Smoke Much?
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Back in the 1950’s, smoking cigarettes was still the “cool thing to do.” It was quite common to see characters lighting up on-screen, no matter what the show was. However, Lucas McCain can only be seen smoking once throughout the series. In real life, Chuck Connors smoked and smoked a lot. He apparently had a three pack a day habit, that’s 60 per day if you’re counting, which ultimately led to his passing at the age of 71 with lung cancer and pneumonia.
Spin Off
Photo: pinterest
Creators of The Rifleman wanted the show to bring moral values to the viewers that tuned in each week. Especially the ones related to his son Mark. Lucas was constantly teaching Mark the right and wrong way to do things, and he had a little help from his friends. One of which was the “Plainsman” character played by Michael Ansara, even though he only made an appearance in two installments of the show. Ansara did such a good job he was offered his own show called Law of the Plainsman in 1959.