Rescue 8

When I was a kid in the 1950's Lang Jeffries' parents lived in my neighborhood in Port Huron, Michigan. His real name was Bill Lappin before his Hollywood days. I watched Rescue 8 all the time. It was a great realistic emergency program.

Then I remember he made a lot of Itallian westerns (Spagetti Westerns).It was a big deal in my neighborhood when we heard he married Rhonda Fleming.

I have never been able to find any biographical information on his youth days. If anyone knows any more before his Hollywood days, please post.

1. 9/23/1958: Ferris Wheel..A woman and child are trapped in the top seat of a ferris wheel. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Patty: Nancy Rennick.

2. 9/30/1958: 102 to Bakersfield..A robber hijacks a bus and takes it into an area being dynamited. Wes: Jim Davis. Nick: Douglas Dick. Terry: Toni Gerry.

3. 10/7/1958: The Cliff..The rescue men try to save a young boy who fell to the ledge of a cliff. Wes: Jim Davis. Tom: Rand Brooks. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

4. 10/14/1958: The Subterranean City..Wes and Skip search for a child lost in a storm-sewer system. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Patty: Nancy Rennick. Pete: Warren Oates. Whitey: Ralph Votrian.

5. 10/21/1958: The Cage..Wes tries to save a crazed killer trapped in a bear pit. Wes: Jim Davis. Ann: Ruta Lee. Walt: Jack Weston. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

6. 10/28/1958: The Crackup..Wes realizes he will not be able to free a pregnant woman from a plane wreck before her baby is born. Wes: Jim Davis. Riley: Bruce Bennett. Joan: Gloria Henry. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Patty: Nancy Rennick.

7. 11/4/1958: The Ammonia Trap..An earthquake traps three men in an ice vault with a broken ammonia pipe line. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

8. 11/11/1958: The Chasm..The rescue team must save a man and his son-in-law from the side of a dam. Ollie: Ralph Moody. Jim: William Phipps. Wes: Jim Davis.

9. 11/18/1958: Steel Mountain..Searching for stolen loot, a man gets trapped between two trolley cars. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Mickey: Michael Dante

10. 11/25/1958: Find That Bomb..The team makes a frantic search for a time bomb left aboard a yacht. Joe: Mike Connors. Kit: Barbara Hayden. Wes: Jim Davis.

11. 12/2/1958: The Cavein..A man is buried waist deep in a dirt pit with the soil level rising each minute. Ezra: Will Wright. Wes: Jim Davis. Lucy: Grace Field.

12. 12/9/1958: The Bells of Fear..On Christmas Eve, a clockmaker gets caught in the bell mechanism of a church clock. Ben Kopak: Eduardo Ciannelli. Wes Cameron: Jim Davis. Skip Johnson: Lang Jeffries.

13. 12/16/1958: Danger! 20,000 Volts..A derailed train is trapped under exposed high voltage wires so that any passenger trying to leave will be electrocuted. Wes: Jim Davis. Martha: Anne Gwynne. Fred: John Pickard. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

14. 12/23/1958: The Scrap-Iron Jungle..Fleeing police, two girls hide in a junked auto, not knowing it's about to be dropped into a hot press. Wes: Jim Davis. Candy: Sue George. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Madge: Rebecca Welles. Salesman: Ray Walker.

15. 12/30/1958: Calamity Coach..A young actor is uncooperative when Wes tries to rescue him from the side of a cliff. Ric: Robert Lowery. Wes: Jim Davis. Linda: Jolene Brand. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

16. 1/6/1959: Secret of the Mission..A young thief is trapped at the scene of his crime when a church ceiling collapses. Wes: Jim Davis. Carlos: Rafael Campos. Father Flynn: J. Pat O'Malley.

17. 1/13/1959: Trial by Fire..Skip makes a deadly enemy of another rescue man. Then the two meet at a factory fire. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Chad: James Best. Patty: Nancy Rennick.

18. 1/20/1959: High Hazard..A man's life is endangered when his nephew's wife switches medical records. Stanton: Howard Wendell. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Sandra: Regina Gleason.

19. 1/27/1959: Rubber Gold..In a tire plant, Wes and Skip must find a wounded man who is half blind. Rocky: Mike Mazurki. Kolb: Roy Barcroft. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

20. 2/3/1959: Flash Flood..Threatened by a flood, a demented man (John Carradine) sets a series of traps to discourage his rescue. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Millie: Virginia Christine.

21. 2/10/1959: Initiation to Danger.. A freshman hazing ends in disaster: a boy is locked in a water tank with the water running. Wes: Jim Davis. Rocklin: James Beck. Paul: Tommy Ivo. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

22. 2/17/1959: Disaster Town..While searching for her son in a ghost town, a woman falls through a rotting floor. Wes: Jim Davis. Ellen: Gail Kobe. Jimmy: Jay North.

23. 2/24/1959: A Handful of Vengeance.. A madman locks a family and the rescue team in a burning house. Stephano: Peter Brocco. Wes: Jim Davis. Mary: Anne Bellamy.

24. 3/3/1959: Forty-Five Fathoms, Dead or Alive..A man is trapped on the ocean floor when his brother accidentally jams the winch that could save him. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Fred: John Archer. Janet: Ann McCrea. Norris: Don Durant.

25. 3/10/1959: Children of the Sun..Skip's mother-in-law must be rescued from an earthquake area. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Mrs. Curtis: Louise Lorimer.

26. 3/17/1959: International Incident..A prince's life is endangered by assassins who tampered with his car's brakes. Wes: Jim Davis. Prince: Roberto Cabal. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Panda Lal: Lou Krugman.

27. 3/24/1959: Nine Minutes to Live..An engineer is trapped in a mine with a time bomb set to go off. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Barston: Frank Ferguson.

28. 3/31/1959: No Trespassing.. Wes is forced to operate on an appendicitis victim while a doctor instructs him by phone. Wes: Jim Davis. Clem: Jason Johnson. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Jane: Patricia Blair. Ronald: Richard Rust.

29. 4/7/1959: Three Men in a Vault..Trying to thwart a robbery, a man locks himself and the crooks in an airtight vault. Wes: Jim Davis. Crotty: John Alvin. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Trig: James Anderson.

30. 4/14/2007: The Walking Death..An AWOL sailor is suspected of having typhoid fever. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Ralph: Johnny Seven.

I too recall watching Rescue 8. One episode is very vivid in my mind was a rescue involving a private plane (was it "The Birdman"). The dramatic music score that played while the squad truck was en-route on call, I recall hearing in other TV shows and some cartoons. My memory played tricks on me, for a while I thought Rory Calhoun played the part of Wes Cameron but it was actually Jim Davis. Guess in my mind they looked alike. Like others in this blog, I too was very influenced by this show. I later became a firefighter, a National Registered EMT, Army Medic Instructor, and a founding member of the National Assoication of EMTs. We should be ever mindful of the powerful nature of television that can influence young minds for good or bad.

31. 4/21/1959: Tower of Hate.. The rescue team must save a wounded man who is clinging to a girder 400 feet above water. Wes: Jim Davis. Bill: Ross Elliott. Heinrich: Jack Kruschen.

32. 4/28/1959: Danger in Paradise.. A night watchman at a movie studio chases a pair of intruders onto a shaky catwalk high above the stage. Wes: Jim Davis. Marge: Suzanne Lloyd. Pete: William Swan.

33. 5/5/1959: Hour of Rage.. A man swears revenge when Wes and Skip fail to revive his dead wife. Johnny: Harry Landers. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

34. 5/12/1959: If the Bough Breaks..A huge branch crushes a man against the trunk of a tree he's sawing. Dora: Hope Summers. Wes: Jim Davis. Dot: Sally Fraser. Charles: Emerson Treacy. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

35. 5/19/1959: High Pressure.. Two men trapped in a chasm are menaced by oncoming flood waters. Wes: Jim Davis. John: Paul Langton. Foley: Morris Ankrum.

36. 5/26/1959: One More Step.. An actress falls from a catwalk into a network of hoist ropes. Wes: Jim Davis. Melinda: Kaye Elhardt. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

37. 6/2/1959: Left Hook to Hades.. A boxer refuses to throw a fight and is attacked by gangsters. Lou: Walter Duke. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Thompson: Walter Burke. Terry: Lester Maxwell.

38. 6/9/1959: The Trap.. A man is trapped in a fire with enough nitroglycerin to level the entire area. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Fred: Terry Becker.

39. 6/16/1959: Death for Hire.. A fisherman gets pinned under the boat he was launching. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Rocha: Joe Vitale.

40. 9/23/1959: Suitcase Fireman.. Chased by a gunman, a man falls onto a steel girder next to a roaring furnace. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Jackson: Brett King. Gander: Richard Benedict.

41. 9/30/1959: The Rock Prison.. While exploring a cave, a boy falls into a shaft too narrow for rescuers to enter. Rusty: William Bakewell. Will: Robert Crosson. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries

42.10/7/1959: Fool's Gold.. Robbers drop an unconscious watchman into a maze of pipes leading to a grain elevator. Wes: Jim Davis. Manuel: Peter Brocco. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Freddy: Marc Cavell.

43.10/14/1959: Paid in Full..Barney Carter pushes blackmailers off a cliff onto a narrow ledge. Barney: Tom Brown. Wes: Jim Davis. Guzik: Joseph Ruskin.

44.10/21/1959: Dangerous Salvage..A seaman battles to save his son's life after a shipboard explosion. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Jake: Rusty Lane.

45.10/28/1959: 3 Mile Bomb.. Wes and Skip work to free a driver from his overturned truck which is leaking deadly gas. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Joe: Walter Sande.

46.11/4/1959: Not for Glory.. Wes is injured in a fall when a rope holding him slips from Skip's hands. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Captain: Bruce Bennett.

47.11/11/1959: Forced Landing.. A tyrannical father is bitten by a rattler and the only one who can help is his son. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Jerry: Ralph Dumke. Steve: Ralph Votrian

48.11/18/1959: Smashout.. A convict escapes from prison with Wes and Skip as hostages. Wes: Jim Davis. Landers: Dean Stanton. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

49.11/25/1959: Runaway.. A runaway boy retreats to the woods where he meets an escaped lion. Grandpa: Ralph Moody. Wes: Jim Davis. Billy: Lee Aaker.

50.12/2/1959: The Third Strike.. Hit by a baseball, a player suffers amnesia and frightening personality changes. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

51.12/9/1959: Pitfall.. A teenager gets his leg caught in a gas tank's giant rollers. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Mary: Linda Rand. Wayne: Joel Crothers. Patty: Nancy Rennick.

52.12/16/1959: Heat Wave.. Two men are trapped above a vat of acid that's about to explode. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Carbo: Barry Cahill.

53.12/23/1959: The Birdman.. Suffering from a broken jaw, an air-crash victim can't tell Wes about a second victim left dangling on a cliff. Wes: Jim Davis. Professor: Robert Cornthwaite.

54.12/30/1959: The Collision.. After a collision, a young woman is left crushed behind the steering wheel. Wes: Jim Davis. Ron: Jack Hilton. Ann: Nancy Marshall.

55. 1/6/1960: Leap for Life.. Wes and Skip help Indian fire fighters battle a forest blaze. Charlie: Jay Silverheels. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

56. 1/13/1960: The Squatters.. Rescuers search for a madman setting traps in the woods for human beings. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jefferies.

57. 1/20/1960: Backfire.. A publicity man's risky scheme leaves him trapped in a car teetering above a deep precipice. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Larry: Dan Tobin. Marty: Roy Engel.

58. 1/27/1960: High Explosive.. Wes rescues a spoiled rich boy (Richard Chamberlain) whose escape from police ended in a crack-up. Wes: Jim Davis. Randolph: John Hubbard. Skip: Lang Jeffries.

59. 2/3/1960: Add a Pinch of Death.. Although a second blast is expected,Wes goes in after two men trapped in a lab explosion. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Max: Robert Boon.

60. 2/10/1960: Ten Minutes to Doomsday.. A construction site is rocked by a series of mysterious explosions. Wes: Jim Davis. Skip: Lang Jeffries. Gomez: Ken Mayer.

I guess this show was a major factor in my becoming a vol. firefighter & EMT-CC.

It was the only show that I would get upset about if I missed it.

I even remember part of the introduction: "Rescue 8, one of the 27 such teams attached to the LA County Fire Department".

Many people familiar with Emergency! don't believe this actually was it's predecessor. I still contend Rescue 8 was much more realistic than any Rescue 8 or Squad 51 shows.

I sure do miss it. :(

I've been searching the internet, albeit in vain, for actual videos from the show. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I'd sure appreciate it.