Posted on 07/25/2018 5:58:03 PM PDT by eastforker
Eric Fleming was born Edward Heddy Jr. on July 4th 1925 in Santa Paula, California, an area renowned for its oil refineries. His father, an oil worker, mercilessly beat his only child, so severely on one occasion that he was unable to get up for two days. In 1934 aged eight, Eric held a revolver to his sleeping father's head, in an attempt to kill him. The revolver misfired, and Eric ran away from home. He made his way to Chicago, where he lived rough, begging for food and running errands for gangsters. He committed petty thefts and delivered liquor and drugs, before being hospitalized following a gang fight. As he was only eleven, the authorities returned him to his mother, who by this time had separated from his father (they were divorced in 1936). Eric returned to school, but dropped out during the depression years, and worked in various jobs including newsboy, miner, ambulance driver, waiter, stagehand and hod carrier.
(Excerpt) Read more at navy.togetherweserved.com ...
"Rawhide was a huge success, but by 1965, the CBS hierarchy had grown tired of Fleming's critical statements and openly voiced opinions, about the show's producers, writers and directors, and his repeated threats to quit the show. He was fired, along with other cast regulers. Eastwood took over the main starring role, but the ratings dropped, and the show was cancelled in 1966.
Eric signed up to do "High Jungle" in Peru. During the final stages of shooting, his dugout canoe overturned in The Huallaga River, and he was swept away. His body was found downstream about three days later. Eric Fleming died on September 28th 1966. He was only 41.
I always thought he was on a trajectory to bigger successes in the movies, until that accidental drowning sunk his career.
First one of these I’ve run across where I can say that I’ve never heard of the guy.
So at the age of 17, he was in the Merchant Marines, the U.S. Navy, working in a foundry in Seattle, and having 4 rounds of surgery? Sounds like a very busy year for him.
You never watched Rawhide and heard of Gil favor, trailboss?
Fleming was a huge star in the 1960s TV series “Rawhaide” co-starring Clint Eastwood. After Rawhide was cancelled Eastwood went to Italy and Spain where he made spaghetti Westerns and the rest is history.
“Rawhaide”= “Rawhide” Duh!
Gil Favor, one of the greatest characters ever created for television.
Kids need to watch him just so they’ll know what a real man acts like.
I also remember him in the Doris Day/Rod Taylor movie The Glass Bottom Boat.
“Gil Favor, one of the greatest characters ever created for television.”
Yep. He was an ex-Confederate. Captain as I recall.
Great character for the late fifties and early sixties. His character could not be shown to our culture today.
Too bad.
Yep, I think all the characters were Confederates...Quince, Rowdy, Wishbone and Pete Nolan.
I have five seasons on dvd and never tire of watching ‘em!
Eastwood is the only name I remember from Rawhide.
I recall hearing as a kid that he was one of the “Marlboro Men” was that just urban myth?
Worth a watch of the opening title and closing credits of “Rawhide”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3LeEeD6Ulc
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