#Fullfreewestern TV western starring Karen Sharpe follows her exclusive interview. She guest stars on THE RANGER RIDER starring Jock Mahoney, Dick Jones with Karen as a beautiful gang leader.
After appearing with John Wayne in the 1954 blockbuster, THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY, Karen Sharpe won a Golden Globe as the Most Promising Female Newcomer. Duke put the young actress under contract at his Batjac production company, where she joined another newcomer, James Arness. Karen's audition for the role in THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY almost didn't happen! In fact, she wasn't even supposed to shown up and read for director William Wellman. What happened? In this interview with producer Rob Word, you'll find out how Karen got the part and why she decided to break her Batjac contract with Wayne. What did Duke have to say about her departure?
After leaving John Wayne and her contract with BatJac, young actress Karen Sharpe appeared in dozens and dozens of TV shows...most of them westerns! Karen soon got her own TV series, the western JOHNNY RINGO, and was cast by the series' creator/producer, Aaron Spelling. It was Spelling's first series and Karen recalls befriending this funny little man earlier in both their careers. Once again, Karen decided to strike out on her own and she quit the series mid-season in 1960.
Constantly working, she appeared twice on GUNSMOKE and other memorable series for that era, including DEATH VALLEY DAYS, THE RANGE RIDER, THE GRAY GHOST, YANCY DERRINGER, TRACKDOWN, BONANZA, LARAMIE and more. In two episodes of RAWHIDE, Karen recalls being "stuck" with romancing the series' ramrod, equally young co-star, Clint Eastwood. What she really wanted to do was work with RAWHIDE's trail boss Gil Favor, Eric Fleming!
However, Karen's favorite story is meeting a talented director who kept trying to date her. At first, she didn't want to go out with him. Luckily for both, she did. It was producer/director Stanley Kramer! Find out all about their romance and much more in this in-depth conversation with Karen Sharpe Kramer, a very classy leading lady.
This extended conversation combines two previous AWOW episodes that were recorded May 2019.
Following Karen’s conversation, a full episode of Jock Mahoney’s THE RANGE RIDER, will be screened. It’s “The Chase” (1953), guest starring Karen as a beautiful gang leader.
Thanks for watching our show. Don’t forget to Subscribe and Share this episode of A WORD ON WESTERNS. If you’re one of our Patreon Members, you are helping deliver quality programs and, as a member, can watch them with no commercials. We appreciate your support.
https://www.patreon.com/awow
#freewestern #famouspeople #johnwayne #westernfilm #tvclassics #tvshow #tv #leadinglady #retro #academyawards #goldenglobes #clinteastwood #TVwestern #jockmahoney
#stuntman #actor #actress #actresses #romance #awordonwesterns #wordonwesterns
#robword #interview #interviewer #talkshow #filmdirector #stanleykramer #karensharpe
#karen #autry #clint #rangerider