TLDR: Most of The Rifleman cast has died, with the show’s stars Chuck Connors passing in 1992 from lung cancer and Johnny Crawford dying in 2021 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease and COVID-19. As of 2026, only a handful of guest stars and supporting actors remain alive, including Sherry Jackson (age 83), Robert L. Crawford Jr. (age 81), and Steve Rowland (age 93).
The Rifleman aired on ABC from 1958 to 1963, telling the story of Lucas McCain, a widowed rancher raising his young son Mark in the New Mexico Territory. The show stood out from other TV Westerns by focusing on the relationship between a single father and his boy, becoming one of the most beloved series of its era.
Nearly seven decades later, the fictional town of North Fork has become a ghost town in real life, with most of the cast now gone.
Here’s what happened to the stars of The Rifleman and which cast members are still with us today.
Chuck Connors: The Rifleman Himself
Before he became Lucas McCain, Chuck Connors was a professional athlete who made sports history. Born Kevin Joseph Connors on April 10, 1921, in Brooklyn, New York, he stood 6 feet 5 inches tall and became one of only 13 athletes to ever play in both Major League Baseball and the NBA.
He was the first player to shatter a backboard during a game while playing for the Boston Celtics in 1946, and later played baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Chicago Cubs.
His athletic background was perfect for The Rifleman. The role demanded someone who could handle the customized Winchester rifle with grace and authority while also showing the tenderness of a devoted single father. Connors brought both qualities to Lucas McCain, creating a character who was both protector and parent.
After The Rifleman ended in 1963 after 168 episodes, Connors tried to escape being typecast but never fully left Westerns behind. He starred in Arrest and Trial from 1963 to 1964, playing attorney John Egan, then returned to the Western genre with Branded from 1965 to 1966, playing a cavalry captain unjustly court-martialed for cowardice.
In 1977, he appeared in the groundbreaking miniseries Roots as a slave owner, using his imposing presence for villainy instead of heroism.
In 1991, just a year before his death, Connors reprised Lucas McCain one last time in the TV movie The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw, appearing alongside other Western legends like Hugh O’Brian and Clint Walker.
Chuck Connors died on November 10, 1992, at age 71 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The cause was lung cancer complicated by pneumonia after a lifetime of smoking. He spent his final 13 days in the hospital battling respiratory failure. He was buried at San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Los Angeles, leaving behind a legacy as the definitive TV father of the American West.
Johnny Crawford: The Heartbreaking End of Mark McCain
Johnny Crawford brought soul to The Rifleman. Born on March 26, 1946, into a theatrical family, he was one of the original Mouseketeers for Disney in 1955 before being cast as Mark McCain at age 12. His performance was remarkable for a child actor, avoiding the overly cute affectations typical of the era.
In 1959, at just 13 years old, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Dramatic Series.
Unlike many child stars whose lives fall apart after the cameras stop, Crawford found success in a second career as a musician. During The Rifleman’s run, he had hits on the Billboard charts, but his true passion was 1920s and 1930s jazz and swing music.
In 1990, he formed the Johnny Crawford Dance Orchestra, serving as bandleader and vocalist while recreating the sound of the golden age of swing. The orchestra performed at high-profile industry events, including the Art Directors Guild Awards for 15 consecutive years.
For nearly three decades, Crawford was as well-known in Los Angeles for his music as for his acting.
Crawford’s final years were tragic. In 2019, it was revealed he’d been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, forcing his retirement from the band and public life. The financial burden of long-term dementia care is crushing, and his longtime friend Paul Petersen organized a GoFundMe campaign to help with medical expenses, showing how much fans still loved “Mark McCain” six decades after the show aired.
Crawford was moved into a memory care facility, but then COVID-19 hit. He contracted the virus and developed pneumonia. While he reportedly recovered from the acute COVID infection, the toll on his body, already weakened by advanced Alzheimer’s, was too much.
Johnny Crawford died on April 29, 2021, at age 75 in a personal care home with his wife Charlotte by his side. His death was deeply symbolic—as the youngest member of the core cast, he was the last living link to the show’s production.
With his passing, both the father and the son from The Rifleman were gone. His family said that despite Alzheimer’s cruelty, Crawford kept his “warm smile and sparkle in his eyes” until the end.
He was buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Paul Fix: The Marshal Who Came First
Paul Fix played Marshal Micah Torrance, and his death in 1983 marked the beginning of the cast’s decline. Born on March 13, 1901, Fix was a veteran character actor with over 100 films to his name by the time he pinned on the marshal’s badge. He was a close friend and acting coach to John Wayne, a relationship that defined much of his career.
His portrayal of Micah was nuanced—the character was introduced as a recovering alcoholic who regained his dignity through Lucas McCain’s support. This inverted the typical hero-sidekick dynamic, creating a relationship based on mutual respect and redemption.
Fix remained a working actor well into his late 70s. After The Rifleman, he appeared in major films like The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) and El Dorado (1966), often alongside John Wayne. He also ventured into science fiction, playing Dr. Mark Piper in Star Trek’s second pilot and Commander Kronus in Battlestar Galactica.
Paul Fix died on October 14, 1983, at age 82 from kidney failure. He passed away in Los Angeles and was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica beside his second wife, Beverly Pratt.
The Townspeople of North Fork
The recurring cast of North Fork citizens provided the fabric of the show, but as of 2026, nearly all have passed away.
Patricia Blair played Lou Mallory, the sharp-witted hotel owner and romantic interest for Lucas in the later seasons. She went on to greater fame as Rebecca Boone on Daniel Boone from 1964 to 1970. Blair died on September 9, 2013, at her home in North Wildwood, New Jersey, from breast cancer at age 80.
Bill Quinn played bartender Frank Sweeney in 38 episodes. A character actor who appeared in everything from Star Trek V to The Twilight Zone: The Movie, Quinn was also Bob Newhart’s father-in-law. He died of natural causes on April 29, 1994, at age 81 in Camarillo, California.
Joan Taylor played general store owner Milly Scott in 18 episodes between 1960 and 1962. After acting, she reinvented herself as a screenwriter under the name Rose Freeman, contributing to shows like Family. She died of natural causes on March 4, 2012, in Santa Monica at age 82.
Hope Summers played Hattie Denton, the store owner before Milly. She’s best remembered as Clara Edwards on The Andy Griffith Show. Summers died of congestive heart failure on June 22, 1979, at age 77, making her one of the earliest cast members to pass.
The town doctor, Doc Burrage, was played by eight different actors over the show’s run. Ralph Moody, who frequently filled the role, died on September 6, 1971, at age 84.
Who’s Still Alive in 2026?
While most of the cast is gone, a few actors who appeared on The Rifleman are still with us.
Sherry Jackson is one of the most prominent surviving cast members. She appeared in the 1958 episode “The Sister” playing Rebecca Snipe. Born on February 15, 1942, she’s now 83 and living in Encino, California as of July 2025. Jackson was a child star who successfully transitioned to adult roles, appearing on Make Room for Daddy before becoming a 1960s “it girl” with roles on Star Trek (as the android Andrea), Batman, and The Wild Wild West.
She retired from on-screen acting in the early 1980s but remains active on the autograph and convention circuit, still doing interviews and sharing Hollywood memories in 2024 and 2025.
Robert L. Crawford Jr. is Johnny Crawford’s real-life older brother. Born on May 13, 1944, he’s now 81 and appeared in multiple Rifleman episodes. After a successful run as a child actor (notably as Andy Sherman on Laramie), he moved behind the camera and became a successful producer with credits including The Sting (1973), Slap Shot (1977), and The World According to Garp (1982). As of 2025, he’s still listed as an active producer and occasionally participates in Western-themed events, keeping the Crawford family legacy alive after Johnny’s death.
Steve Rowland appeared on The Rifleman during his time as a young TV actor in the 1950s. The son of director Roy Rowland and nephew of Louis B. Mayer, he was Hollywood royalty by birth. Born on September 3, 1932, he’s now 93 and living in Palm Springs, California.
Rowland’s life after acting is fascinating—he moved to the UK and reinvented himself as a major music producer, discovering Peter Frampton and The Herd, producing The Cure, and working with Jerry Lee Lewis. Most notably, he produced albums for Rodriguez, the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man.
Rowland stays active online, maintaining a website and releasing memoirs about his Hollywood days.
Recent Losses Among Guest Stars
The Rifleman hosted over 500 guest stars during its run, and the 2020s have seen rapid losses from this group. Mark Goddard, best known as Major Don West on Lost in Space, appeared on the show as a young actor and died on October 10, 2023, in Hingham, Massachusetts, from pulmonary fibrosis at age 87.
L.Q. Jones, a member of director Sam Peckinpah’s stock company and master of playing crazed frontier villains, died of natural causes on July 9, 2022, in Los Angeles at age 94.
His death severed one of the last ties to the gritty, revisionist Western cinema that evolved from shows like The Rifleman.
In 2026, The Rifleman exists not in the physical presence of its stars, but in the digital immortality of streaming services and the enduring love of fans worldwide.
The town of North Fork may be a ghost town when it comes to its census, but in the cultural imagination, the rifle still fires and the lessons about family, honor, and doing what’s right continue to resonate.
