Doug McClure (1935-1995), American Actor Best Known for "The Virginian"

[DonRocks]

The Twilight Zone - Season 1 

 

3. "Mr. Denton On Doomsday" - Oct 16, 1959:  <--- "How Dry I Am ..."

[Note: Martin Landau making Mr. Denton sing for his drink reminds me of Paul Dano's unspeakably heinous taunting scene from "12 Years A Slave" - maybe I'm wrong, but I think at least an indirect influence is there.]

It's funny how knowledge builds upon itself - I was looking at "The Man in the Funny Suit," which somehow led me to "The Balance of Terror," which led me to "The Enemy Below," and I noticed that this was Doug McClure's film debut (this post could just as easily go in the Film Forum).

I knew the name Doug McClure well, but I didn't know why, so I went to his Wikipedia page, and started reading - although he's most famous for his role in "The Virginian," I've never watched TV westerns (not even "Gunsmoke"), so that wasn't it. But I kept reading, and lo and behold, he played in "Mr. Denton on Doomsday."

Until recently, I'd never watched TV since I was in high school (I don't even have one plugged in), but I'm becoming more-and-more convinced that Rod Serling is one of the most important figures in television history. I've done a fair amount of reading about him, and he was on the front lines of race equality, but was stymied by Hollywood bureaucracy, and had to walk a fine line between doing what he wanted, and towing the party line - it's amazing how much his scripts were destroyed in the process:

03/27/08 - "Uncensored: 'Twilight Zone' Creator's Script on Emmett Till Case" by William Cates on washingtonpost.com

Anyway, Doug McClure, as Mr. Grant, played only a small role late in the episode, but I encourage anyone wanting to watch a representative "Twilight Zone" episode to see that one (it's not "the best" or anything, but it's quite good, and it will make you feel sorry for Mr. Denton (Dan Duryea) within the first three minutes) - it's available for free to Amazon Prime members.

[Al Dente]

Is he any relation to Troy McClure?

"You may remember me from such films as..."

-Phil Hartman

Ooh, just found this on the Youtubes:

[DonRocks]

Doug McClure also starred in "Satan's Triangle."
Shown here with Kim Novak (who played in Vertigo with Jimmy Stewart):