Frank McGrath

Acting

Biography

Benjamin Franklin McGrath (February 2, 1903 – May 13, 1967) was an American television and film actor and stunt performer who played the comical, optimistic cook with the white beard, Charlie B. Wooster, on the western series Wagon Train for five seasons on NBC and then three seasons on ABC. McGrath appeared in all 272 episodes in the eight seasons of the series, which had ended its run only two years before his death. McGrath's Wooster character hence provided the meals and companionship for both fictional trail masters, Ward Bond as Seth Adams and John McIntire as Christopher "Chris" Hale. McGrath was born in Mound City in Holt County in far northwestern Missouri. McGrath married Libby Quay Buschlen (1902–1978), a native of Ontario, Canada. He died May 13, 1967 at the age of sixty-four of a heart attack in Beverly Hills, California, and was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. CLR From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Filmography

Acting

16 titles

Wagon Train

TV

The series initially starred veteran movie supporting actor Ward Bond as the wagon master, later replaced upon his death by John McIntire, and Robert Horton as the scout, subsequently replaced by lookalike Robert Fuller a year after Horton had decided to leave the series. The series was inspired by the 1950 film Wagon Master directed by John Ford and starring Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr. and Ward Bond, and harkens back to the early widescreen wagon train epic The Big Trail starring John Wayne and featuring Bond in his first major screen appearance playing a supporting role. Horton's buckskin outfit as the scout in the first season of the television series resembles Wayne's, who also played the wagon train's scout in the earlier film.

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Miscellaneous Crew

9 titles