Gene Barry was fantastic as Bat Masterson he was debonair, suave  and he was tough if he needed to be.

Bat Masterson was a very popular late 1950's TV program. The producers of the program created  a lot of toys that were tied into the debonair cowboy hero. Kids wanted to emulate their TV heroes and a TV western "good guy" like Bat Masterson, played by Gene Barry, fit that bill. The 1950's & 1960's era was a different time, compared to the world today. Kids today probably wouldn't dream of dressing up like a TV or movie hero. Little boys from 1960 would go crazy for this dress-up outfit  A cane, six-shooter revolver with gun belt & a fancy vest could be in any little boy's toy chest, for a tiny pittance of $4.98.

By the way, that was a HUGE amount of money in 1960 dollars. This advertisement was from a February, 1960 comic book.  




I was able to meet Gene Barry and I had him sign a LP record album. The album is for sale at TV TOY MEMORIES 




While getting the video for this blog, I discovered that Gene Barry has passed away, December 9, 2009. He died from congestive heart failure.

He was a classy gentleman in real life, as well as the characters that he portrayed on television. There are too few gentleman in the world anymore, he was from a different era. He will be missed.

The New York Times obituary has painted a beautiful picture of Mr. Barry's life, I would recommend reading it. 

Below is a video from "Bat Masterson." The title of this episode seems to be apropos, "Wanted ....Alive, Please."








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