Howard McNear

HOWARD McNEAR

Before Howard McNear became Doc Adams on Gunsmoke (1952),
he appeared in Family Theater's adaptation of 'Treasure Island' (1950),
playing Pew and various other roles
(and that also sounds like him doing the second
Family Theater maxim at the end of the show).
As blind pirate Pew, McNear is completely mean and menacing,
with no sign of his later light touches as Doc.

In the January 31, 1954 episode of the The Six-Shooter,
Howard McNear plays a weaselly 'doc'
who has taken part in a lynching,
and clearly doesn't have the rectitude of Doc Adams.

With his slight stature and cheery wispy voice,
it's hard to imagine Howard McNear as a sheriff
that has to be reckoned with,
but he carries it off just fine
in the Suspense episode 'Two For The Road.'
And who is that television actor that he puts in jail?
A character played by... William Conrad.

Howard McNear does three excellent voices
in the March 6, 1953 version of 'The Jean Maxwell Matter,'
an episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar.
At the beginning, he is the unresponsive insurance man on the phone;
later, he is Paul Anderson, a man with a younger voice
than the one McNear usually used;
last, a cottage renter with a Massachusetts coast accent.

Another YTJD episode where McNear does three voices
is 'The Beneficiary of Policy Holder Pearl Carassa.'
First he is the seedy manager of a rooming house;
then he plays two different gamblers at a Vegas casino.
The third, no matter how brief,
is one of McNear's best performances.
"Grace, will you quit?"

Click here to view risqué photographs of a questionable quack
bearing a passing resemblance to Howard McNear.