartwrights. But I really think they outdid themselves even more than Ben and his sons. Every episode seemed to end with some financial assistance to help somebody get on their feet. I'm surprised Jarrod didn't run for office with all those potential voters available.

With Lee Majors, Linda Evans, and Peter Breck still with us and even Charles Briles, I'm not sure why a Big Valley reunion hasn't been attempted. I'd like to see the Barkleys ride the range into the 20th century.