Cast & creator
Paul Brinegar
Best known for Perry Mason, Perry Mason, Bonanza
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Paul Brinegar (December 19, 1917 – March 27, 1995) was an American character actor best known for his roles in three western series: The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Rawhide, and Lancer. Brinegar's first credited appearance in a feature film was in Larceny (1948). From there, he launched a steady film career that slowed considerably in the late 1950s, after he began appearing on television but did not end until 1994, when Brinegar made his final screen appearance, as a stagecoach driver, in the 1994 film version of Maverick. Brinegar appeared more than 100 times between 1946 and 1994 in western films, often specializing in playing "feisty, grizzled cowboy sidekicks". On television, from 1956 to 1958, he played James H. "Dog" Kelley, the mayor of Dodge City, Kansas, in the ABC/Desilu western series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp starring Hugh O'Brian. Brinegar appeared in that series 33 times as Kelley and in one other episode in another role. In 1959 he played Ludwig, a bartender, in the episode "The Ringer" of the western series The Texan with Rory Calhoun. Brinegar, however, is best remembered as the cattle-drive cook George Washington Wishbone on the CBS series Rawhide from 1959 to 1966. Earlier he had played a similar role, one as the character Tom Jefferson Jeffrey, in the 1958 movie Cattle Empire upon which Rawhide was based. Brinegar also made two guest appearances on CBS's Perry Mason. His first appearance on that series, prior to Rawhide, was in 1958. He performed as Tom Sackett in the first-season episode titled "The Case of the Sun Bather's Diary". His second appearance on Perry Mason was during the series' ninth and final season. He played Jason Rohan in the 1966 episode "The Case of the Unwelcome Well". In the 1968-1970 CBS western series Lancer, Brinegar had the role of Jelly Hoskins; and in 1969 he appeared in the western film Charro! starring Elvis Presley. Then, in 1973, he played the barman in Clint Eastwood's film High Plains Drifter. From 1982 to 1983, returning to television, Brinegar portrayed a humorous cowboy-like character, Lamar Pettybone, during the first season of the ABC series Matt Houston. Later he reprised a revised version of his Rawhide Wishbone character for the 1991 TV movie The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw, in which he delivers a brief monologue that includes about a dozen references to old television western series.
45
film credits
69
television credits
114
1948–1994 · acting roles
6.6
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (114)
Showing 114 of 114 credits
Perry Mason
Jason Rohan
1957Perry Mason
Tom Sackett
1957
Bonanza
Lev Buckalew
1959
Knight Rider
Chuck
1982
Little House on the Prairie
Glover
1974
Cannon
Charlie Tompkins
1971
Lassie
Ben Adams
1954
The Six Million Dollar Man
Rafe Morris
1974
Emergency!
Husband (Tom)
1972Emergency!
Grady
1972Emergency!
Max
1972
Dragnet
1951
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
Jim Begley
1955The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
Jim Kelley
1955The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
Jim Kelley (uncredited)
1955The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
Mayor Jim Kelley
1955
Daniel Boone
Gurney
1964
Rawhide
Wishbone
1959
Cheyenne
Slim Mantell
1955
Capitol
1982
The Lone Ranger
Frankie
1949
Trapper John, M.D.
1979
Lawman
George the Stage Line Clerk
1958
Medical Center
Hnchoo
1969
Father Knows Best
Delivery Man (uncredited)
1954
The 20th Century Fox Hour
Milkman (uncredited)
1955
Matt Houston
Lamar Pettybone
1982
The Ford Television Theatre
Hans
1952The Ford Television Theatre
1952The Ford Television Theatre
Jamie (uncredited)
1952
The Texan
Ludwig
1958
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Mason
1955Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Police Officer
1955Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Mr. Stern
1955
The Guns of Will Sonnett
Charlie Moss
1967
Harry O
Old Man
1974
Sugarfoot
Austin (uncredited)
1957State Trooper
Storekeeper
1956
Trackdown
Zack Armstead
1957
Shirley Temple's Storybook
Van Kimmel
1958
Public Defender
Bud
1954Public Defender
Vic Oliver
1954Public Defender
Keller
1954
The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.
Francis Kilbride
1993
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
1956
Lancer
Jelly Hoskins
1968
CHiPs
Keith Lawton / Old Surfer
1977CHiPs
Old Surfer
1977
Petrocelli
Patch Dressler
1974
Cavalcade of America
1952
Racket Squad
1951
Nichols
Gaffer
1971
The Wonderful World of Disney
Jock
1954
The Man Behind the Badge
1953
Letter to Loretta
Pete
1953Letter to Loretta
Ivan Fenwick
1953
Grizzly Adams
Trapper Tom
1977
The Whistler
1954
Barbary Coast
Jesse
1975
High Plains Drifter
Lutie Naylor
1973
Whirlybirds
Joe Slade
1957
Lucan
1977
Code R
Alvin Purdy
1977
Maverick
Stage Driver
1994
They Came from Outer Space
John Peckham
1990
A Star Is Born
Man at Funeral (uncredited)
1954
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Brown
1951Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Link
1951Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Cousin Obie (uncredited)
1951Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Joe
1951
Life Stinks
Old Bellboy
1991
Hero
1966
The Spirit of St. Louis
Okie (uncredited)
1957
Young Man with a Horn
Stage Manager (uncredited)
1950
We're Not Married!
Beauty Contest Spectator (uncredited)
1952
Storm Warning
Cameraman #1 (uncredited)
1951
Phantom of the Rue Morgue
Angry Accuser in Street (uncredited)
1954
The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw
Cookie
1991
Charro!
Opie Keetch
1969
I Died a Thousand Times
Bus Driver (uncredited)
1955
World Without End
Vida (uncredited)
1956
Pinky
Western Union Clerk (uncredited)
1949
Pat and Mike
Caddy (uncredited)
1952
A Ticket to Tomahawk
1950
The Wild Women of Chastity Gulch
Bodie
1982
Four Guns to the Border
1954
Take One False Step
Reporter (uncredited)
1949
The Silver Chalice
Audience Member (uncredited)
1954
Rails Into Laramie
Bandleader (uncredited)
1954
Human Desire
Brakeman
1954
The Vampire
Willy Warner
1957
Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone
Jim 'Dog' Kelly
1994
Ransom!
Bank Clerk (uncredited)
1956
How to Make a Monster
Rivero
1958
The Young Landlords
Mr. Darden
1983
Dawn at Socorro
Desk Clerk
1954
The Captive City
Police Sergeant
1952Country Boy
1966
Copper Sky
Charlie Martin
1957
Crisis in Sun Valley
Poole
1978
Annihilator
Pops
1986
Spaceship
Clint Eastwood / Dirty Harry
1983
Inside Detroit
1955
The Magnificent Stranger
Wishbone
1966
Captain Scarface
Clegg
1953
Larceny
Mechanic
1948
Insurance Investigator
Mr. Spangler
1951
Journey Into Light
Bum
1951
Chattanooga Choo Choo
Pee Wee
1984
Cattle Empire
Tom Jefferson Jeffrey
1958
The Golden Dog
Jock
1977
Fighting Trouble
Mailman (uncredited)
1956The Secret Sharer
Captain Archbold
1973