September 22, 1957
On this day fast talking con man, Bret Maverick, sauntered his way on to the small screen. The show was an instant hit and a huge headache for Warner Brothers.
It was, indeed, a new kind of Western. Bret, played by the 29-year-old James Garner, (right) was originally to be the sole Maverick. Just eight episodes into the first season he was joined by Jack Kelly (below left) as his brother, Bart. The role was created after producers discovered it took more than a week to shoot an hour-long episode. Bret and Bart shows were actually shot by different crews.
Eventually the family got expanded to include their English cousin, Beau, played by Roger Moore and in the final season, yet another brother, Brent, played by Robert Colbert.
The series was part of Warner Brothers stable of television Westerns of the period, “Cheyenne,” “Colt 45,” “Lawman,” “Bronco,” “The Alaskans “and “Sugarfoot.” ABC premiered “Colt 45” starring Wade Preston and “Sugarfoot,” starring Will Hutchins that same year. All of them, except “The Alaskans” survived to multiple seasons.
“Maverick’s” creator, Roy Huggins, (right) one of Warner Brothers most prolific producers, was also responsible for ABC’s long- running series “77 Sunset Strip,” which ran from 1958 to 1964 and “The Fugitive,” from 1963 to 1967.
For a hit show, it was fraught with off-screen drama. Garner, unhappy with his contractual arrangements, left after three seasons. Enter English cousin Robert Moore. (Below right) The debonair Brit left after two years, citing a declining quality of the material, eventually landing the plum role of all time, James Bond.
In addition, cast members complained of the long production hours and the presence of a time clock in the makeup room. Moore, who refused to “punch in,” brought his own makeup and Kelly reportedly drop-kicked the time clock “like a football”one day. Enter third brother, Brent played by Robert Colbert.
Colbert, (below right) lasted just one season, claiming the studio never notified him that his role had been discontinued but simply failed to call him back when shooting started on the fifth and final season. With sinking ratings, 
the studio rotated new episodes with Kelly and Garner reruns.
The characters from the original series have been reprised a number of times. Garner appeared briefly in the TV movies, “The New Maverick.” Kelly appeared as Bart in the 1991 “The Gambler Returns” and Garner made another brief appearance in the 1994 movie, “Maverick” as Mel Gibson’s father.
Garner, a Norman, Oklahoma native, went on to star in a whole host of movie hits playing opposite some of Hollywood’s most glamorous leading ladies including Audrey Hepburn, Doris Day, Natalie Wood, Kim Novak, Julie Andrews, Mary Tyler Moore and Sally Field. He scored another huge television hit in 1974 with the Huggins vehicle, “The Rockford Files” which ran for six seasons.
Garner died July 19, 2014 at his home in Los Angeles of natural causes at the age of 86.
Jack Kelly, the son of a well-known theatrical family, appeared in a number of movies including the 1968 film, “The Commandos” and “Billy Young” in 1969. He made guest appearances in a variety of television shows, 
including “The Rockford Files,” before becoming involved in real estate and local politics. Kelly died of a stroke in 1992 at age 65 in Huntington Beach, California.
Roger Moore, Mr. 007 himself, went on to star in the hit series, “The Saint,” which ran from 1962 to 1969 before capturing the role that vaulted him into international stardom. As the longest-lived of the James Bonds, he played the suave spy for 12 years. Moore was voted the best Bond of all by Bond fans and became Sir Roger with a knighthood in 1999.
Robert Colbert went on to make guest appearances in a number of television shows and starred in several forgettable movies before landing a 10-year stint on the daytime drama, “The Young and the Restless,” as Stuart Brooks. His character died off-screen in 1983.
In perhaps the final lesson of how not to handle a hit show, producer Roy Huggins never got on-screen credit for the series until 1994 with the advent of the Mel Gibson movie, “Maverick.” He earned numbers of industry accolades, however, receiving the Shamus Award in 1991, a Golden Laurel Award Lifetime Achievement in Television in 1994 and the Golden Boot Award in 2002. He died in 2002 at the age of 87.
The James Garner Statue, W. Main St. and S. Jones Ave., Norman, Oklahoma, is a selfie mecca for die-hard Maverick fans. The 10-foot tall bronze was installed in 2006 and portrays Garner with his signature Maverick panache.
In addition, fans of Western history will find Norman full of worthwhile sites including the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, the Moore-Lindsay Historic House Museum, Tribes, one of the state’s premier galleries of Native American art as well as The Jacobson House Native Art Center. For more information go to travelOK.com/cities®ions/central.
© Text Only – 2018 – Headin’ West LLC – All photos – public domain or fair use.
*Head On West strives for historic accuracy and uses a number of sources considered reliable. When research differs on significant facts, the various points of view will be cited.