Movie Bad Man Morgan Woodward Remembers Real & Reel Heroes Audie Murphy, James Arness, Joel McCrea!

Morgan Woodward’s license plate read BAD MAN. For a man known for his villainous roles, Morgan (1925-2019) was one of the nicest men in the business. Born in Arlington, Texas, Morgan was one of five high achieving brothers. Attending University of Texas, his fellow classmates were future actors Fess Parker, L.Q. Jones and Pat Hingle. Morgan’s voice was a key to his success, but originally, he wanted to sing…opera. When Fess Parker landed the role of Davy Crockett on “Disneyland,” Parker became a superstar. Morgan headed to Hollywood where Fess introduced him to Walt Disney and was cast in THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE starring Fess in 1956. Shortly thereafter Morgan was cast as the fictional character “Shotgun Gibbs” on THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF WYATT EARP. With his Texas drawl, tall stature, rugged looks and unforgettable voice, Morgan was soon working in seemingly every western TV series being produced.

This Texan also worked with World War II hero, and fellow Texan, Audie Murphy in two feature westerns. RIDE A CROOKED TRAIL (1958) and GUNPOINT (1966). He was a bad guy, of course.

Morgan’s most remembered role is that of the rifle wielding guard known as “The Man with No Eyes” from COOL HAND LUKE. Naturally, he is the one who shoots and kills Paul Newman. Morgan appeared as a different major character in 19 episodes of the classic western, GUNSMOKE. Morgan also appeared in the original STAR TREK…twice. In the episode “Dagger of the Mind,” Morgan, as Simon Van Gelder, becomes the first person to be given the “mind meld” by Spock. Morgan also discusses those episodes in this interview.

With over 100 film and TV roles to his credit, multiple awards, and a legion of fans, Morgan was always a welcome sight (and frequent guest) for our tapings of A WORD ON WESTERNS. One of them, from January 17, 2017, has never been aired because the audio from that day was never found. Only the audio recorded on the cameras was saved and the echoes, coughs, and all kinds of noises in the auditorium made the hard-to-hear conversation practically unusable. Of course, since we did the interview, Morgan passed away. But now, with RJ using AI, we have been able to salvage the conversation that day and finally air Morgan’s last AWOW guest appearance. It’s still far from perfect, but we think it’s good enough for us to share with Morgan’s fans and film buffs.

We sure miss spending time with Morgan. He left a legacy of fine performances and many friends who have loving memories of the (Good) Bad Man. R.I.P.

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