Louise Fletcher in "Bat Masterson"

Oscar-winning actress and Birmingham native Louise Fletcher had a long career in film and television before her death in September 2022. Among her many performances were an Oscar-winning turn for Best Actress as Nurse Ratched in the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and several appearances as a religious leader in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series from 1993 until 1999. Despite her many years in Hollywood and her last years in France, she maintained a connection with the Episcopal church in Birmingham where her father served as rector. 

After graduating from Ramsey High School, Fletcher enrolled at the University of North Carolina and graduated there in drama in 1957. Then she headed to Hollywood. According to the IMDB, she appeared in episodes of four TV series in 1958: Flight, Playhouse 90, Yancy Derringer and Bat Masterson. 

I recently watched that episode of Bat Masterson, which starred Gene Barry as the western lawman, gambler and journalist. The series was loosely based on Richard Connor's biography of the real Masterson [1853-1921]. This particular episode, "Cheyenne Club", was the tenth of the first season and first broadcast on NBC-TV on December 17, 1958. Fletcher, playing Sarah Lou Conant, had significant speaking parts in two scenes. 

By 1963 Fletcher had appeared in TV series such as Perry Mason, The Untouchables, One Step Beyond, Wagon Train, Sugarfoot, 77 Sunset Strip, Maverick, The Lawman and others. She took a hiatus from acting, but returned in 1974 for the Robert Altman film Thieves Like Us. The following year Milos Forman cast her in his film version of Ken Kesey's novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and she continued acting in numerous projects until 2020. 

Fletcher & Dean Harens as her fiance, Steven Haley

Fletcher and Gene Barry as Bat Masterson

Two Alabama Natives on "Maverick"

One of these days I plan to write about the busy acting careers of Alabama natives R.G. Armstrong and Louise Fletcher. However, this post examines an episode of the classic western TV series Maverick in which the actors appeared together in prominent roles.

Maverick was a popular western on the ABC network for five seasons 1957 until 1962. Today the show would be deemed a dramady, since it often combined drama with some light-hearted dialog and action. James Garner and Jack Kelly played gambling brothers in and out of trouble as they pursued high stakes games. Garner left the series after the third season to pursue movie roles, and this episode, "The Saga of Waco Williams" is from his time on the show, airing in the second season on February 15, 1959. You can read more about Maverick here. 

This appearance is Fletcher's only one on the program, although she acted in a number of western shows [as well as other TV programs] during the late 1950's and early 1960's. Armstrong would turn up in another Maverick episode in 1960. This episode ranks as the most popular of the show; of all TV sets in use in the U.S. at that hour, over half were tuned to Maverick. 

A summary at the Paley Center for Media web site sets the stage: 

"In this episode, Bret befriends a gunfighter named Waco Williams. Waco and Bret arrive in a town where the cattlemen and the homesteaders are at odds with one another. During a poker game in which Bret is accused of cheating, Waco gets into a fistfight with a cattleman named Karl Bent Jr., whose father, Col. Bent, owns the town. Bret and Waco are then accused of having been sent by the homesteaders to cause problems among the cattlemen. The Bents and their friends try to run Bret and Waco out of town. Waco refuses to go since he is waiting for a friend to meet him. Bret stands by him, but not out of loyalty. He knows that Waco's friend is worth $2,500 in reward money."

No mention of Fletcher's character, who is significant in the story. You can read a detailed account at TVMaze. 

Armstrong plays Colonel Bent, a cattleman who is the de facto ruler of Bent City. Fletcher is daughter Kathy. At first Bent has no use for Waco, but by the end of the episode he comes to admire Williams and decides he's the only man he's met who's good enough for his daughter. That's a good thing, since Kathy and Waco have fallen in love.

Poor Bret--he doesn't get the girl or the reward money or even big poker winnings. The episode is enjoyable and the Alabama actors fun to watch playing  father and daughter. 

R.G. Armstrong as Colonel Karl Bent, master of all he surveys

Colonel Brent and Waco Williams [Wayde Preston] get acquainted 

Brent, his son Karl Jr. and one of their men ride into town for a showdown with Bret and Waco. Brent and Bret are wounded; Karl Jr. and Jack Regan are killed. 

Kathy sits at the beside of her convalescing father as they discuss the turn of events. 

Kathy and Waco finally meet close up in his hotel room with Bret in attendance. 

Something is going on here. 

Colonel Brent offers his blessing to the lovebirds and tells them to get out so he can get some rest. 

Kathy and her new beau arrive in town, and Waco gets a hero's welcome.