Jump to content

List of cultural depictions of Wild Bill Hickok

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Main article: Wild Bill Hickok

Wild Bill Hickok (1837–1876), lawman, gunfighter and gambler, of the American Wild West has been depicted many times and in many forms of media. It is difficult to separate the truth from fiction about Hickok who was the first "dime novel" hero of the western era, with his exploits presented in heroic form, making him seem larger than life. In truth, most of the stories were greatly exaggerated or fabricated by both the writers and himself. Along with the frontiersman Davy Crockett, Hickok also became one of the first comic book heroes.

Television and radio

[edit]
  • Portrayed by Guy Madison in the 1951–58 television series The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, and the concurrent Mutual Broadcasting radio series of the same title, 271 half-hour programs originally broadcast from 1951–54.
  • Played by Lloyd Bridges in a 1964 episode of the television anthology The Great Adventure.
  • In a Quick Draw McGraw cartoon, a number of people are shown fleeing in terror from the gunfire of the notorious gunslinger, Wild Bill Hiccup. In actuality, his gun kept going off because he could not control his hiccups.
  • Portrayed by Josh Brolin in the 1989–92 television series The Young Riders.
  • Legends of the Hidden Temple had an episode entitled "Wild Bill Hickok and the Dead Man's Hand."
  • Portrayed by William Russ in episode 1.06 of the 1995 television series Legend, "The Life, Death and Life of Wild Bill Hickok". The episode depicts him faking his own death so that he can retire peacefully.
  • Portrayed by Gerard Buehler in the 1998 TV documentary series Gunfighters of the West narrated by Brian Dennehy
  • Histeria! featured Hickok in the episode "North America"; he appears in a sketch where Lydia Karaoke hosts a game show in which her contestants must guess Hickok's occupation.
  • Dramatized in the HBO series Deadwood, in which he is portrayed by Keith Carradine (2004).
  • In the television film Doctor Who, the 8th incarnation of the Doctor dons a costume of Wild Bill,[citation needed] found in a hospital locker room. Subsequent depictions of the Doctor's 8th incarnation have been shown to wear this costume.[citation needed]
  • In an episode of the Fox News Channel documentary series Legends and Lies: The Real West entitled "Wild Bill Hickok: Plains Justice" (season 1, episode 3, original airdate April 19, 2015), actor Brian Merrick (who bears a striking resemblance to the historical figure) portrays Hickok. Devin Albert portrays Hickok as a young boy.
  • Three episodes of Woody Woodpecker show a parody called "Wild Bill Hiccup" (in different physiognomies). The first one appears briefly in the episode Wild and Woody, as an alcoholic old man who hiccups repeatedly and has his own name written on the back of his vest. The second one appears in Sissy Sheriff, also briefly, but only in a wanted poster. The guy in that version looks younger than the first one, and hiccups once Woody reads his name out loud. But the most notorious is the third one, who appears in the episode which the title is his own name, and this time as the main antagonist. Physically different than the other versions, he is redheaded, shorter and fatter, and always hiccups when saying his own name.
  • Wild Bill Hickok appears in multiple episodes of The Legend of Calamity Jane, voiced by Clancy Brown. He is depicted as an old friend of Jane's who helps her on several occasions despite his reservations toward the law.

Films

[edit]

Novels

[edit]

Comic Books

[edit]
  • Classics Illustrated No. 121, Wild Bill Hickok, published by Gilberton Co., Inc., July 1954; interior art by Sal Trapani and Medio Iorio.[1]
  • Cowboy Western #62 Wild Bill Hickok 1957
  • Young Wild Bill Hickok appears as part of The League of Infinity, a team of teenage heroes from different eras in Supreme (1994), written by Alan Moore.
  • Hickok has a prominent secondary role in Vertigo's mini-series, Jonah Hex: Two Gun Mojo wherein he survived being shot but was buried alive, only to be made into a mindless "zombie" by the antagonist of the story.
  • Hickok has a supporting role in the 1997-1998 DC Comics mini-series The Kents as a close friend of Nathaniel Kent, ancestor of Superman's adoptive father.
  • Hickok was also mentioned in the Franco-Belgian comic series Lucky Luke in the book Calamity Jane 1967 by Morris and Rene Goscinny.

Music

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ William B. Jones Jr., Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History, with Illustrations (Jefferson, NC, and London: McFarland & Co., Inc., 2002), p. 223.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_cultural_depictions_of_Wild_Bill_Hickok&oldid=1231135466"