The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp followed the life of historical lawman Wyatt Earp, in Ellsworth, Kansas, then in Wichita, Kansas, then in Dodge City, Kansas, and finally in Tombstone, Arizona. The show was very loosely based on history and featured several historical figures throughout its run. Unlike many other shows, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp had somewhat stricter continuity than other shows of its time.
The origins of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp go all the way back to the best-selling biography Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal, written by Stuart N. Lake with contributions from Wyatt Earp himself and published in 1931. Among other things, the book was responsible for cementing the gunfight at the O.K. Corral in the public consciousness. It was the basis for the films Frontier Marshal (1934); Frontier Marshal (1939); and My Darling Clementine (1946). While the book proved to be influential, it was also largely a work of fiction. The real-life Wyatt Earp was a more complex figure than the stalwart lawman portrayed in the book. Historically he had frequented prostitutes and owned gambling saloons.
It was in 1953 that producer Robert F. Sisk, who had produced films from Little Women (1933) to Tension (1949), wrote to Stuart N. Lake inquiring about the television rights to Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal. An agreement was struck with the writer, although Robert F. Sisk rejected some of Lake's demands, which included final script approval and on-screen introductions to each episode of the show. Stuart N. Lake would serve as a consultant on the show.
As an executive producer, Robert F. Sisk brought in Louis F. Edelman, who produced films from The Walking Dead (1934) to White Heat (1949). Frederick Hazlitt Brennan, a script writer who had worked on such films as A Guy Named Joe (1943) and Follow the Sun (1951), was hired a the chief writer on the show. It was Frederick Hazlitt Brennan who wrote the pilot and the first many episodes of the show.
The role of Wyatt Earp was initially offered to movie actor George Montgomery, who had to turn it down because he was already committed to several film projects. It was then that Hugh O'Brian was cast in the role. Hugh O'Brian had appeared in such films as Rocketship X-M (1950), There's No Business Like Show Business (1953), and White Feather (1955). He was cast in the part because he resembled the real-life Wyatt Earp in early photographs.
The rest of the cast would change over the years as Wyatt Earp moved from Ellsworth to Wichita to Dodge City to Tombstone. Mason Alan Dinehart played Bat Masterson in the show's early seasons. Doc Holliday would be played by two actors. Early in the show's run the role was played by Douglas Fowley (who in its first season had played the very different role of Doc Fabrique). Doc Holliday was later played by Myron Healy. It was later in the show's run that Morgan Woodward played Wyatt Earp's deputy Shotgun Gibbs, an entirely fictional creation. As might be expected, Wyatt Earp's brothers would appear on the show, but later in its run. Ray Boyle played Morgan Earp, while both John Anderson and Ross Elliott played Virgil Earp.
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp did depart from history a good deal, even beyond the fact that the real-life Wyatt Earp was much more morally ambiguous than the Wyatt Earp portrayed by Hugh O'Brien. Starting with the first season episode "The Buntline Special," Wyatt Earp carried a Colt Buntline Special, a gun that dime novelist Ned Buntline had specially made for the lawman. In truth, it appears Wyatt Earp never carried such a gun. It was purely an invention of Stuart Lake for Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal. Wyatt Earp's career on the show also differed from his career in real life. Namely, it was Virgil Earp who was a Deputy U.S. Marshal and then town marshal in Tombstone. Wyatt Earp was an assistant to his brother Virgil.
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp did well in the ratings. While it was not in the top thirty of the Nielsen ratings for its first season, it was number 18 in its second season, number 6 in its third season, number 10 in its fourth season, and number 20 in its fifth season. In its sixth and final season, it did not rank in the top thirty, but it was not because of its ratings that The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp ended its run. According to Hugh O'Brien in an interview with the Television Academy Foundation, the producers had decided that six seasons were enough and they had other projects on which they wanted to work.
Having decided to end the show, its producers provided it with the first series finale in the history of American television. Prior to The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, American television shows did not have definite conclusions. For example, the final episode of I Love Lucy differed little from other episodes of the show. That final episode, "The Ricardos Dedicate a Statue," centred on Ricky being chosen to dedicate a statue that Lucy has inadvertently destroyed. On the other hand, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp would have a definite end. Much of the sixth and final season concentrates on Wyatt Earp's conflict with the Clantons. The series ended with a multi-episode story arc that ends with "The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" and 'The Outlaws Cry Murder," in which the Earps and Doc Holliday face accusations of murder for the events at O.K. Corral.
The end of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp would be historic for two reasons. First, as pointed out above, before The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp American television shows did not have definite conclusions. They did not have series finales as we know them. The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp was the first. It would be followed by Leave It to Beaver, Route 66, Perry Mason, and The Fugitive. By the Eighties, series finales would no longer be the rarity they once were.
Second, the story arc climaxing in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral would appear to be the first story arc used in a drama on American television. In the Fifties, shows featured entirely self-contained episodes and very little in the way of continuity. Prior to The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, both I Love Lucy and, to a greater degree, The Bob Cummings Show featured story arcs. The Life and Legend of Earp was the first drama to do so. The Beverly Hillbillies would later use story arcs, but it would be Wiseguy in 1987 that would establish the story arc in American television. Since then they have become much, much more common.
While The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp would end its run in 1961, it would not be forgotten. The show would be a success in syndication as a rerun. Hugh O'Brien would play Wyatt Earp again. He appeared in the role in two episodes of The Guns of Paradise in 1989. In 1991 he played Wyatt Earp in The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw. In 1994 the TV movie Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone aired on CBS. It starred Hugh O'Brien as Wyatt Earp as he returns to Tombstone and remembers his career as a lawman. It featured colourised clips from the original series.
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp has remained popular since its debut seventy years ago. It has aired on Cozi TV and FETV, and is currently airing on Grit. The show is available on several streaming services, including Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Peacock, Philo, Plex, Pluto, the Roku Channel, Tubi, and Xumo Play.
As mentioned above, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp introduced the series finale to American television and the story arc to American drama series. More importantly, it was the first adult Western on American television. Alongside Gunsmoke and Cheyenne, it would create a boom in television Westerns from 1955 to 1960 that would produce around forty different Western television shows. Without The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Gunsmoke, and Cheyenne, it seems likely there would never have been Have Gun--Will Travel, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Rawhide, or Bonanza. The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp may not be as well-remembered as some Western television shows, but it numbers among the most important.
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