Death Valley Days

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Death Valley Days
Genre Anthology/Western
Presented by Stanley Andrews (1952-1965)
Ronald Reagan (1965-1966)
Robert Taylor (1966-1969)
Dale Robertson (1969-1972)
Narrated by Merle Haggard
Theme music composer Herbert Taylor
Country of origin USA
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 18
No. of episodes 452
Production
Executive producer(s) Gene Autry
Louis Gray
Producer(s) Dorrell McGowan
Nat Perrin
Armand Schaefer
Robert Stabler
Editor(s) Jack Wheeler
Anthony Wollner
Cinematography William Bradford
Richard E. Cunha
Running time 25 min.
Production company(s) McGowan Productions
Flying 'A' Productions
Filmaster Productions
Broadcast
Original channel Syndication
Original run March 1, 1952 – August 1, 1975
External links
Website

Death Valley Days is an American radio and television anthology series featuring true stories of the old American West, particularly the Death Valley area. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was broadcast on radio until 1945. It continued from 1952 to 1975 as a syndicated television series. The series was sponsored by the Pacific Coast Borax Company (20 Mule Team Borax, Boraxo).

Contents

[edit] Hosts

The 451 television episodes were introduced by a host. The longest-running was "The Old Ranger" from 1952 to 1965, played by Stanley Andrews, when the series was produced by McGowan Productions, producer of the Sky King television series. Filmaster Productions Inc., who produced the first several seasons of Gunsmoke for CBS Television, took over production of the series in the mid-1960s.

Following the departure of Andrews, Ronald Reagan became the host. When Reagan entered politics, the role went to Robert Taylor. Taylor became gravely ill in 1969 and was replaced by Dale Robertson. Production of new episodes ceased in 1970. Merle Haggard provided narration for some previously made episodes in 1975. Reagan and Taylor also frequently appeared in the program as actors. While original episodes were still being made, older episodes were in syndication under a different series title with other hosts; the series could ill be in competition with itself in syndication, and this also made it easier for viewers to distinguish the new episodes from the older ones. The hosting segment at the beginning and the end was easily reshot with another performer having no effect on the story. Alternate hosts and titles included Frontier Adventure (Dale Robertson), The Pioneers (Will Rogers, Jr.), Trails West (Ray Milland), Western Star Theatre (Rory Calhoun) and Call of the West (John Payne). The last title was also often applied to the series' memorable, haunting theme music.

[edit] Borax

Under the Death Valley Days title, the program was sponsored by Pacific Coast Borax Company, which during the program's run changed its name to U.S. Borax Company following a merger. Advertisements for the company's best-known products, 20 Mule Team Borax, a laundry additive, Borateem, a laundry detergent, and Boraxo, a powdered hand soap, were often done by the program's host. Death Valley was the scene of much of the company's borax mining operations. The "20-Mule Team Borax" consumer products division of U.S. Borax was eventually bought out by the Dial Corporation, which as of 2010 still manufactures and markets them.

Death Valley Days is by far the most successful syndicated television Western, the most successful television Western ever in the half-hour format, and one of the longest-running and most successful of all syndicated series.

The stories used in the series were based on actual events. For example, the episode titled "Death Valley Scotty" was based on the record-breaking run of the 1905 Scott Special, chartered by Walter E. Scott, a.k.a. "Death Valley Scotty".

[edit] Guest stars

[edit] Awards and nominations

Year Award Result Category Recipient
1955 Emmy Award Nominated Best Western or Adventure Series
-
1961 Western Heritage Awards Won Best Factual Television Program Ruth Woodman and Nat Perrin (For episode "The Great Lounsberry Scoop")

In the 1955-1956 season, NBC offered Frontier, an anthology Western series similar to Death Valley Days hosted by Walter Coy. Though Frontier, a springboard for the Western actor Jack Elam, was nominated for an Emmy Award, it was cancelled after a single season.

[edit] References

[edit] Listen to

[edit] External links

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