Bat Masterson

Bat Masterson is an American Western television series which was a fictionalized account of the life of real-life marshal, gambler, and journalist Bat Masterson. The title character was played by Gene Barry, and the half-hour black-and-white series ran on NBC from 1958 to 1961. The show was produced by Ziv Television Productions. "Bat" is a nickname for Masterson's first name, Bartholemew, although in both the 1958 pilot "Double Showdown" and 1961 episode "No Amnesty For Death", he says his name is William Barkley Masterson. Although the series was fiction, it was based on the biography Bat Masterson, by Richard O'Connor, as noted by the closing credits. Overview Barry's Masterson often dressed in expensive Eastern clothing and preferred to use his cane rather than a gun to get himself out of trouble. Masterson was also portrayed as a ladies' man who traveled the West looking for women and adventure. He also came to the aid of innocents wrongly accused of crimes. Masterson, like other heroes of television Westerns, had a gimmick weapon. His cane contained a hidden sword.