Here's another little tidbit about Kings Row, from a 1958 magazine article about actor Robert Horton of Wagon Train fame. Horton co-starred with Jack Kelly in the ill-fated Kings Row series and naturally had nothing good to say about the show:
"Turning to television in preference to what he calls bad movies, Horton soon found himself--like Jack Kelly of Maverick and Nan Leslie late of The Californians--an unhappy alumnus of Kings Row, first of Warner Bros.' TV 'trilogy' of 1955-'56.
"'I was never so glad to see anything come to end,' he says emphatically. 'Actually, Kelly got hurt much worse than I did. He was hot, and I wasn't. So all they figured was that Kelly had a flop.'
"Actually, Horton today believes that Kings Row saved his professional life. 'They told me it was going to be the big hit of the three [shows]--Casablanca and Cheyenne were the other two--and I believed every word of it. It taught me to be a lot more selective about what I do.'"
And, just as Robert Horton got back on the horse and became Flint McCullough, JK also dusted himself off from the Kings Row fiasco and became Bart Maverick.
JK and RH were later interviewed for an article in "Show Business Illustrated" about TV westerns. JK also guest-starred on Wagon Train, but by that time (1963), RH had already left the series.
Please stay tuned for more Jack Kelly lore in TDS--and stay safe and well. :)
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