Sky King
| Sky King | |
|---|---|
Grant as Sky King with Gloria Winters as his niece, Penny, and Ron Hagerthy as his nephew, Clipper
|
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| Genre | Western-themed adventure |
| Starring |
Kirby Grant Gloria Winters Ron Hagerthy Ewing Mitchell Chubby Johnson |
| Theme music composer | Milton Raskin Herbert Taylor |
| Composer(s) |
Herschel Burke Gilbert Alec Compinsky Eve Newman |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 72 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Stuart E. McGowan |
| Producer(s) |
Jack Chertok Harry Poppe |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Jack Chertok Television Productions McGowan Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network |
NBC; ABC, Syndication |
| Picture format | Black-and-white |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | September 16, 1951 – March 8, 1959 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Sky King was an American radio and TV series. Its lead character was Arizona rancher and aircraft pilot Schuyler "Sky" King. The series may have been based on a true-life personality of the 1930s, Jack Cones, known as the "Flying Constable" of Twentynine Palms in San Bernardino County, California, although this notion is unverified.
The series had strong western elements. King usually captured criminals and spies and found lost hikers--though he did so with the use of his airplane, the Songbird. The airplanes flown by King changed during the course of the TV series – the first was a Cessna T-50; later on a Cessna 310B was on loan to Sky King from Cessna – but all were named Songbird. The later 1957 version aircraft's make and model type number was clearly depicted as a "Cessna 310B" and was prominently displayed during the closing titles.
King and his niece Penny (and sometimes Clipper, King's nephew and the brother of Penny) lived on the Flying Crown Ranch, near the fictitious town of Grover, Arizona. Penny and Clipper were also pilots, although they were inexperienced and looked to their uncle for guidance. Penny was an accomplished air racer, rated as a multiengine pilot, whom Sky trusted to fly the Songbird.
The musical score was largely the work of composer Herschel Burke Gilbert.
The radio show began in 1946 and was based on a story by Roy Winsor, the brainchild of Robert Morris Burtt and Wilfred Gibbs Moore, who also created Captain Midnight. Several actors played the part of Sky, including Earl Nightingale and John Reed King.
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Wikipedia