Maverick: Legend of the West by Ed Robertson

“This is one of those books that transcends its own parochial interest to shed light on an entire medium: the players emerge as three-dimensional, idiosyncratic characters, and when the decline of the series is delineated, one feels it profoundly as the genuine tragedy and short-sided artistic waste that it was. Mr. Robertson performed the same honors in The Fugitive Recaptured, and, as notable works of television journalism, both deal a straight flush.” - The Nassau Herald

MAVERICK: LEGEND OF THE WEST is a behind-the-scenes look at the iconic Emmy Award-winning Western television series that turned the genre inside out. The book is packed with information, featuring interviews and commentary from series creator and producer Roy Huggins, writers Marion Hargrove and Howard Browne, directors Budd Boetticher and Leslie H. Martinson, producers Coles Trapnell, actors Roger Moore (”Beau Maverick”) and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (”Dandy Jim Buckley”), and other key series personnel.

Bret Maverick (James Garner), and later his brother Bart (Jack Kelly), neither looked nor behaved like a traditional cowboy hero. He dressed in black, played cards for a living, and wasn’t above sneaking out the back door if it meant avoiding trouble. At a time when television was chock full of Westerns, Maverick (ABC 1957-1962) stood out from the pack, putting series creator Roy Huggins on the map as a producer while making James Garner a star.

Maverick quickly became a bonafide TV legend, burning itself indelibly in the hearts and minds of Baby Boomers around the world. But like most legends, the show’s history on television is a mixture of fact and fiction. Maverick: Legend of the West examines the myths and the realities, probing what made Maverick such a huge success in its first two seasons, while also revealing the backstage struggles with Warner Bros. that eventually drove away Huggins and Garner, the show’s two key components. 

This revised third edition includes more than a dozen new interviews with such Maverick guest stars as William Reynolds, Ruta Lee, Connie Stevens, William Shallert, Dawn Wells, and Mike Connors; additional photographs that did not appear in previous versions of this book; new behind-the-scenes information about the series; including a freshly discovered revelation about Maverick’s fifth season; new comments from James Garner himself, and more.

Author Ed Robertson is an award-winning journalist, analyst, and television historian whose books include 45 Years of The Rockford Files, The Fugitive Recaptured, The Ethics of Star Trek, and The Case of The Alliterative Attorney: A Guide to the Perry Mason TV Series and Made-for-TV Movies. He is also the host of TV Confidential, a syndicated weekly radio talk show about all aspects of network, cable, streaming, and classic television. 

Maverick: Legend of the West is now available as a paperback on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and through other booksellers worldwide.