Death Valley Days - Hosts

Hosts

The 451 television episodes were introduced by a host. The longest-running was "The Old Ranger" from 1952 to 1965, played by Stanley Andrews, when the series was produced by McGowan Productions, producer of the Sky King television series. Filmaster Productions Inc., who produced the first several seasons of Gunsmoke for CBS Television, took over production of the series in the mid-1960s.

Following the departure of Andrews, Ronald Reagan became the host. He served in that position from 1964 to 1965 and it proved to be his final professional work as an actor. When Reagan entered politics, the role went to Robert Taylor. Taylor became gravely ill in 1969 and was replaced by Dale Robertson. Production of new episodes ceased in 1970. Merle Haggard provided narration for some previously made episodes in 1975. Reagan and Taylor also frequently appeared in the program as actors. While original episodes were still being made, older episodes were in syndication under a different series title with other hosts; the series could still be in competition with itself in syndication, and this also made it easier for viewers to distinguish the new episodes from the older ones. The hosting segment at the beginning and the end was easily reshot with another performer having no effect on the story. Alternate hosts and titles included Frontier Adventure (Dale Robertson), The Pioneers (Will Rogers, Jr.), Trails West (Ray Milland), Western Star Theatre (Rory Calhoun) and Call of the West (John Payne). The last title was also often applied to the series' memorable, haunting theme music.