James Drury

The Weight of a Ten-Gallon Hat

James Drury was not a cowboy by birth. He was born in New York in 1934 and spent his childhood between the skyscrapers of Manhattan and a farm in Oregon. That duality shaped his approach to the craft, because beneath the tough-guy exterior always beat the heart of an actor with classical training from New York University.

In 1954 he signed a contract with MGM and began working in supporting roles that no one would remember today. He appeared in Seeds of Evil and had a brief foray into science fiction with Forbidden Planet in 1956. But big studio films never quite made the most of his physical presence.

Classical theater was his first school.

In the late 1950s his face became a regular in Disney television productions. He filmed several episodes of Elfego Baca and appeared in The Fourth Man. But the industry viewed him with suspicion because his style was too dry for the standards of the time.

The 90-Minute Color Factory

In 1962, NBC made a risky decision that transformed American television. They launched The Virginian as the first 90-minute series filmed entirely in color. Drury was chosen to play the foreman of the Shiloh Ranch, a man with no name of his own who enforced the law with a look.

Nine years of nonstop filming.

Drury demanded realism in every shot and performed his own horseback scenes without stunt doubles. Filming was exhausting because the hour-and-a-half format required producing material equal to a feature film every week. He appeared in 249 episodes between 1962 and 1971 without missing a single workday due to illness.

And the gamble paid off.

The series stayed at the top of the ratings for nearly a decade. Drury shared the screen with Doug McClure, and together they formed an on-screen partnership that carried scripts that were sometimes mediocre. But the actor always sought technical detail in his handling of the revolver or in the way he adjusted the saddle.

Retirement among the oil wells

When the series ended in 1971, the actor tried to change direction with The Fireman in 1973. The project quickly failed, and Drury realized audiences didn't want to see him without spurs. So he chose to stay away from the Hollywood spotlight for long stretches to focus on his private business ventures.

He moved to Texas and went into the oil and natural gas industry. He only returned to the screen for occasional cameos or to lend his voice to documentaries about the history of the American West. In 1993 he appeared in an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger alongside Chuck Norris to remind viewers he was still active.

He died of natural causes on April 6, 2020, at the age of 85. His funeral was private, and there were no large public tributes in Los Angeles. His personal collection of original scripts is kept in a university archive in Wyoming.