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| To say Charlie Wooster was just the Wagon Train's cook is like saying the Oscar is just an award. He was friend, confidant and the emotional glue which held them all together. He was also the comic relief. |  From the Claudia Obermiller Collection Click for Larger View |
| FINALLY! The Studio has released some episodes on DVD: Wagon Train The Complete First Season (1957-58) 
The Complete Second Season (1958-59) The Complete Third Season (1959-60) 
The Complete Season Four (1960-61) 
The Complete Season Five (1961-62) 
NEW, NEW The Complete Season Seven (1963-64) 
Also Wagon Train The Complete Color Season 
The 1963 color season - (32) 90 minute episodes |
 From the Claudia Obermiller Collection |
That's not to say that 'ole Charlie didn't have his quirks. He was sometimes irascible, often excitable, and always had a wicked tendency to talk too much. In fact, what Charlie did best is to drive everybody else crazy. |
 Bill and Charlie. Hard to think of one without the other. And both stayed for the run of Wagon Train, all eight seasons |
 From the Claudia Obermiller Collection |
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Charlie had been cooking for the Major for since the Civil War. About which the Major never ceased complaining. And then there was the running criticism of Charlie's coffee, which he seemed to brew endless pots of regardless of how little it was appreciated. |
| Frank McGrath was born February 2, 1903 in Mound City, Missouri. A stuntman by trade, he had worked with the best of them before Wagon Train. Although Robert Horton did most of his own stunts, occasionally, Frank McGrath filled in. |  Click for Larger View |
 Click for Larger View |
McGrath was a lot tougher than he looked. In the eight months
previous to the filming of John Ford's, The Searchers, McGrath had been in a
body cast due to a broken back. Immediately upon reporting to Ford, he
performed three separate horsefall and drag stunts. (Below - The Searchers) Although the picture is fuzzy, that's McGrath standing next to Terry Wilson and the young fella in front is Patrick Wayne, son of The Duke. They were in front of the camera because Ford used the stuntmen in a wedding dance scene.  |
 From the Megan Herring Collection |
Frank McGrath died in 1967 of a heart attack. |
Below is a partial list of Frank McGrath's credits in addition to Wagon Train and the Searchers. The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968) as Hyrum Remmington The Last Challenge (1967) as Ballard Weeks The Reluctant Astronaut (1967) as Plank Tammy and the Millionaire (1967) as Uncle Lucius The War Wagon (1967) as Bartender Gunfight in Abilene (1967) as Ned Martin The Sword of Ali Baba (1965) as Pindar "Tammy" (1965) TV Series as Uncle Lucius Hell Bound (1957) (uncredited) as Detective The Tin Star (1957) (uncredited) as Jim Clark Ride Vaquero! (1953) as Pete The The Milkman (1950) (uncredited) as Man She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) as Bugler/Indian Big Jack (1949) (uncredited) as Posse member Half Past Midnight (1948) (uncredited) as Taxi Driver A Southern Yankee (1948) as Dispatch rider The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) (uncredited) as Posse Member Sundown Jim (1942) as Outlaw The Riders of the Purple Sage (1941) as Pete The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933) (uncredited) as First Referee Robbers' Roost (1933) as Mexican The Rainbow Trail (1932) (uncredited) A Dangerous Profession (1949) (uncredited) as Man My Hands Are Clay (1948) as Father O'Brien
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 From the Megan Herring Collection  From the Megan Herring Collection  From the Megan Herring Collection |
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