Joe E. Benson
Who guest starred in the most episodes "The Rifleman"
Who is your favorite character actor?
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| 'Lonesome Bride' as a townsfolk | 'Gunfire' as One of Gordo's men | |
9. The Sister | 108. The Lonesome Bride | 121. Long Gun from Tucson |
I asked Arnold Laven about Joe E. Benson.....Got a question to ask you about Joe E. Benson. I have several episodes that Joe was in, but I'm really sure I've seen him in a lot of episodes, but not credited. Mostly as a townsfolk, maybe an extra from time to time? Is this correct? Or maybe I'm just seeing someone that looks like him????? Arnold's reply.....Both Arthur and I tried to zero in on the details regarding Joe Benson...best we can remember (going back sixty years) is that he was a professional carpenter and jack-of-all-trades when it came to working on homes...and that he did a lot of work for Chuck on his house...as a result Chuck asked if we could find a small part for Joe on some of the episodes...I'm not sure, but I think Joe told Chuck of his interest in acting...which led to our finding small parts for Joe on the episodes you mentioned...as I remember, Joe was not much of an actor, but he was an awful nice guy....neither Arthur or I are sure whether or not we used Joe as one of the townspeople in different episodes...my guess is that we did...as I seem to remember Joe became part of The Rifleman atmosphere during the latter years This is what Jeff had to say about Joe.....Joe was a good friend of Chuck's. He lived not too far from Chuck. He had helped Chuck build a tree house for the boys and also help build the addition onto the house which was later called the den. (I do have pictures of this) Thanks Jeff! |
And still counting—Joe was in a lot of episodes but I didn't know his name at the time, so I couldn't give him credit.
If you happen to see him in any episode, no credit given, please e-mail ![]()
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