— FROM SHAKESPEARE TO THE HIGH PLAINS —
Actor James Drury, the famous star of The Virginian, one of the longest-running Western on TV, died this week at the age of 85.
Drury died Monday, April 6, 2020, of natural causes, according to his assistant and close friend, Karen Lindsey.
Drury spent nine seasons in the lead role of TV’s 90-minute Western, The Virginian,a part that gave him moments of great satisfaction.
“I was able to accomplish just about everything I set out to do as an actor,” he said during an interview with him several years ago.
A classically trained actor, James credits included twelve major Shakespeare roles and eighteen major Shaw roles. The experiences equipped him with the skills to play any role he took on for the big screen for television.
Although born in New York, he spent much of his boyhood at one of the two Oregon ranches the family owned.
“I was under care of my maternal grandfather who had come west with a wagon train when he was about 16,” The Virginian recalls.
“He told me about the Indians fights the wagon train was involved in and all the other different things that happened. So I had a real pipeline into the Old West.”
James acknowledged that, in some literary circles, the Western still finds itself fightingfor respect, but understands why.
“As we get further and further removed from when these stories occurred—from the end of the Civil War to the turn of the century—the less interest it has. Especially among young people whose time, interest and energy are wrapped up in technology. They really don’t know much about the Old West unless they look it up on the Internet.”
James and his wife, Carl Ann, who died in August had been married for forty years and made their home in Houston.
Below is the conversation we had in October 2014, where he discussed various topics including how he got the role of the nameless foreman of Shiloh Ranch and what it was like to work with Elvis Presley in the flick, Love Me Tender.
– James Drury –
1. You were trained as a classical actor at New York University. What took you to California and eventually roles in Westerns?
I had been acting since I was eight. It was my destiny. I majored in itduring college, worked on several productions but got burnt out. I visited California to spend a few weeks and take a vacation.
Before I left New York, I had auditioned for a talent scout from MGM, but he didn’t seem too interested. But, while I was in California, I got a call from the studio, and, within seven days, I was signed to a seven-year contract. I went to work at age 20 in 1954.
In the first year, I made seven pictures—and had a total of 12 lines. One of the pictures I made was DIANE with Lana Turner and PedroArmendariz—a 16th century period piece in which a noblewoman gets involved in a love affair with the French king. I played several different characters, with different beards and different hats, and most of the roles were on horseback.
2. You then went on to Fox to film LOVE ME TENDER with Elvis Presley and Richard Egan. What do you remember about working with Presley, what was he like?
Elvis was a very eager, earnest young man who wanted to learn as much as he could about acting. We did our best to help him and share some advice, and he listened to us and did a wonderful job.
I thought that was the best picture he ever made because it had a real story. He was able to come across very effectively.
Most of the other pictures he made that I recalled were ones where the scripts were kind of like rumors. They were exploitation films, aimed at trying to showcase Elvis. They made a lot of money but weren’t very significant.
3. Before THE VIRGINIAN you appeared in a number Westerns, on the big screen and on TV, including RAWHIDE, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, and GUNSMOKE. This past week or so, I saw you in a 1961 episode called “Old Faces.” What do you remember working on the set with that crew?
I did five GUNSMOKE episodes—every year for the first five years when it was a half-hour black and white.It was a lot of fun. They were well established, had the routine down, and knew exactly what they were doing. All those shows got produced without any problems.
They had a formula down and it went along beautifully. I really enjoyed working with James Arness and all the others on the show. All very fine performers who had high standards.
4. How did you get the role of THE VIRGINIAN?
In 1959, I signed with Columbia and got assigned to its Screen Gems, its TV division.We made a half-hour pilot called THE VIRGINIAN.It didn’t get sold because shows were moving to one-hour formats, and that was fortunate.
Had it been sold, it would have screwed up the 90-minute version that Universal developed three years later.
When I did a screen test for THE VIRGINIAN, they said I was too fat and told me to lose some weight. I went home and lost ten pounds. But when I returned, I was told I was still too fat, go home and lose more. In 30 days, I lost 30 pounds, mostly by running along the Los Angeles River and eating a head of lettuce every other day.
I remember it was on a Friday night before the Monday morning we were to start shooting, that the studio told me and Doug McClure we had the roles of The Virginian and Trampas.
5. Owen Wister brought new respect to the Western when he wrote THE VIRGINIAN. It was considered fresh and new and a significant departure from the kinds of stories that preceded him.
That was the first really literary Western. It’s kind of the granddaddy of all the Westerns.If you look at all the shows from THE SEARCHERS to THE MAN WITH NO NAME, they owe a debt of gratitude for THE VIRGINIAN novel.
All featured a hero with a somewhat questionable past and in many cases a man who wouldn’t give his right name. But he comes in and saves the day.THE VIRGINIAN represented the classic template for Westerns in general.
I think westerns became much more cohesive after they started making various versions of THE VIRGINIAN. Itwas immensely successful from the very beginning when the novel was published in 1902. A couple of years later, it was adapted for Broadway where it played for several years and eventually toured the country.
Then, Gary Cooper starred in the 1929 film version. It was instrumental in the careers of a lot of actors and made a tremendous impact.
6. THE VIRGINIAN, of course, had no name, which made the character more intriguing.
The dramatic device by Owen Wister was always interesting to me.As the character entered a room, there was an air of mystery about him. And it added magnetism.
I always enjoyed it because the actor doesn’t really have to do anything to achieve that quality. It’s built into the role. You walk in and people start talking about you.
That was a big plus to me. It was very effective and transferred to other films.
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