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John Ernest Crawford was an American actor, singer, and musician. He first performed before a national audience as a Mouseketeer. At age 12, Crawford rose to prominence playing Mark McCain in the ABC Western series, The Rifleman. Crawford was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor at age 13 for his work on The Rifleman, which aired from 1958 to 1963. Disney started out with 24 original Mouseketeers. However, at the end of the first season, the studio reduced the number to 12, and Crawford was released from his contract. His first important break as an actor followed with the title role in a Lux Video Theatre production of "Little Boy Lost", a live NBC broadcast on March 15, 1956. He also appeared in the popular Western series The Lone Ranger, in 1956, in one of the few color episodes of that series. Following that performance, the young actor worked steadily with many seasoned actors and directors. Freelancing for two and one-half years, he accumulated almost 60 television credits, including featured roles in three episodes of NBC's The Loretta Young Show and an appearance as Manuel in, "I Am an American", an episode of the syndicated crime drama Sheriff of Cochise. He starred as Bobby Adams in the 1958 drama "Courage of Black Beauty". By the spring of 1958, he had also performed 14 demanding roles in live teleplays for NBC's Matinee Theatre, appeared on CBS's sitcom, Mr. Adams and Eve, in the Wagon Train episode "The Sally Potter Story" (in which Martin Milner also appeared) and on the syndicated series, Crossroads, Sheriff of Cochise, and Whirlybirds, and made three pilots of TV series. The third pilot, which was made as an episode of Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater, was picked up by ABC and the first season of The Rifleman began filming in July 1958. Crawford had a brief career as a recording artist in the 1950s and 1960s. He continued to act on television and in film as an adult. Beginning in 1992, Crawford led the California-based Johnny Crawford Orchestra, a vintage dance orchestra that performed at special events.

Known For

6.7

Bill Tilghman and the Outlaws

2019

7.0

Singer

The Thirteenth Floor

1999

🎬

5.0

Self

Vicki!

1992

4.6

Mark McCain

The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw

1991

5.6

Musician

Bloodhounds of Broadway

1989

7.0

Prince Ignatius

Crossbow: The Movie

1989

5.4

McKay

Paradise

1988

7.5

Noah Paisley

Murder, She Wrote

1984

5.0

Masket

The Gambler: The Adventure Continues

1983

6.8

Masket

The Gambler: The Adventure Continues

1983

Credits

Bill Tilghman and the Outlaws

2019

6.7

The Thirteenth Floor

as Singer

1999

7.0

🎬

Vicki!

as Self

1992

5.0

The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw

as Mark McCain

1991

4.6

Bloodhounds of Broadway

as Musician

1989

5.6

Crossbow: The Movie

as Prince Ignatius

1989

7.0

Paradise

as McKay

1988

5.4

Murder, She Wrote

as Noah Paisley

1984

7.5

The Gambler: The Adventure Continues

as Masket

1983

5.0

The Gambler: The Adventure Continues

as Masket

1983

6.8

Macbeth

as Seyton

1981

6.0

When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion

as Self

1979

0.0

The Shootist

as Books' Victim in Flashback (archive footage / uncredited)

1976

7.1

The Great Texas Dynamite Chase

as Slim

1976

4.8

The inbreaker

1974

0.0

Sonic Boom

as Charlton Heston

1974

4.5

The Naked Ape

as Lee

1973

4.2

The Resurrection of Broncho Billy

as Broncho Billy

1970

6.3

Lancer

1968

4.7

Hawaii Five-O

as Private Jerry Franklin

1968

7.1

The Movie Orgy

as Self (archive footage)

1968

6.3

El Dorado

as Luke MacDonald

1966

7.4

The Restless Ones

as David Winton

1965

4.2

Village of the Giants

as Horsey

1965

3.5

Indian Paint

as Nishko

1965

5.3

Branded

as Deputy Sheriff Clay Holden

1965

6.6

Mr. Novak

as JoJo Rizzo

1963

6.5

Mr. Novak

as USSR - United Nations Assembly

1963

6.5

🎬

One Man's Challenge

as Self

1962

0.0

Mister Ed

1961

6.7

Rawhide

as Aaron Bolt

1959

7.2

The Rifleman

as Mark McCain

1958

7.1

The Donna Reed Show

as Victor

1958

6.2

The Space Children

as Ken Brewster

1958

4.0

Trackdown

as Eric Paine

1957

6.4

Wagon Train

as Jimmy Bennett

1957

6.6

Have Gun, Will Travel

1957

7.3

Courage of Black Beauty

as Bobby Adams

1957

4.7

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre

as Billy Prescott

1956

6.0

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre

as Mark McCain

1956

6.0

Telephone Time

1956

6.3

The Count of Monte Cristo

1956

4.4

Matinee Theater

1955

5.0

The Mickey Mouse Club

as Self

1955

6.3

The Millionaire

as Wally

1955

5.0

The Wonderful World of Disney

as Self

1954

7.8

Letter to Loretta

as Freddy

1953

6.5

Letter to Loretta

as Arthur Mullen

1953

6.5

Letter to Loretta

as Bobby Wright

1953

6.5

Cavalcade of America

as Billy Brandon (as a boy)

1952

3.5

The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok

1951

4.5

🎬

Lux Video Theatre

as Jerry

1950

6.3

🎬

Lux Video Theatre

as Jean

1950

6.3