The Gambler is a series of five American Western television films starring Kenny Rogers as Brady Hawkes, a fictional old-west gambler. The character was inspired by Rogers' hit single "The Gambler".[1]
There are five movies in the series. The first four were directed by Dick Lowry while the last was directed by Jack Bender. The movies are:
| Films | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Character | Kenny Rogers as The Gambler | Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues | Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues | The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw | Gambler V: Playing for Keeps | |
| Brady Hawkes | Kenny Rogers | |||||
| Billy Montana | Bruce Boxleitner | Bruce Boxleitner | ||||
| Jeremiah Hawkes | Ronnie Scribner | Charles Fields | Kris Kamm | |||
| Arthur Stobridge | Harold Gould | |||||
| Jennie Reed | Lee Purcell | |||||
| Eliza | Christine Belford | |||||
| Rufe Bennett | Clu Gulager | |||||
| Doc Palmer | Lance LeGault | |||||
| Kate Muldoon | Linda Evans | Linda Evans | ||||
| Masket | Johnny Crawford | |||||
| Carson | David Hedison | |||||
| Pvt. Bob Butler | Marc Alaimo | |||||
| Sen. Henry Colton | Charles Durning | |||||
| Chief Sitting Bull | George American Horse | |||||
| Bat Masterson | Gene Barry | |||||
| Kwai Chang Caine | David Carradine | |||||
| Lucas McCain | Chuck Connors | |||||
| Mark McCain | Johnny Crawford | |||||
| The Westerner | Brian Keith | |||||
| Bart Maverick | Jack Kelly | |||||
| Marshal Wyatt Earp | Hugh O'Brian | |||||
| Cheyenne | Clint Walker | |||||
| Butch Cassidy | Scott Paulin | |||||
| Sundance Kid | Brett Cullen | |||||
| Etta Place | Mariska Hargitay | |||||
See main article: Kenny Rogers as The Gambler. Kenny Rogers as The Gambler debuted on CBS on April 8, 1980.[2] [3] It was a ratings and critical success that has spawned four sequels.[3] The show won a Best Edited Television Special Eddie Award and garnered two Emmy Award nominations (for cinematography and editing of a limited series).[4]
Kenny Rogers stars as Brady Hawkes, the titular gambler, who embarks on a journey to meet Jeremiah (Ronnie Scribner), the young son he never knew after Jeremiah sends him a letter. Along the way, Brady meets Billy Montana (Bruce Boxleitner) and the two become friends. Billy (while trying to help Brady in his quest) fancies himself as a professional poker player on his own. Although Billy makes mistakes along the way (some of these include trying to find a way to cheat or do some smooth talking), Brady makes sure that he stays on good behavior during a train ride to Yuma. The duo help Jennie Reed (Lee Purcell), a prostitute who has trouble with a train baron. At the end, Brady's son's stepfather (Clu Gulager) is confronted.
Kenny Rogers again stars as Brady Hawkes in the miniseries Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues which premiered November 28 and 29, 1983 on CBS.[2] The show was an even bigger ratings success than the first and was nominated for two Emmy Awards (sound editing and sound mixing of a limited series).[5]
Billy Montana, Brady, and his son Jeremiah (now played by Charles Fields) are traveling to a gambling event in San Francisco when they encounter the vicious McCourt gang. The McCourt gang force the train to stop and they take Jeremiah hostage and demand a $1 million ransom. Brady and Billy are determined to get Jeremiah back as well as the $1 million ransom which belonged to the train boss. Brady and Billy find help in their mission and meet a female bounty hunter Kate Muldoon played by Linda Evans. Kate is the fastest female gun in the west. They form a posse together in a race to save Jeremiah.
Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues was broadcast November 22, 1987 on CBS.[6]
In this installment, Brady Hawkes and Billy Montana help protect some Sioux Indians from the government and some cattle thieves.[7]
The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw is a 1991 television film starring Kenny Rogers as Brady Hawkes and Reba McEntire as Burgundy Jones.[8] Rogers reprises Hawkes in the fourth installment of the series. The two-part film originally aired November 3 and 4, 1991 on NBC, making it the only one of the five "Gambler" TV movies which did not air on CBS. It was nominated for a Costume Design Emmy.[9]
It's 1906 and professional gambling will be outlawed in just three weeks. Therefore, Burgundy Jones (McEntire) has just that long to get Brady Hawkes safely to San Francisco for the last poker tournament, with a very special mystery player. This is made more difficult, as Hawkes is still smarting after a hard-fought loss to another professional poker player in England, who will also be at the tournament.
The film features Rogers' character running across a galaxy of old TV western stars played by the original actors, including Gene Barry as Bat Masterson, Hugh O'Brian as Wyatt Earp, Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick, Clint Walker as Cheyenne Bodie, David Carradine as Kung Fus Caine, Chuck Connors and Johnny Crawford from The Rifleman, Brian Keith as The Westerner, James Drury and Doug McClure from The Virginian (Drury and McClure play thinly disguised different characters, Jim and Doug, due to rights issues for Owen Wister's character), and Paul Brinegar from Rawhide.
The characters are attending a poker game said to be in honor of "the late Mr. Paladin" from Have Gun — Will Travel. (The actor who played him, Richard Boone, had died in 1981.) The game was played at the hotel at which Paladin lived. The game's dealer is "Hey Girl", Paladin's friend (Lisa Lu). As each veteran character appears, a few bars from his original series' theme momentarily plays in the background.
The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw was directed by Dick Lowry.
In alphabetical order:
Gambler V: Playing for Keeps is the fifth installment of The Gambler series and the first not directed by Dick Lowry, with Jack Bender taking the helm. The two-part movie premiered on October 2 and October 4, 1994 on CBS.
Brady Hawkes' son, Jeremiah (with Kris Kamm as the third actor in the role) gets involved with outlaws Butch Cassidy (Scott Paulin) and the Sundance Kid (Brett Cullen).[10] Brady tries to save him before he winds up in jail or dead.
On March 15, 2011, Kenny Rogers told Jimmy Fallon on his television show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, that he was asked if he would want to be in another Gambler movie. He began by saying that he had a bad knee and thought it would be hard for him, but continued and said that the first scene in the movie would be a shootout. Supposedly, he would get shot in the shoulder and knee to cover his physical disabilities.[11] However, in the years that followed Rogers announced his retirement from show business and stated that his 2016 tour would be his last and after this he would be spending his time with family. Rogers later died on March 20, 2020.[12]
A video slot machine based on The Gambler can be found in most Las Vegas casinos. It was manufactured by now-defunct International Game Technology.[13]