Remembering Guy Madison

Robert Ozell Moseley was born on January 19, 1922 in Pumpkin Center, California. The ex-telephone lineman was serving his country in the Navy at the time he made his screen debut as an extra in David Selznick's “Since You Went Away” (1944). After the war, as Guy Madison he was signed by RKO, where he was given the star buildup in such films as “Till the End of Time” (1946) and “Honeymoon” (1947). Unpleasant publicity surrounding his stormy marriage to actress Gail Russell very nearly put an end to Madison's burgeoning career. Salvation came in the form of a syndicated TV series, “Wild Bill Hickok”, which starred Madison in the title role and which ran from 1951 through 1958. Thanks to his Hickok popularity, Madison was able to secure major roles in such "A" pictures as “The Charge at Feather River” (1953) and “On the Threshold of Space” (1956). After the cancellation of Wild Bill Hickok in 1958, Guy Madison's star faded somewhat, though he went on to make a good living as a leading man in Euro-western and Italian swashbucklers of the 1960s. Among his 9 Euro-westerns were “Shatterhand” and “Gunman of the Rio Grande” (both 1964), “Payment in Blood” (1967), “This Man Can’t Die” (1968) and “Reverend Colt” (1971). Guy died of emphysema in Palm Springs, California on February 6, 1996. Today we remember Guy Madison on what would have been his 90^th birthday.