MovieChat Forums > Maverick (1957) Discussion > Favorite supporting characters

Favorite supporting characters

posted 16 years ago by ZevII
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One thing I loved about Maverick was the wonderfully inventive characters that were written into so many episodes.

Which were your favorite characters? They could be recurring characters, like Samantha Crawford or Mike McComb, or characters that were shown once.

These would be my favorites:

1) Connie Stevens in "Two Tickets To ten Strike"--I thought she was beautiful and charming, and I loved how Bret kept feebly insisting that he wasn't attracted to her.

2) Gary Vinson in "A Fellow's Brother"--Vinson (later a regular on McHale's Navy) becomes Bret's groupie when he thinks Bret is a big-time gunfighter. He refuses to be disillusioned no matter how much Bret goes against the supposed code of the west.

3) Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Dandy Jim Buckley--Growing up, I only knew Zimbalist as the straight-laced inspector on "The FBI." I was stunned at how well he did comedy on Maverick.

I also liked Edward Ashley as Nobby Ned Wyngate in "The Marquessa." Wingate spends the first part of the episode with a patch over his left eye, then switches it to the right eye. When Bart does a double-take and asks him why, Wingate says, "I don't believe in playing favorites."

[–] DontBogartMe 16 years ago

Gerald Mohr played various characters, including Doc Holliday, who were great foils for the Maverick boys. One in particular was as a disillusioned American expatriate living in Mexico operating a saloon. There are clear comparisons to the film Casablanca, particularly with Mohr's passing resemblance to Humphrey Bogart.

Leo Gordon usually played Western villains but on Maverick he adopted a more benign persona, "Big Mike McComb" the Irish lug in the one-size-too-small derby. He helped Bret and Bart carry out many a sting.

As for Connie Stevens...that character she played was supposed to be endearing but came across as being more annoying than anything else. "Samantha Crawford" was a much better love interest-adversary for Bret and Bart.

[–] Sathill45 16 years ago

I am SOO glad someone mentioned Gerald Mohr. To me I'm amazed he ISN'T mentioned along with Diane Brewster, Efrem Zimbalist Jr, Leo Gordon Richard Long and Arlene Howell when people talk about memorable Maverick characters. Because he should be. About Diane Brewster- I think she was a VERY tough act to follow on Maverick. And believe me Maverick tried to copy what she created with the Samantha Crawford character MANY MANY times during the run of Maverick. Was Samantha Crawford more of an adversary than a love interest for Bret as opposed to Bart. Because I have always gotten this feeling like BART was the one who wanted to go to BED with Samantha and Bret could care less about Samantha in a sexual sort of way.

[–] DontBogartMe 16 years ago

A couple of reasons Mohr isn't mentioned more frequently is that he played various characters not just one identifiable person. Also, often he was a villainous adversary who was killed off by the Mavericks.

Diane Brewster made her debut as Samantha Crawford on the Cheyenne Show playing a slightly shady owner of a cattle herd.

[–] Kinokima 10 years ago

I loved Mohr best in the Tampico ep and thought he had great chemistry with Garner but I was extremely disappointed in the twist ending of that episode.

[–] Kinokima 10 years ago

After watching According to Hoyle and Savage Hills it has to be Samantha.

I had briefly seen her in Shady Deal but she won me over in this episode. I like how she willsteal and cheat but she is intelligent and ultimately has a good heart. A great female character.