1. James Drury is best known for having played the title role in the 90-minute weekly Western television series The Virginian, which was broadcast on NBC from 1962 to 1971.
23 Facts About James Drury
1. 2.
James Drury's father was a New York University professor of marketing.
3.
James Drury grew up between New York City and Salem, Oregon, where his mother owned a farm.
4.
James Drury studied drama at New York University and took additional classes at UCLA to complete his degree after he began acting in films at MGM.
5.
James Drury signed a film contract with MGM in 1954 and appeared in bit parts in films.
6.
On May 9,1959, early in his career, James Drury appeared as Neal Adams in the episode "Client Neal Adams" of ABC's Western series Black Saddle.
7.
On Christmas Eve 1959, James Drury appeared in "Ten Feet of Nothing" on the syndicated anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews.
8.
In 1960, James Drury appeared in different roles in two episodes, "Fair Game" and "Vindication", of another ABC Western series, The Rebel, starring Nick Adams as a Confederate adventurer roaming through the post-Civil War American West.
9.
On November 16,1960, James Drury played young pioneer Justin Claiborne in the episode "The Bleymier Story" of NBC's Wagon Train.
10.
James Drury was cast in the 1960 Disney movie, Pollyanna as George Dodds, the love interest of Nancy Olson.
11.
James Drury made a guest appearance on the CBS drama series Perry Mason in 1961 in the role of musician and defendant Eddy King in "The Case of the Missing Melody".
12.
Around the same time, James Drury landed the top-billed leading role of the ranch foreman on The Virginian, a lavish series that ran for nine seasons until 1971.
13.
James Drury was put under a 7-year contract with Universal in 1962, and was the front-runner for the role, but he still had to audition three separate times and was required to lose 30 pounds in 30 days to secure the part.
14.
James Drury reported that he had based his performance of the Virginian on character elements of his maternal grandfather, with whom he had spent much of his childhood.
15.
James Drury continued his title role in The Virginian after it was reformatted as The Men from Shiloh on NBC.
16.
James Drury had the lead role of Captain Spike Ryerson in the drama series Firehouse on ABC television in 1974.
17.
In 1993, James Drury had a guest-starring role as Captain Tom Price on the first three episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger, opposite Chuck Norris and Clarence Gilyard.
18.
James Drury had a cameo role in the 2000 TV movie of The Virginian starring Bill Pullman.
19.
James Drury appeared in a number of films and other television programs, including The Young Warriors and the TV cowboy reunion movie The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw with Doug McClure who played the character Trampas on The Virginian, Clint Walker who played Cheyenne Bodie in Cheyenne and Hugh O'Brian who played Wyatt Earp in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.
20.
James Drury had three stepchildren from his previous marriages, a stepdaughter, Rhonda Brown, and two stepsons, Frederick James Drury and Gary Schero.
21.
James Drury's son, Timothy Drury, is a keyboardist, guitarist, and vocalist who has played with the rock groups Eagles and Whitesnake.
22.
James Drury supported Barry Goldwater in the 1964 United States presidential election.
23.
James Drury died from natural causes on April 6,2020,12 days short of his 86th birthday.