TV SERIES · 1959– · USA
Laramie
23 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (23)
- #001
The series was unique for its time in that its two lead characters actually worked on the ranch. They chopped wood, cooked, washed dishes, did laundry, raised chickens, repaired roofs and did all the work needed to run a farm. This quality gave the leads an authenticity not seen on other series.
- #002
With the deaths of Peter Brown, who appeared with him in Lawman (1958), and Hugh O'Brian, who appeared in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955), in 2016, Robert Fuller remains one of the last surviving main adult male characters from a western series that debuted in the 1950s. Clint Eastwood of Rawhide (1959) is another. James Drury, who played the title role in The Virginian (1962), was the last surviving adult male cast member, dying on April 6, 2020, though that series premiered in 1962 and ended in 1971.
- #003
The exterior sets for the old western town of Laramie in this series were not located on the Warner Brothers backlot. Because Revue Studios was based at Universal International Studios, they were filmed on Universal Studios' Western Street. Warner Brothers' Laramie Street was used in Lawman (1958) (also set in Laramie, WY) and was subsequently used in countless Warner Brothers films and television projects after that series ended. It was also rented out continuously for shoots by several non-Warner Brothers productions, among them Little House on the Prairie (1974). Known studio-wide as "Laramie Street," the set consisted of three streets of old western buildings and was the last of two separate western sets still standing on the Warner Brothers lot. Another western street, located in the middle section of the studio's backlot, was demolished in the mid-1980s. Laramie Street survived until 2000, when it was torn down to make room for a collection of modern exterior house sets.
- #004
The series is set in Laramie, Wyoming, in the 1870s. Laramie's population was 828 in the 1870 census and 2,696 in the 1880 census.
- #005
The first episode aired in color. The rest of the first and second seasons were in black and white. Color began regularly in the third season.
- #006
Long before Robert Fuller worked with Julie London on Emergency! (1972), she was a guest star on Laramie, playing the wife from whom the sheriff is estranged and who also works as a card dealer. Five years before working with her, he had also watched her sing at one of the nightclubs in Los Angeles, California, after serving in the U.S. Army. The two developed a lifelong friendship that lasted until London's death on October 18, 2000.
- #007
After the first two seasons, Robert Crawford Jr. was dropped from the series and replaced by Dennis Holmes.
- #008
Laramie marked the start of Robert Fuller's acting career.
- #009
The set that served as the Sherman Ranch and Relay Station was also used in The Larry Hanify Story (1960).
- #010
The main musical theme, written by Cyril J. Mockridge, was also used as the main theme in Thunderhead: Son of Flicka (1945).
- #011
Except for the first episode, Jess wore dirty, dusty clothes and hat throughout the first two seasons. For the remaining two years, in the color episodes, he almost always wore clean clothes.
- #012
After the series was canceled, Robert Fuller went directly to Wagon Train (1957).
- #013
Despite some unfortunate actors and portrayals, Native Americans were generally treated as neighbors and as people with rights. Yes, there were "Indian attacks," but care was taken to distinguish the tribes (even if this was not always historically accurate), and white hostility was not condoned, including an incident in which a white man was convicted of killing a Native American.
- #014
Robert Fuller would later play Wade Harper, the great-great-grandson of Jess Harper, in Walker, Texas Ranger (1993).
- #015
Long before John Smith and Robert Fuller came together on the series, their first encounter was on the Civil War film Friendly Persuasion (1956), though they did not share a scene. Smith had a medium-sized role, while Fuller had an uncredited role. Their first time working together was in an episode of Cimarron City (1958), in which Fuller played a young gunfighter seeking a reputation and finding his target along with the town's mayor. Their long friendship lasted 39 years, until Smith's death in early 1995.
- #016
When Robert Fuller came in to audition, he was required to do a screen test for Slim Sherman, while John Smith had initially been cast as Jess Harper. Fuller, still determined, wanted to play Jess Harper, which he won, while Smith took the role of Slim Sherman.
- #017
Hoagy Carmichael was cast in a role on the series but lacked the usual skills or ability required of actors in westerns, so during the series' promotion Chick Hannan doubled for him and drove Carmichael's character's wagon to the Sherman ranch.
- #018
The series premiered on NBC just three days after the premiere of Bonanza (1959), also on NBC.
- #019
The waterfall scene used in most of the fistfights and gunfights had appeared in Tales of Wells Fargo, because both shows were produced by Revue Studios (later known as Universal Television).
- #020
Dan Duryea was the series' first guest star.
- #021
Before Eddie Albert worked with Robert Fuller, the two had both appeared as guest stars in the same episode of Murder, She Wrote (1984); there Fuller played the rival competitor of a woman up for an appointment, while Albert played the husband and the most dangerous rival of his wife, who was up for the appointment. Albert appeared as a guest star in Laramie, playing an unlucky drifter on the road to find Jess Harper.
- #022
With John Smith's death on January 25, 1995, Robert Fuller became the only surviving original cast member of the series.
- #023
Before Robert Fuller later went fishing with James Best and cemented a real-life friendship, Best would appear as a guest star in this series 3 times, playing 3 different characters over a 4-year period starting with the 6th episode. Fuller remained friends with Best until Best's death on April 6, 2015.
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