The premiere of Steve McQueen’s ‘Wanted Dead or Alive,’ featuring Michael Landon
Before the debut episode of the classic western television series Wanted: Dead or Alive dropped, nobody knew who Steve McQueen was. Sure, the 28-year-old fledgling actor had trained in New York at the famed Neighborhood Playhouse as well as the Actors’ Studio, had his big screen premiere in a blink and you’ll miss it role as a knife wielding thug in Paul Newman’s Somebody Up There Likes Me [1956], and received good reviews for his Broadway performance of A Hatful of Rain.
But then McQueen filmed the cult favorite science fiction movie The Blob during August 1957. Although the film wasn’t released until after Wanted: Dead or Alive, former actor-then producer Dick Powell viewed a rough cut and liked what he saw in McQueen’s nuanced performance.
So the actor was quickly offered a role in Trackdown, another western series starring Robert Culp of future I Spy fame. Filmed in February 1958, “The Bounty Hunter” episode unleashed Josh Randall, a tough as nails individual who let no obstacle stand between he and his quarry.
With favorable fan reaction, one of the earliest spin-off series was born courtesy of Powell’s Four Star Television. Wanted: Dead or Alive commenced filming its debut episode in July 1958. And from the start, McQueen’s legendary temper, stubbornness and insecurity culminated in the firing of three stuntmen and a horse!
“The Martin Poster” episode featured a scrawny 21-year-old Michael Landon. Roughly one year before he shot to household name status on NBC’s 14-season juggernaut Bonanza, the passionate Scorpio had already filmed 30 guest appearances on television shows along with the occasional movie.
Both McQueen and Landon shared common traits — cult science fiction films and TV westerns launched their careers. For Landon, it was the campy horror, surprise box office hit I Was a Teenage Werewolf, released in July 1957 by the low budget American International Pictures.
Werewolf actually introduced him to audiences a full year before McQueen’s The Blob, but Landon had been unable to…