The Range Rider

Jack or Jock Mahoney as he was known depending on what point in his career he was played The Range Rider for a few seasons on television. The show was part of Gene Autry's Flying Crown stable of television shows.

I remember The Range Rider because of the fact that Mahoney really did favor the old fashioned frontiersman manner of dress. Other than a cowboy hat and the regulation six shooter, he wore buckskins and Indian moccasins. His youthful companion Dick West favored the more traditional cowboy garb, in fact his outfit was black like Hopalong Cassidy's.

We never did learn what the Range Rider's real name was. He just rode into town with Dick, righted the wrongs and left all in 30 minutes with commercial breaks. Dick Jones who played Dick West was in fact a good rider himself, he could match Jock Mahoney's stuntman background in many ways.

As a child actor you might remember him best for being the young Senate page who sported a Boy Ranger badge in the Senate and encouraged Jimmy Stewart to fight on. He was also the kid who died on the gold wagon train heading east in Virginia City. But it was a good thing he could ride and shoot because he was annoying. I guess the Range Rider put up with it as coming with the territory.

Jock Mahoney later went on to become Yancey Derringer and later on was one of Hollywood's Tarzans. He might not have had the physique of Johnny Weissmuller or Gordon Scott, but the man was athletic as all get out.

Thanks to Gene Autry for bringing us the Range Rider when I was a lad.

I remember seeing this series as a very young girl (born in 1956) when I lived in England. I remember very little about the series except having a girlish crush on Dick.

The only other thing I remember was an episode where Dick ends up flying over a wall into a pigsty. The Range Rider says something, Dick replies, the RR says "Indeed?" and Dick replies "No, in pig muck".

I howled with laughter and told everyone I knew over the next few days.

Even now, every time I hear anyone say "Indeed?", I have to stop myself from delivering Dick's reply.

For that wonderful memory alone, I am grateful.

Though The Range Rider is far from being what I would consider a great TV Western, it is a fairly enjoyable and good-natured program, all the same.

Starring Jack Mahoney, as the heroic title character, this show also stars Dickie Jones, as "Rider's" all-American sidekick, Dick West.

Featuring plenty of hard-riding action, bare-knuckle brawling and gun-play galore (as well as some cornball humour thrown in for good measure), The Range Rider's emphasis was on rugged masculinity with story-lines (though sometimes convoluted) that were oftentimes quite plausible.

Showcasing some really excellent stunt-work, The Range Rider (which ran from 1951-1953) was filmed in b&w. Its episodes were all 30 minutes in length.

The best an. Old black and white you need to watch it the range rider. I first heard about the when i was watching the A team.

And a great one to with george ba. Face man.

Once you start watching can"t stop there funny they joke around.

The range rider on the A team the best in west the range rider.

This was one of my favorite westerns on early television. As I remember, it either preceded or followed "The Lone Ranger" on Saturday nights where I lived in northern Arkansas. It somewhat resembled the Red Ryder series in that The Range Rider was the hero with a youngster as a sidekick. Instead of the Native American youth "Little Beaver," played inevitably by a non-Native American, Dick Jones played Dick West. At times Dick West was more of a Batman's Robin rather than a "Little Beaver." This Gene Autry production starred famous stuntman Jock Mahoney, stepfather of Sally Fields, as the Range Rider, determined to bring justice to the American frontier. He was now billed as Jack Mahoney and being the star did few stunts.

The show could be counted on to deliver 30 minutes minus commercials of action and adventure. Because Jack Mahoney was so tall, Dick West looked diminutive (he was in reality of average height) and much younger than he really was.