The Gilligan's Island Radio Announcer Appeared As 10 Different Characters In This Western Series

Paramount

Even if you don't know his name, it's likely that you'd recognize prolific character actor Charles Maxwell. He was one of the great "hey, it's that guy" actors from the 1950s and 1960s. At the very least, you might recognize Maxwell's voice from "Gilligan's Island," as it was his voice that regularly came out of the island's radio during the show's first season. Ultimately, he was in eight episodes of the first season of "Gilligan" and in one episode of the second. 

/Film has also noted the fact that Maxwell is a familiar face for "Star Trek" fans, as he played a fantasy version of Virgil Earp in the episode "Spectre of the Gun." It's worth pausing to note, however, that Maxwell's acting credits are so plentiful that I couldn't possibly list them all here. To point out some highlights, however, he played Agent Joe Carey in eight episodes of "I Led 3 Lives" and turned up in shows like "West Point," "Peter Gunn," Highway Patrol," "The Rough Riders," and "Tombstone Territory." Leonard Nimoy also guest-starred in "Tombstone Territory" before "Star Trek." Maxwell was in "Maverick," "Sea Hunt," "77 Sunset Strip," "Rawhide," "The Rifleman," and even "My Favorite Martian." He worked constantly. He was in "Mission: Impossible," "Gunsmoke," and "The Virginian." No action or Western series seemed to slip his attention, and casting directors loved his face. 

For the purposes of this article, we'll focus on the fact that from 1959 through 1971, Charles Maxwell appeared in 10 episodes of the hit Western "Bonanza." In an acting coup, Maxwell played a different character each time with names like Krug, Shenandoah, Jack Groat, Gus Pickard, Virgil Jordan, Rio, Buck, Jeb, Walt Billings, and Tom Keeley. That's impressive.

CBS

"Bonanza" was an immensely popular Western series that debuted in 1959 and lasted all the way until 1973, running for 431 episodes over 14 crackerjack seasons. The series took place in 1860s Nevada, and concerned the comings and goings of the Cartwright family, who lived on Ponderosa Ranch on the east coast of Lake Tahoe. The patriarch of the family was Ben Cartwright, played by the inimitable Lorne Greene, and his three sons were played by Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker, and TV stalwart Michael Landon. (Landon's '80s fantasy series "Highway to Heaven" is a must-watch.) "Bonanza" was said to be a hit because it was more character-based than a lot of Western shows that had come before it. Most early Westerns tended to be adventure shows about the dangers of the American frontier, but "Bonanza" was about how Ben and his sons interacted, and about moral dilemmas that would arise on the ranch. 

The cast also included a recurring role for Bing Russell, better known these days as Kurt Russell's dad, and Victor Sen Yung as the laundry owner Hop Sing. In terms of Western longevity, "Bonanza" is only outmatched by the likes of "Gunsmoke." 

Charles Maxwell first appeared on "Bonanza" in the episode "The Newcomers" from the show's first season, which involves some old enemies of the Cartwrights killing their cattle. In season 2, he was in "The Hopefuls," which sees Ben Cartwright escorting a group of Quakers across the state. In season 3, Maxwell played a more prominent role in "The Guilty," an episode about how his character had sworn blood revenge on a local sheriff after Maxwell's character had been jailed for accidentally killing the sheriff's wife a decade earlier.

NBC

Charles Maxwell didn't return to "Bonanza" again until season 6, appearing in "A Dime's Worth of Glory," an episode about a sensationalist reporter and the phenomenon of altering the narrative in a news story to sell more papers. In the show's eighth season, Maxwell appeared in "Credit for a Kill," an episode about how one of the Cartwright boys shot a criminal at the exact same time as his friend, allowing him to give his buddy the bounty. That comes back to bite them both. 

Maxwell was then in "Check Rein" from the show's ninth season, an episode about an ownership dispute over a handsome black horse. In Season 10, Maxwell was in two episodes, "Child" and "Company of Forgotten Men." "Child," it should be noted, featured a guest spot from James Bond villain and "Alien" star Yaphet Kotto. In Season 11, Maxwell appeared in "The Law and Billy Burgess" (David Cassidy played Billy Burgess), and in Season 13, he was in "Blind Hunch," appearing opposite Rip Torn. 

Of course, this impressive task of playing multiple characters across many seasons wasn't unique to Charles Maxwell. Character actor Ford Rainey played nine different roles across the series, as did Ken Lynch and Stuart Nisbet. Lou Frizzel, who played Dusty Rhodes in the show's later seasons, actually played two additional characters prior. Actor/stuntman Troy Melton probably has the record of most roles on "Bonanza," playing background characters in 23 different episodes. But then, most of his roles went uncredited. 

I can imagine that being a "Bonanza" fan comes with playing games of "spot that supporting player." Familiar faces recur a lot, and it might be fun to give them all tick marks on a clipboard as you marathon through the series.