The Rifleman
"Welcome to the McCain Ranch"
North Fork's Blacksmith


First name.....Nils/Niles/Nels Last name.....Swenson/Svenson aka The Blacksmith
How many actors played Nils or was it Niles or Nels? Was it Swenson/Swensen or was it Svenson?
There were seven different actors who played Nils or Niles or Nels.
Here is a list of all of the actors who played the blacksmith and any
conflicts in the episodes - to who's who?????
*Any questions/comments ~ I sure would like to hear them!

John Dierkes
— 1958
Duel of Honor as Nels Svenson
The Sister the
Blacksmith's sign reads - Nels Svenson. (See above)
The credits name him as Blacksmith Nels
This picture and the one above is from The Sister
* When
Lucas says his name in The Sister it sounds like he's saying Niles?

Frank Hagney
— 1959 In the beginning of the episode
The Money Gun Sanderson says.....
"Care for a drink Nels/Nils?" The credits list him as Blacksmith
Henry Rowland
— 1959

Karl Swenson
— 1960
(check out the last name)
The Vision
— The credits list him as Svensen
The Jailbird — as Chris Mance
I think this is where some of the confusion comes in with the Nils/Niles/Nels Last
name..... Swenson/Svensen ~ This is Nils Svensen ~ Farrier & Veterinarian ~ in this episode
Nils has a Mrs. Svensen.

These pictures are from The Vision
Joe Higgins
— 1960 - 1963
You would think Nils would know how to spell his own name, wouldn't you? But then
again on the sign above it reads
Nils Swenson.
How many times has Joe Higgins appeared on The Rifleman?
Do you think this breaks any records?
Joe also appeared in
4 other episodes as a different
character.
Strange Town (25 October 1960) - Bartender
The Wyoming Story - part 2 (7 February 1961) - Rafe
(uncredited)
Short
Rope for a Tall Man (28 March 1961) - Henry Schneider (uncredited)
Stopover (25 April 1961) - Scotty the Stagecoach Driver
*Stopover was the only
episode to run one day over
schedule.
Richard Alexander — 1960

In The Deserter ~ when the Lieutent comes over to arrest Lucas ~ there is a man
fixing a wagon wheel. It sure looks like this man. He even has a derby on like
this. No speaking part and no credit given.
Robert Foulk — 1959 - 1961

Character Actors Index
Page
Have you ever been watching TV or a movie and wondered who is that guy?
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