Gary Hunley

Gary Hunley (born May 22, 1948) is a former child actor who appeared in American film and television from 1955 to 1962. His only recurring role was in 1959 as "Mickey" in three episodes of the children's adventure series, Sky King, with Kirby Grant and Gloria Winters.^[1]

Early career[]

A native of Los Angeles, California, Hunley appeared in his first television role in the episode "Santa Claus and the Tenth Avenue Kid" on December 18, 1955 of the anthology series, Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

In 1956, Hunley was cast as Butch in the episode, "Faro Bill's Layout" on the syndicated anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews. Britt Lomond portrayed the professional gambler Faro Bill, with Diane Brewster as his romantic interest, Grace. Though she objects to Faro Bill's occupation as a faro dealer, Grace relents after Bill adopts Butch, an orphaned relative of Sidewinder (Steve Conte), a card player whom Bill killed in self-defense.^[2]

On January 26, 1957, he was cast as Billy, the Boy on a Train, in another Alfred Hitchcock episode, "The Manacled". Meanwhile, he appeared in two Jack Webb series on NBC in 1956, Dragnet and . In the latter he played Danny Brown in the episode "The Reluctant Reindeer". Hunley also played the boy called "Trap" in 1956 in Ronald W. Reagan's CBS anthology series, General Electric Theater. In 1957, he was cast as Peter in the episode "Village of Fear" of Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, a western anthology series also on CBS. He appeared as Roy in the episode "The Goose" of CBS's Lassie. He appeared as the child Michael in the 1957 film The Unholy Wife, starring Diana Dors and Rod Steiger. In 1958, Hunley played the role of Chris Conway in the episode "To Become a Man" of the NBC western series, Cimarron City, with George Montgomery and John Smith.^[1]

In the episode "Small Hostage" (May 26, 1959) of the ABC/Warner Brothers western series Sugarfoot, with Will Hutchins in the title role, Hunley is cast as 10-year-old "Chico", an Anglo boy living in an orphanage in Mexico. In the story line, Hutchins as Sugarfoot travels south of the border with Army Col. Cyrus Craig (Robert Warwick) to reclaim from a cemetery the body of Craig's military son, who had been killed in an Apache attack. While there, Pepe Valdez (Jay Novello), the owner of the orphanage, attempts to persuade Craig that Chico is actually Craig's grandson, but Craig had never been informed that his son may have married and until the end of the episode he doubts Chico's parentage.^[3]

Later work[]

In 1959, Hunley appeared as "The Kid" in the film The Legend of Tom Dooley, with Michael Landon. That same year, he was cast as Brandon McCord in the episode "Shadow of the Noose" of the NBC western series, The Deputy. He was cast as well in 1959 in the CBS series Hennesey with Jackie Cooper in the episode "The Baby Sitter". In 1960, he appeared as Nat Conners in the NBC western Wagon Train in the episode "The Christine Elliott Story", with Phyllis Thaxter in the title role, a story of an orphanage moving westward. In 1961, Hunley played Jackie Waters in "Beaver's Old Buddy" of the ABC situation comedy, Leave It to Beaver, starring Jerry Mathers. His acting role was in the 1962 CBS television movie, You're Only Young Once, with Jim Hutton, a pilot for a series that never developed.^[1]

References[]