Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries - Real McCoys: Cast Photo

The Real McCoys aired from October 1957 until September 1963 on ABC and CBS.

When this rural comedy was first proposed to the networks by writers Irving and Norman Pincus, the experts said it would never work. Okay for the sticks, maybe, but no good for city viewers. NBC, at first interested, finally turned the series down cold. Walter Brennan, their intended star, wanted nothing to do with it. But the Pincus brothers persevered. Brennan was finally won over, financing was obtained from Danny Thomas Productions, and a spot was found on ABC's impoverished schedule. The 2 New York-bred Pincuses had the last laugh, as The Real McCoys became one of the biggest hits on tv for the next 6 years, and started a major trend toward rural comedy shows which lasted through the 1960's. This was the inspiration for The Andy Griffith Show, Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, and several others.

The premise was simple: a happy-go-lucky West Virginia mountain family picks up stakes and moves to a ranch in California's San Fernando Valley. Center of the action, and undisputed star of the show, was Grandpa Amos McCoy, a porch-rockin'gol-darnin' consarnin' old codger with a wheezy voice who liked to meddle in practically everybody's affairs, neighbors and kin alike. Three-time Academy Award-winner Walter Brennan ( who was 63 when the series began), played the role to perfection. His kin were grandson Luke ( Richard Crenna), and his new bride Kate( Kathy Nolan); Luke's teenage sister,"Aunt" Hassie ( Lydia Reed); and Luke's 11 year old brother, Little Luke ( Michael Winkleman). Their parents were deceased. Completing the regular cast were Pepino ( Tony Martinez), the musically inclined farm hand, and George MacMichael ( Andy Clyde), their argumentative neighbor. George's spinster sister Flora ( Madge Blake) had eyes for grandpa, but she never did snare him.

The main cast of the Real McCoys had a lot of experience behind them. Walter Brennan was 63 when The Real McCoys hit the airwaves and the character he played was similar to his film roles. Throughout the show's run, Brennan continually threated to quit, claiming he couldn't do comedy.

Luke was played by Richard Crenna ( who was billed on the show as Dick Crenna). He had been known on radio and early TV for his high, squeaky voice. On radio he was Oogie Pringle on A Date With Judy, Andy Hardy's next-door neighbor Breezie, among others high-pitched Henry Aldrich type kids. He made more than 6,000 radio shows. He was best known, though, as the pubescent Walter Denton on Our Miss Brooks, both the radio and TV versions. Crenna went on to direct some episodes of The Real McCoys and became the star of Slattery's People in 1964, Norman Lear's All's Fair in 1976 and It Takes Two with Patty Duke in 1982. He had trouble getting his part on The Real McCoys. Said the producer when Crenna asked for the role: " I want a tall manly guy, not a simpering boy." Fortunately Crenna was not so typecast that he couldn't effectively make the transition.

Kathy Nolan ( Kate) first received national attention when she appeared as Wendy in Mary Martin's Broadway and TV Peter Pan. She played Wendy. She played Cousin Liz on the 1953-1954 sitcom Jamie on which she was billed as Kathleen Nolan. When The Real McCoys ended its run, she went back to using Kathleen Nolan. She started her career as an usher on Broadway at the Palace Theater when Judy Garland performed there. At an audition she said to a producer: " I met you at The Palace when I was with Judy Garland." Her real name was Joycelyn Joan Schrum.

In 1962 CBS bought The Real McCoys from ABC for a reported $7,500,000. Walter Brennan, however, was getting tired and he agreed to star in only 16 of the years 26 episodes. Kathy Nolan, who had demanded more money and script consideration, was fired. In the storyline Luke became a widower and many of the plots began to revolve around Grandpa's attempts to match him up with a new wife. The kids were also gone. Hassie had left for college and Little Luke had joined the army. Joining the cast in January 1963 was Louise ( Janet DeGore), a widowed neighbor and her son Greg ( Butch Patrick). A month later Louise's Aunt, Winifred ( Joan Blondell) joined the cast . She tried to match Luke up with Louise.

Even though the show was pitted against Bonanza, The Real McCoys still managed to pull 30% of the audience. CBS had announced that The Real McCoys was penciled in for a 7th season, to appear right before a new CBS sitcom called The Beverly Hillbillies , which some considered an imitation of The Real McCoys. And then out of nowhere they canceled it in the spring of 1963. " It's because of the fatigue factor," explained a CBS vice president. " If a show begins to wear thin on the ear and eye, you don't just say, 'Well, the trad is thin, but I'll wait till next year to buy new tires. You change now and avoid a blowout."

Here is Richard Crenna's Obituary from The New York Times

Richard Crenna, Veteran Actor, Is Dead at 76

By COREY KILGANNON
Published: January 19, 2003

Richard Crenna, the prolific actor who went from being a child performer in radio and eventually progressed to roles of complexity and nuance in serious films, died Friday morning in Los Angeles. He was 76.

Mr. Crenna had pancreatic cancer and died of heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, with his wife, Penni, and his three adult children by his side, said his daughter Seana Crenna,.

Mr. Crenna worked continuously throughout a 65-year career, and much of his longevity stemmed from his remarkable range as an actor.

He earned an Emmy Award for his performance as a macho police officer who is sexually assaulted in the 1985 television movie, ''The Rape of Richard Beck.'' His portrayal of a card shark opposite Matt Dillon in the 1984 film ''The Flamingo Kid'' earned him a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actor. And who could forget him as the grizzled Army colonel called in to soothe the savage Sylvester Stallone in the Rambo movies?

''He had such a full career because he lived for his work,'' said Seana Crenna. ''If you never saw him on the screen as an actor, you surely heard him through radio roles and voice-overs.''

Ms. Crenna said that her father seemed in excellent health until about two months ago: ''At Thanksgiving he began getting sick, losing his appetite and getting weaker,'' she said.

Illness kept Mr. Crenna from filming several episodes of the CBS television series, ''Judging Amy,'' on which he played Jared Duff. But he never lost his vibrancy and good humor, Ms. Crenna said, nor the belief that he would recover.

''Every turn seemed to get worse, but he never lost hope,'' she said. ''In fact, he was holding us together.''

Richard Donald Crenna was born in Los Angeles in 1926. At age 10, he played a squeaky-voiced kid on radio's ''Burns and Allen Show.'' After serving in the Army during World War II, Mr. Crenna was cast as the squeaky-voiced teenager Walter Denton on the radio comedy ''Our Miss Brooks'' with Eve Arden and moved with the show to television in 1952. After that, he began working steadily, moving effortlessly between television and film roles. Mr. Crenna played the pitcher Daffy Dean in the 1953 film ''Pride of St. Louis.'' From 1957 through 1963, he starred with Walter Brennan on the long-running CBS comedy ''The Real McCoys.''

He directed television movies and episodes of popular shows, including ''The Andy Griffith Show'' and ''Lou Grant.''

Mr. Crenna played the goofy high school student Denton until he was 29, and appeared in the movie version of ''Our Miss Brooks'' in 1955. But after ''The Real McCoys,'' he concentrated on more serious roles. In 1966, he appeared with Steve McQueen in ''The Sand Pebbles.'' He was a villian opposite Audrey Hepburn in the 1967 thriller ''Wait Until Dark,'' and played Kathleen Turner's cuckolded husband in the 1981 film ''Body Heat.''

In 1986, after a run of successful roles, he told The New York Times that he felt he had shaken his early career typecasting. ''People no longer look at me and say, 'That's a part for Dick Crenna,' '' he said. ''They don't know who Dick Crenna is any more. And it's wonderful for me at this stage in my career to have people discovering me.''

Mr. Crenna also told The Times that he viewed ''Rambo'' as ''a giant cartoon,'' but that he was delighted at its commercial success.

''You do a lot of things that you think are very good and nobody sees them,'' he said. Working with Mr. Stallone, he said, ''was a phenomenon not at all familiar to me.''

''I've not been in that kind of film before,'' he said. ''I can't wait for 'Rambo III' and 'V' and 'VIII.' ''

Mr. Crenna is also survived by another daughter Maria Crenna, his son, Richard, and three granddaughters.

For an episode guide go to http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Stage/2950/US/Comedy/RealMcCoys.htm

For a Page dedicated to Walter Brennan go to http://www.thegoldenyears.org/brennan.html

For more on The Real McCoys go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Real_McCoys

For another great review of The Real McCoys go to www.televisionheaven.co.uk/mccoys.htm