Mr. Confidence. Almost nothing gets through. Part Cooper, Part Garner, he’s so himself he reminds me of Shatner. You at once know it’s him. Every part is tailored to fit. Each role is Doug McClure. Once you’ve seen him, the rest speaks for itself. Cowboy, main man, good ol’ boy, he’s a kinder gentler Joe Don Baker. He might smolder but he won’t send you to jail. He’ll wink. He’ll argue. He’ll shake the truth out of you. He’s a 70s Patrick Swayze and the whole world’s his Road House. “Be Nice.” That’s his policy. “Until it’s time to not be nice.” And not a moment before. No Polar Bear falls on Doug McClure. Unless he wants it too.
Growing up in Glendale California, he graduated from UCLA and dove instantly into acting. Friendly Persuasion (1956), The Enemy Below (1957), Death Valley Days, South Pacific (1958), Lawman, Riverboat, U.S. Marshal, The Twilight Zone, Gidget (1959), Coronado 9, Hennesey, Johnny Midnight, Overland Trail, Because They’re Young (1960), The Unforgiven (1960), Jed Sills on Checkmate and Trampas on The Virginian, The Lively Set (1964), Shenandoah (1965), Beau Geste (1965), The Longest Hundred Miles (1967), The King’s Pirate (1967), Nobody’s Perfect (1968), Terror in the Sky, The Birdmen, The Death of Me Yet, Playmates, The Judge and Jake Wyler, The Blood Vultures of Alaska (1973), Death Race, The Land That Time Forgot (1974), Barbary Coast, Satan’s Triangle, What Changed Charley Farthing (1976), At the Earh’s Core (1976), SST: Death Flight (1977), The People That Time Forgot (1977), Roots, Wild and Wooly, Warlords of Atlantis (1978), The Rebels, Humanoids from the Deep (1980), Firebird 2015 A.D. (1981), The House Where Evil Dwells (1982), Cannonball Run II (1984), Hardcastle and McCormick, Too Close For Comfort, Airwolf, 52 Pick-Up (1986), Murder She Wrote, The Mayor on Out of This World, Tapeheads (1988), Prime Suspect (1989), Superboy, B.L. Stryker, The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw, Matlock, In the Heat of the Night, Maverick (1994).
In 1994, McClure received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. A blond leading man who played 20 year olds well into his 40s. The man was ageless and always himself. He’s Doug McClure. And the name is descriptive enough. McClure is a star in 3 MST episodes. The Land That Time Forgot, At the Earth’s Core, and SST: Death Flight. He strides in those movies and is a big open invitation whenever he’s onscreen. I have a hunch we haven’t seen the last of him. Till then “We’ll always have Paris.” Big Smile or Turn The Dial?
