JOHNNY CRAWFORD IS DEAD TO ME!!!

NO!!! I love him. Met him at a couple of conventions and he was so nice. The Rifleman is iconic.

Nooooo. :( This makes me very sad, though I didn't know he had dementia.

Correction He turned 75 last month.

With Victoria Principal.

RIP

Paw! Paw!

If no one tells him, he’ll forget that he died.

He was at my uncles wedding. I think he was related to my aunt. She passed away about 20 years ago

Nude.

As an adult, he had a hot ass (and posed full frontal in Playboy), but ...

Loved The Rifleman.

When I watched The Rifleman as a kid and heard him say “Paw,” I thought he was saying Paul and couldn’t figure out why he was calling his father that. I’d never heard of anyone calling their father Pa before.

Good!

He’s with “Paw” now. I bet Chuck gave him a big ol’ hug when he walked through the pearly gates.

Thanks for the memories. Rest in peace, Johnny Crawford.

HIs oddly honest, expressive and flirty songs during his music career are a very interesting corner of the business. A unique take.

R4- He looks a LOT like that QUEEN Anthony Perkins in that photo with Victoria Principal.

Whenever I forget the average age on DL, a thread like this one reminds.

Whenever I want to get my cocklet hard, I think about Donald Trump taking a massive shit in my mouth after a meal of enchiladas and steak burritos.

How will his mother Joan cope with this tragic loss? Donkey Cock, North Carolina you are on the air!

I remember getting hard when Chuck Connors looked at him and he said, “Pa ...”

RIP. As a young gayling I always got warm and tingly watching him on The Rifleman.

He was a Mouseketeer on the first season of "The Mickey Mouse Club."

Hitler salute, R22?

That comic book cover at R10 is a bit disturbing.

[quote]Hitler salute, R22?

Odd. That isn't the photo I initially posted. The one I posted was a close-up of Johnny in his mouse ears, with Roy and Jimmie in the background.

Roy and Jimmie look like pervs.

This is the picture I was trying to post.

This really makes me so sad. He was so wonderful on "The Rifleman." I still watch it all the time on MeTV. May he rest in peace.

His Wiki page has been updated.

Much could be learned by watching The Mickey Mouse Club. How to organize children. How to encourage fun and self-exploration. How to maintain the facade of innocence while trying the new and unexpected; the scary yet tempting. How to whet their appetites for companionship, socialization, discovery of the elusive other and comfort in situations that previously induced fear. Most important is the mentor relationship. That bond can create an enduring impression.

Wow. No one saw that coming. I feel old now. RIP Mark McCain.

Looks like OP scooped the news on this. Not reported anywhere yet.

Sad.

I proudly entered kindergarten in 1968 with my "The Rifleman" lunchbox and thermos.

OMG, r10, that picture!

He had Alzheimer’s and was living in a memory care facility, where he contracted COVID-19. That led to pneumonia .

There are no stories in the mainstream media yet regarding his death but his Wiki page was updated, so you can assume it's true. I know he wasn't a huge star but you'd still expect his passing to be mentioned in the news at some point (when Dawn Wells died, I received push alerts on my phone from all the major news outlets).

I had completely forgotten that Dawn Wells died.

Oh, please R17. A station in Dallas would play westerns on the weekends in the 80s. I grew up watching the Rifleman, Lone Ranger, Bonanza, Big Valley etc. My father refused to get cable so I was at the mercy of local TV.

There was just something very tender and heart warming he brought to that character. Countered the death and violence of his “Paw”. The rattlesnake episode was always my favorite.

I knew him from reruns of The Rifleman that my local NYC TV station would play during the 1970s. I wasn't aware he was dealing with Alzheimers. RIP Johnny.

It’s all over Google now from various media and entertainment outlets.

He was such a good son

I wonder if he knew about his Paw’s previous porno career.

R37 is correct. I grew up in Fort Worth and Channel 39 showed a lineup of westerns both Saturdays and Sundays for a long while back in the '80s. I think it would start with Lone Ranger, then Rifleman, Bonanza, and perhaps Rawhide after that, though that's where my memory gets a bit fuzzy.

One of my favorite episodes of The Rifleman was called "The Vision" and was hands down the most emotional episode of the series, so much so that some fans of the show hated it because it was such a change-of-pace from the usual violence. (If I'm not mistaken, it was also Johnny Crawford's favorite episode.)

The Vision was Johnny’s favorite episode. He once said that he was really sick with the flu when they filmed it.

Is The Vision the one wherein Johnny is sick unto death and Lukas sobs at his bedside. (But he of course recovers.)

Seeing what a powerful bond the father and son had always amazed me as a child, because my own father was too depressed to be aware of anything as mundane as his children. But, not having an adult's experience and perspective, I figured that The Rifleman's view of a loving father was pure imagination, something unreal, like the puppet shows and cartoons.

I learned about the Lukas McCains of the world only much later. Like that YouTube clip of the soldier returning home and his little boy, who has cerebral palsy, slowly walking toward his dad with great effort. And the way his dad just scoops him up at the end...ladies and gentlemen, that's love.

[quote]He had Alzheimer’s and was living in a memory care facility, where he contracted COVID-19. That led to pneumonia .

That sucks. However, I've read that his Alzheimers had advanced to the point that he was unable to speak. He likely wouldn't have had much longer even without the covid.

Fun and games on the set with his Pa, Chuck Connors.

I have no evidence to back this up, but I've always suspected that he was subjected to sexual abuse as a child. There is a tangible sexual heat between he and Chuck Connors, disguised as hero worship. They set up a lot of homoerotic subtext in that show, and I've never believed for a second that Chuck Connors was completely straight.

Lukas and Mark DID take their shirts off frequently. You know, hard ranching work, chopping wood and all....

R49, even if Connors were bi or gay, that doesn’t mean he was into kids; The Rifleman was ahead of its time showing a fathers love for his son.

I know r50, I was just being silly. I absolutely loved the show. Still watch it on occasion on the oldies station. Well written and acted. Ignore my ignorant post.

[quote]Roy and Jimmie look like pervs.

Shame on you!

Lucas:Mark::Matt:Nestor

Johnny Crawford had a number of hit singles out in the 1960's, my favorite being his biggest hit "Cindy's Birthday." Cute boyish guy with a cute voice. In later years he led an orchestra that played vintage songs.

Sexy Johnny.

With his orchestra.

In later years.

His biggest hit single Cindy's Birthday from 1962.

He thang a thong about my birthdayth?

THR:

He did a promo for The Rifleman on MeTV. I haven’t seen it lately but it couldn’t have been recorded too many years ago.

R51, consider it forgotten; I've had my share of boners on this site over the years.

Um like this one.

He was friendly with Scott Baio?

Johnny Crawford, Tony Dow and Don Grady were my boyhood crushes that taught me quite early that I was "different" then most of the other boys

"He passed away peacefully this evening, April 29, 2021 with Charlotte, his wife, by his side."

So he was straight?

R35, you can assume it’s true because his website says it, with or without Wikipedia.

RIP. Oh, Pa!

Wasn’t there a time when Johnny identified as bisexual? I seem to recall an interview that said as much.

What happened to his character's mother on "The Rifleman"?

[quote] I've never believed for a second that Chuck Connors was completely straight.

I’ve always suspected the same. With Chuck and several other western stars. I don’t believe that’s him in that old gay porn though.

He starred in this Oscar-winning 1970 short film, which featured the early work of John Carpenter and Nick Castle. Carpenter did the music and editing, Castle was the cinematographer and they were both co-writers.

R68 Johnny Crawford didn't get married until he was almost 50 and never had any children. I suspect he was bi and 'mingled' with men on occasion.

Did he die of natural causes?

Connors' "porn" past was posing for beefcake, which nay number of struggling actors did in the 50s.

He was on a two part episode of Little House On The Prairie with Burl Ives. He didn't even get a guest star credit like Ives did, just appeared in the end credits.

Bobby Diamond on "Fury" was hotter.

No comparison, R76.

Johnny was so happy to cuddle with his Pa on "The Rifleman" it left me less erotically minded than feeling a sense of loss for not having a closer relationship with my own father and pleasure in non-sexual male intimacy.

But then the stories of Connors' big-dick fucking restored my good sense.

[quote]Connors' "porn" past was posing for beefcake, which nay number of struggling actors did in the 50s.

There was more to it than that. A Connors lookalike can be seen in a vintage gay porn flick. The rumor was that it was actually Connors.

R69, it was mentioned on the show that she died of smallpox.

This actually makes me sad.

During the making of the film "Village of the Giants", he had an affair with one of the film's actors. It was very well-known at the time and hinted at by various gossip columnists.

R81 Scene from Village Of The Giants. I wonder what hunk he got ahold of?

[quote]Scene from Village Of The Giants. I wonder what hunk he got a hold of?

The guy in the reddish one-shoulder outfit is Beau Bridges, but it seems to me the most likely candidate among the other cast members would be former Disney star Tommy Kirk, a known homosexualist.

[quote] There was more to it than that. A Connors lookalike can be seen in a vintage gay porn flick. The rumor was that it was actually Connors.

As I stated upthread, I’ve seen it and I don’t think it’s him.

R84, It was columnist Joyce Haber who led the pack insisting it was Chuck Connors.

Some poster on this board in a previous 'Rifleman' related thread claimed that after Crawford was grown he would set up young guys for Connors to have sex with. The insinuation was that Connors was quite partial to much younger guys, possibly even underage guys.

Chuck Connors was a professional athlete, transitioned to acting, and died at age 71.

R44 was correct that "The Vision" was Johnny's favorite episode:

[quote]Even at his young age, Crawford was a dedicated actor. In a 1982 interview with TV Collector, he named "The Vision" as his favorite in the long run of The Rifleman.

[quote]"At the time I remember thinking that it was very imaginative and unusual," Crawford said. "Also, at that time, one of my favorite shows was The Twilight Zone, so that was where my tastes were."

[quote]He adored the episode despite the painful process of filming it. Mark McCain was not the only one suffering from a fever — the actor himself was running a high temperature.

[quote]"I was actually ill," Crawford recalled. "Normally, it took us three days to do an episode and we worked like crazy, but I think it was on the first day of the show, I had a fever and I was trying to keep it a secret.

I had no idea they dyed his hair for "The Rifleman":

R63 In noting Crawford's passing, Baio referred to him as his "dear friend," and referred to Crawfords's wife by her first name. I also note that Crawford's bio at IMDb says that, "He was a lifelong Republican." Oh well.

Cpl Rusty died within a day or two of Crawford but the anti-military press largely ignored it.

R90 for what it's worth, I wouldn't rely on Baio. He always seems to exaggerate his "star" influence and relationships, like the big shot he wishes he was. He's become so obnoxious, I can almost stomach Kirk Cameron more these days.... almost...

Baio is a joke, and he should have left that sweet man’s name out of his mouth. I can’t picture Johnny approving of half the shit Baio has spouted on Twitter.

You think Scott and Johnny were having nasty hot republican homosex?

Notice that Baio doesn't tell us anything other than what's in the wire service obits. He's a generation younger and probably trvaled in different circles.

But he’s just a child!

Baio and Crawford may have known each other from doing those "Hollywood Show" events. Both of their names can be found at the organizer's website. These are the kind of events where people buy tickets to get into them, so they can have meet-and-greets with old actors from retro-tv type shows. It's about photo ops, autographs, and the sale of merchandise. They typically take place at airport hotels.

there were a few prototype episodes of The Rifleman; deadly gunfighters threatening Lucas, Mark and the town of Norfolk; Micah would stumble over his duties as sheriff mostly, and Lucas would save the day

Somethiing emotional where characters would come to town in some kind of Jam (not necessarily physical) and Lucas and his rifle would help them out while Micah offered safe advice along the way "Lucas, boy..."

Lucas gets a love interest...my favorite was Lou Mallory, who joined in the last season.

Two of my favorites were when some Indians kidnapped Mark because the chief had lost his son and he was going to mark Mark his new son; Lucas fought like the devil to get him back.

Lucas didn't believe Mark about something and then Mark turned out to be right; Mark felt uneasy about the whole thing; Lucas said he loved him more than anything and Mark's appetite picked right up.

Lou Mallory's first episode.

Okay, that was three.

And wussies think the "assault rifle" concept is new

BUMP! I just watched an episode of The Rifelman at my parents house (they are in their 80's) and did pick up on some homoeroticism, longing, something in Johnny. It was a few seasons in so he was a young man in the episode. I did a search and found of course, other eldergays have been talking about this! I think Johnny was really beautiful as an adult. I'm sad he's gone.

He was the first guy to show peen in Playgirl I believe. Married late and never had kids. He was a gentle soul and very soft spoken. I met him in person twice and he was a sweet man.