the show. However, his term was short lived and he was dropped from the show in November. By January 1956, only 9 mouseketeers remained of the twenty-four original cast. Johnny felt his career was over. He was devastated and depressed.

     Bobby and Johnny continued to audition and get other parts. Johnny was quickly building up a repertoire of guest roles in well over a dozen tv shows. In 1957 Johnny was in a film called The Courage of Black Beauty. This was his first experience with horses. What he really wanted to do more than anything was a western. At a glance it might look like the brothers had their family connections to their advantage. Time would tell, however, that it was their talent, not their ties, that took them down a successful road.

     There was a new western show being produced in 1958 starring Chuck Connors as a rifle toting widower raising his young son in 1880's New Mexico. Johnny, along with at least 50 other young boys, auditioned for the part. One of the producer's, Arnold Laven, has stated that Johnny was near perfect for the part. No other boy came close to the chemistry match up between him and Chuck Connors. There wasn't even a 'second choice' for the part. It was a dream come true for Johnny to play the role of Mark McCain.

     Johnny displayed impressive acting talent on the show and in 1959 was nominated for an emmy for Best Supporting Actor (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series. The Rifleman show was also nominated for Best Western Series. This same year his brother, Bobby, was also nominated for Best Single Performance by an Actor for a role he played in 1956 as "Tanguy" in Playhouse 90's episode "Child of Our Time". This episode also had nominations in four other categories. Along with the two boys, their father was also nominated as editor

of The Bob Cummings Show for Best Editing of a Film for Television. The Bob Cummings Show had nominations in four other categories as well. The family heads to the awards ceremony with all three Crawford men carrying nominations. Unfortunately they did not leave with the awards, but this does not discredit the high honor of being nominated.                                        (Robert Crawford with wife Betty and sons Johnny and Robert Jr.)

Bobby had also landed a role in a new western series in 1959 called Laramie.

     The Rifleman ran from 1958 to 1963. Johnny's brother, Bobby, was a guest on three episodes the first year. Westerns were very

"Eight Hours to Die"	"The Gaucho"	"The Second Witness"

popular in those days and The Rifleman was a big hit. Johnny Crawford was also becoming a big hit in the teen idol magazines. During that time it was common for young stars of hit shows to try a shot at recording. A neighbor of the Crawfords recommended to Bob Keane, who was owner of Del-Fi records, that he try recording Johnny.

     Johnny was only 15 when he signed on with Del-Fi Records. The

first few tries were not very successful, but Johnny's third single "Cindy's Birthday" was in the Top 20 in 1962. "Your Nose Is Gonna Grow" was a second hit. He went on to make more singles and several albums. Johnny also recorded "Good Buddies" with his brother, Bobby.      

     According to David Fury's book, The Rifleman would have continued on at least another year. It was to be in color it's sixth season. Patricia Blair, who played Lou Mallory, was quoted as saying "I think it could have gone on as long as Bonanza..." Chuck Connors had decided to go to a new drama called Arrest and Trial. Johnny went back to public school and became more interested in persuing a different path.  

    During his time on The Rifleman, Johnny had been given a pinto quarter horse by Ben Kraus, a rancher in St. Louis, and he learned to ride and rope very well. He became very active in junior rodeos. With The Rifleman over and his last year and a half of high school finished, Johnny headed out for the open road to pursue his passion for rodeos. With the help of Gene McLaughlin, a champion roper, Johnny collected several ribbons following the rodeo circuit from Wyoming to Oregon to Nevada to Colorado and New Mexico. "I wanted to be a real cowboy," he says in an interview with Sequel

magazine.

     The Vietnam War was going on during this time and Johnny was soon drafted into the Army. Because of his filming background, his two year tour was spent making training films. "Basically what we did was to show how to use the equipment." He appeared in a few and helped direct or produce the rest.

  (Bobby had a kidney operation as a child, which excluded him from military service.)    

     After his tour of duty was over, he went back to acting and rodeos. Through the 70s the acting parts were getting fewer and farther between.  Johnny was also performing on stage in theaters around the country. Johnny has said he found theater to be more rewarding than tv. What has been most rewarding of all to Johnny has been his return to singing. During a visit to Hugh Hefner's mansion, Johnny heard the old familiar sounds of 1920s and 1930s music he remembered hearing on his family's records as a child.

A new ambition was born.

In the late 80s Johnny first started out as a featured singer in Vince Giordano's Nighthawks Orchestra in New York. He stayed with the Nighthawks for two years. Then he decided to start his own band. He began small in 1989 with a group of three musicians. His growing band would play in small Los Angeles night clubs. In 1991 Hugh Hefner hired Johnny's band to play at his New Year's party at the mansion. That boosted the publicity of Johnny's band and his business took off! "I love what I'm doing now." says Johnny. To find out more about the Johnny Crawford Dance Orchestra, visit Johnny's myspace page.

     He will soon release his first Dance Orchestra CD "Sweeping The Clouds Away" with fifteen great hits from the big band era, recorded during live performances, plus a bonus track or 'jam' session as Johnny puts it.

Official release date is August 5, 2008.

See Johnny's myspace page to order.