MICHAEL'S BRILLIANT CAREER
We hope you enjoy the interesting facts we have collated with many of Michael's appearances below.
1955
TV: Luke and the Tenderfoot - Pilot (August 6)
1956
Movie: These Wilder Years
TV: Cheyenne – Decision (January 24) – Also appearing is James Garner who was in Michael’s class at the Warner Brothers Acting School. Michael said: “He was Jim Baumgardner then, a nice guy. We use to wrestle in class.” Also appearing in this episode is Ray Teal who later played Sheriff Roy Coffee in Bonanza. This was Michael’s second television appearance – it came months after his first, Michael said, “After three months of disappointments I received my second chance on TV – one day’s work! I had two lines in an added scene for Cheyenne. It was hardly a triumphant return to Warners. Yet it cheered me up.” It was just after this that Michael met the woman who would be his first wife, Dodie. He took her out on their first date with his pay check from this show.
TV:
Crossroads - St George And The Dragon (January 27)
TV: The Mystery Of Casper Hauser (May 6) – There is a scene where Casper (Michael) has a boot cut off his foot. Michael said: “I was afraid to tell him to stop, I didn’t want to get into trouble. He’s cutting my boot and I feel the scalpel going into my foot and I’m thinking, ‘gee I’d like him to stop but they’re liable to fire me’ so I just let him cut and he finally took the boot off and I had about 15 stitches.”
TV: Adventures Of Jim Bowie – Deputy Sheriff (September 28) – Also appearing is Ray Teal who later played Sheriff Roy Coffee in Bonanza.
TV: Sheriff Of Cochise - Human Bomb (October 12)
TV: Crusader - Boy On The Brink (December 14) - Michael is listed in the credits as Mike Landon
TV: Adventures Of Jim Bowie – The Swordsman (December 14)
TV: Wire Service - High Adventure (December 20)
TV: Stories Of The Century – Shadows of Belle Starr
TV: Crossroads - Ringside Padre
TV: Crossroads - Call For Help (circa 1956)
TV: Cavalcade Of America (circa 1956)
1957
Movie: I Was A Teenage Werewolf – According to the director Gene Fowler, this movie was shot in five-and-a-half days with a budget of about $82,000. It grossed over $2 million. Also appearing in a small role is Guy Williams who later played cousin Will Cartwright in five episodes of Bonanza. Herman Cohen (Producer) said Michael was good looking and had the right look for the role – “kind of angelic but vulnerable,” but he had one flaw – his ears. Michael had his ears glued back every morning in make-up and according to Mr. Cohen, after the movie, Michael had plastic surgery to pin them back.
TV: The 20th Century Fox Hour - End Of A Gun (January 9)
TV: Dupont Theatre – The Man From St. Paul (January 29)
TV: State Trooper - Buck Fever (March 1)
TV: Telephone Time – Fight For The Title (March 17)
TV: General Electric Theatre - Too Good With A Gun (March 24)
TV: Schlitz Playhouse Of The Stars – The Restless Gun (March 29) – This series was co-produced by David Dortort who was the series creator and producer of Bonanza.
TV: General Electric Theater - Bitter Choice (April 21)
TV: Tales Of Wells Fargo – Shotgun Messenger (May 7) – Also appearing is Kevin Hagen who later played Doctor Baker in Little House On The Prairie.
TV: State Trooper - The Last War Party (May8)
TV: Tales Of Wells Fargo – Sam Bass (June 10)
TV: Schlitz Playhouse Of The Stars – Hands Of The Enemy (August 9)
TV: The Court Of Last Resort – The Forbes Carol Case (October 18)
TV: Suspicion - The Story Of Marjorie Reardon (October 28)
TV: Matinee Theatre – The Weak And The Strong (October 29)
TV: Tales Of Wells Fargo – The Kid (November 18)
TV: Zane Grey Theatre – The Gift From A Gunman (December 13)
1958
Movie: God’s Little Acre – Michael plays an albino, for the part his hair was bleached and he had latex applied to his face. Michael got an eye infection from the contact lenses he had to wear. During the makeup test the makeup man put a pair of contact lenses into his eyes, it was very painful because the contacts hadn't been fitted for him, they were just a pair of lenses that had been painted pink for use in the movie and they had two small holes put in them to allow Michael to see through them. Michael found it hard to keep his eyes open while he had them in because the paint was extremely rough on his eyes.
Movie: High School Confidential – Also appearing is Jerry Lee Lewis who Michael toured with after making ‘I was A Teenage Werewolf.’ The tour was with ‘Candlelight Records’ and Michael and Jerry Lee did record hops all over the East coast. Michael said: “I was the typical actor who could sing a couple of songs. I would sometimes have to sing the same song nine times because I didn’t know any other song.”
Movie: Turn Of Fate
Movie: Maracaibo – Michael is talking about when he was preparing for a scene. He had an asbestos suit on and was filming on a boat but the boat was not in water and Michael was not prepared for what was about to happen: “The special effects man was standing next to me and there must have been 300 people working on this stage, it’s a big stage. Well the gaffer, the man who sets the lights yells, light ‘em. Well, they’re talking about lighting the lights, like up here that you see in the ceiling and whoosh, he sticks it on me. The Jewish torch is just standing there, I look around and I don’t see anybody, nobody, no firemen, nothing. I adiosed right off the boat real quick screaming ‘heeeelp meeeee’ and the guys came running over and put me out.”
Michael talking about his father: “Later, much later, near the end, we were very close. He lived with me out here before he died. I was working in plays and beginning to work in films and also doing my other fabulous jobs of process serving or selling blankets. We were very very close then and he saw I could do it, in the plays he saw in little theatres and in the first few TV things I did. He ‘handled publicity’ for me, tried to get little notices in the papers, he was very happy and excited about that. Or he’d put a little one inch ad in the trades. Then I did a feature here at Paramount, not a very good picture and I was not very good in it. It was starring Cornel Wilde; but at the Belmont Theatre, which he was running, it starred me. My name was bigger than the title. My dad took pictures of it. It was very cute. We’d finally gotten close and good together.
TV: Cheyenne – White Warrior (March 11)
TV: Trackdown – The Pueblo Kid (April 4)
TV: Goodyear Theatre – The Giant Step (April 28)
TV: Schlitz Playhouse Of The Stars – Belle Starr/Way Of The West (June 6)
TV: Alcoa Theater: Johnny Risk (June 16) – Michael said: “They wanted me to look older, bigger and more rugged (it was taking place in the Yukon), so here’s what they did: they cast Lew Ayres as my brother. Can you imagine that? And they cast as my sidekick, Alan Hale Jr. – I used to walk into the scene between his legs. And as for rugged – everyone else was in Yukon-style coats and I was in tails and a lace shirt! Fortunately it didn’t sell.”
TV: Studio One: Man Under Glass (July 14)
TV: Wanted Dead Or Alive: The Martin Poster (September 6) – Also appearing is Nick Adams who was a good friend of Michael’s, he died in 1968 in mysterious circumstances, either suicide or murder. And Dabbs Greer who later played Reverend Alden in Little House On The Prairie.
TV: Tombstone Territory: The Rose Of Rio Bravo (September 17)
TV: The Rifleman: End Of A Young Gun (October 14)
TV: The Texan: The Hemp Tree (November 17)
TV: Trackdown: Day Of Vengeance (November 28)
TV: US Marshal: The Champ
1959
Movie: The Legend Of Tom Dooley – Michael’s father died during rehearsals for this movie and it co-stars Richard Rust who plays Seth in the Bonanza episode ‘Quality of Mercy.’ Many incidents happened during the making of this movie. The most series accident was when Michael had to cut through a rope binding the hands of another actor. The knife he used in rehearsals was blunt so they handed him another just before the take. The knife went straight through the rope and up into Michael’s face, it went through his cheek, hitting his teeth. Michael’s wife Dodie was on the set and wouldn’t let the nurse on the set put any stitches in, she took him straight to a plastic surgeon. The following piece is from an article from 1959: Shortly before the accident, Michael had signed a contract to make the pilot film for “Bonanza,” his new hour-long TV series seen on NBC. “Little makeup is used in color films,” Mike tells it. “The pilot was only a week-and-a-half away, and without makeup, I was sure the scar was going to stand out like a red flag and look terrible.” Three days after the accident Michael went back to work on Tom Dooley, when another accident occurred, another actor fired a gun loaded with blanks at him. “On my first day back, what happens? We started a simple scene where he fires a gun off camera supposedly at my feet to scare me so I won’t go for my gun. The camera started rolling but for some unknown reason he pointed the gun at my face and fired. From then on, I just knew my head was going to be blown off, but even the powder burns were bad enough.”
TV: Zane Grey Theatre – Living Is A Lonesome Thing (January 1)
TV: Frontier Doctor – Shadows Of Belle Starr (January 3)
TV: Wanted Dead Or Alive – The Legend (March 7)
TV: Tombstone Territory – The Man From Brewster (April 24) - According to the contract Michael signed for this episode, he was paid $650.00 for three days work. At the bottom of the contract is a note that Michael is to be given first feature billing after the regular cast.
TV: Playhouse 90 – Project Immortality (June 11) – From a 1963 interview with Michael. Q. Of all the roles you’ve ever done, which did you like best? A. A playhouse 90 role called Project Immortality, in which I played Lee J. Cobb’s son – a boy who didn’t have very much in common with his father, yet loved him very much. It was a very challenging role. I did it right before I signed for Bonanza. The show won a Sylvania award.
TV: Rifleman – The Mind Reader (June 30)
TV: Johnny Staccato – The Naked Truth (September 10)
TV: Tender years
TV: Bonanza - Season 1
Michael Landon signed a long term
contract with Herman Cohen (the producer of ‘I Was A Teenage Werewolf’),
after the film while Herman Cohen had no roles available for him to play he was
free to do other movies and guest spots. When it came time to sign for
‘Bonanza’ Herman Cohen could have refused to allow Michael the time to do
‘Bonanza’ but he immediately released him from his contract.
Michael’s first contract for ‘Bonanza’ was $500 a week. At this time, Michael was 22 years old and weighed 132 pounds, he often wore heavy sweat shirts under this clothes to make himself look bigger.
For more information concerning Michael's "Bonanza Years".
1960
TV: Bonanza - Season 1 (Con't)
TV: Bonanza - Season 2
TV: Here's Hollywood
1961
Movie: The Errand Boy
TV: Bonanza - Season 2 (Con't)
TV: Bonanza - Season 3
1962
TV: Bonanza - Season 3
TV: Your First Impression
TV: Highway To Melody (April 22) – According to an article at the time, this was the first time Michael had sung on television and he was nervous, he said, “At first I whispered my songs so nobody would hear them.” In the photo Michael is riding a mechanical horse in rehearsal.
TV: Bonanza - Season 4
1963
TV: Bonanza – Season 4 (Con’t)
TV: Your First Impression
TV: Stump The Stars - Michael is seen in the photo with Nina Foch and host Mike Stokey.
TV: Bonanza – Season 5
1964
TV: Bonanza
– Season
5 (Con’t)
TV: The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (September 8)
TV: Truth or Consequences
TV: You Don’t Say – Michael is seen in the photo with Robert Vaughn and host Tom Kennedy.
TV: Bonanza – Season 6
1965
TV: Bonanza – Season 6 (Con’t)
TV: Crossword
TV: Bonanza – Season 7 - For more information concerning Michael’s “Bonanza Years” please click on the Bonanza link on the main page.
TV: Hullabaloo (March 30)
TV: Hullabaloo (November 29)
1966
TV: Bonanza – Season 7 (Con’t) - For more information concerning Michael’s “Bonanza Years” please click on the Bonanza link on the main page.
TV: Chain Letter (September 5) – Michael is seen in the photo with Stephanie Powers.
TV: Bonanza – Season 8 - For more information concerning Michael’s “Bonanza Years” please click on the Bonanza link on the main page.
TV: Hollywood Squares (October 24)
1967
TV: Bonanza – Season 8 (Con’t) - For more information concerning Michael’s “Bonanza Years” please click on the Bonanza link on the main page.
TV: Hollywood Squares (1 May)
TV: The Merv Griffin Show (May 15)
TV: Hollywood Squares (May 29)
TV: Bonanza – Season 9 - For more information concerning Michael’s “Bonanza Years” please click on the Bonanza link on the main page.
1968
TV: Bonanza – Season 9 (Con’t) - For more information concerning Michael’s “Bonanza Years” please click on the Bonanza link on the main page.
TV: The Pat Boone Show (January 24)
TV: Goodyear Playhouse – Giant Step (April 28)
TV: Rowan & Martin at the Movies
TV: Bonanza – Season 10 - For more information concerning Michael’s “Bonanza Years” please click on the Bonanza link on the main page.
TV: Jerry Lewis Show (September 24)
1969
TV: Bonanza – Season 10 (Con’t) - For more information concerning Michael’s “Bonanza Years” please click on the Bonanza link on the main page.
TV: The Dean Martin Show (April 3)
TV: A Country Happening – (September 8) – Michael is seen in the photo with host Roy Rogers.
TV: Bonanza – Season 11 - For more information concerning Michael’s “Bonanza Years” please click on the Bonanza link on the main page.
TV: Name Droppers (September 29)
1970
TV: Bonanza – Season 11 (Con’t) - For more information concerning Michael’s “Bonanza Years” please click on the Bonanza link on the main page.
TV: The Merv Griffin Show (June 25)
TV: Bonanza – Season 12 - For more information concerning Michael’s “Bonanza Years” please click on the Bonanza link on the main page.
TV: The Dean Martin Show (November 29) – Michael is seen in the photo with Dean Martin.
TV: Swing Out, Sweet Land (November 29) – Michael does a skit with Dan Blocker. Lorne Greene appears in a different one.
TV: The Red Skelton Show
1971
TV: Bonanza – Season 12 (Con’t) - For more information concerning Michael’s “Bonanza Years” please click on the Bonanza link on the main page.
TV: Sesame Street (March)
TV: The Don Knotts Show (June 22)
TV: The Pet Set (July 28)
TV: Amateur’s Guide To Love (August 8)
TV: Bonanza – Season 13 - For more information concerning Michael’s “Bonanza Years” please click on the Bonanza link on the main page.
TV: Schaukel (November 26)
TV: Monsanto Presents Mancini (December)
1972
TV: Bonanza – Season 13 (Con’t) - For more information concerning Michael’s “Bonanza Years” please click on the Bonanza link on the main page.
TV: A Special London Bridge Special (May 7)
TV: Bonanza – Season 14 - For more information concerning Michael’s “Bonanza Years” please click on the Bonanza link on the main page.
TV: Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in (October 9) – Michael is seen in the photo with Ruth Buzzi.
TV: Hollywood Squares – Michael made many appearances on this game show. He is seen in the photo with host Peter Marshall. (Peter was interviewing Michael for a special). About Michael, Peter Marshall said, "Mike was one of the cutest guys I've ever known, a caring, serious-minded filmmaker with a conscience.” He also said, “there was the night Mike came to a taping and I could tell he'd been drinking, which was very unusual for Mike. Turns out he had come directly from the taping of Bonanza, and during that taping, the network pulled the plug on the show - no warning, nothing. Mike had had the same production staff and crew for the length of the show, and he was upset because all of those people were now out of work. Never a word about himself.”
TV:
The Electric Company
1973
TV: Bonanza – Season 14 (Con’t) - For more information concerning Michael’s “Bonanza Years” please click on the Bonanza link on the main page.
TV: The Vin Scully Show (January 22)
TV: The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (April 23) – Guest
TV: The Match Game (July)
TV: The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (July 5) – Guest
TV: The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (September 28) – Guest
TV: Love Story – Love Came Laughing (October 3) – Writer/Director – This was the premiere episode of a series and guest stared Bonnie Bedelia (she played opposite Michael as Joe Cartwright’s wife Alice in the Bonanza episode “Forever.” And is pictured with Michael at left). In 1979 Michael said, "Most of my writing efforts have been for television but that doesn't mean I haven't tried to write a feature film. In fact, I've written several scripts that I thought were movies but apparently there wasn't enough happening in them. Actually, if you recall a TV series called Love Story that never made it big, well, the first segment of that was a toned-down version of a 96-page screenplay I wrote. Now I thought it was going to make a really super motion picture because it was a P.G. film no matter what you did to it. Anyway, I thought it'd make a great feature film. Well, there was absolutely no interest at all! It had no murders, no sex, just two people who needed each other - but I couldn't have given that script away. It could have possibly become saleable had I altered it into something that was assured to make money. But I couldn't do that. The easiest thing in the world, to be honest with you, is to write a show where a guy comes jumping through a door with a machine gun and blasts away and special effects throws a piece of calf liver on the floor. That can make money, but I wouldn't want to do anything like that. Not that I say they shouldn't have those type of films, it's just not me. So, to say that I failed in selling that script is only a half truth, because really my only failure was in not changing it into something I didn't want it to be.”
TV: Bing Crosby’s Sun Valley Christmas Show (December 19) – About working with Bing Crosby, Michael said, “It’s a thrill to meet someone like that and discover that he turns out to be as nice in real life as you always wanted him to be.” Michael is seen in the photo with Bing Crosby & family, Connie Stevens, John Vyner and John Mishn Petkevich.
TV: A Whole New Season Called Winter – This was an hour long special. Some of Michael’s family were also in this special, including his wife Lynn and children Leslie and Michael Jr. It was filmed in the Grand Tetons, near Jackson, Wyoming. The special was sponsored by snowmobile maker Mercury Marine who wanted to showcase snowmobiling. According to an article about this special: Although Landon is a fine athlete and is used to doing his own stunts, he wanted nothing in the script that could be construed by viewers as ‘cowboy’ tactics. “The only thing I didn’t want to do,” Landon says, “was show anything dangerous or unsafe. After all, we’re playing ourselves, not characters. They know that Mike Landon in real life doesn’t ride into town and have shootouts. When I’m playing myself, instead of a fantasy character, people identify more with me. And I wouldn’t want to encourage anybody to do anything that would get them hurt.” The special was shot over a week-long period in a frantic race to get everything on film before an early spring ruined the wintry backdrop.
TV: NBC Follies
TV: The Electric Company
More to come
