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Alias Smith and Jones

Then in 1970 came a pilot for a new western comedy-adventure, Alias Smith and Jones, co-starring with Ben Murphy. Hannibal Heyes was to become the role for which the public would remember Pete and he brought a great deal of charm and charisma to the role. He admitted though, that it took him a while to "discover" who Heyes was.

"I still haven't found my way in playing Hannibal Heyes. I know what Heyes should be, at least I did in the pilot. He favors sweet talking, card playing and safe cracking and needs situations to display those attributes. But when you put a series together in a hurry, it's hard to get scrappy dialogue for such occasions. That's difficult to do even with plenty of time. I make it a point never to criticize writers--they have the hardest job going--so I often work around the situation and dialogue, trying to have fun."

One of the most memorable things about the show was the on-screen chemistry between Pete and his co-star Ben Murphy who played Kid Curry. Ben later described it as a good chemistry which began at the audition and said that that was what he thought people liked about the show. "The chemistry between Peter and I was wonderful. I have never quite had it since. It was a marvellous chemistry."

In October of that year, Universal offered Pete a co-starring role as Hannibal Heyes in the series and it was brought in as a mid-season replacement for the ailing Matt Lincoln.

Pete was not keen to become involved in a series but he had already turned down two previous ones and if he had said no, the studio could have put him on suspension which meant he would not be paid and would be unable to work elsewhere. What he really wanted to do, was to continue the dramatic roles he had been doing on other series, but as his brother Geoffrey later explained "He really had no choice. That's the way it is; that's the rule of the game. Certain other actors would just love to have a series - they would be on cloud nine."

Pete himself admitted "Some actors sign contracts hoping they'll land in a series. I signed hoping I could restrict my work to movies. However, a legal hassle developed and I wound up suffering from battle fatigue. They sweetened the pot a little bit and here I am."

Clearly he was not on cloud nine. By the end of the first season he was, by his own account, close to a breakdown.

"Yeah. I've been pretty outspoken about how I feel about this television series. I hate it. I never wanted to do it. But, I'm stuck. I'm under contract. I think last season I hated everything and everyone. I hated the series and the whole idea of being in a television series. In fact, looking back I think I was as close to a nervous breakdown as I ever want to be. I realize that's a very dramatic statement, but day by day, week by week, inch by inch, I was getting more and more unhappy, more and more frustrated."

During the break in filming between the first and second series of Alias Smith and Jones, he filmed a version of the stageplay The Scarecrow by Percy MacKaye, co-starring with Gene Wilder. Pete claimed that this was the work he was proudest of.

In September 1971, during filming of the second series of Alias Smith and Jones, he said "This series, any series, is a big fat drag to an actor who has any interest in his work. It's the ultimate trap. You slowly lose any artistic thing you may have. It's utterly destructive." By November he was becoming even more disenchanted and unhappy. "Contractually, I have to do this series - or some other trash."

Despite his feelings about the series, he never gave anything but his best. Roger Davis, who took over the role of Heyes after Pete's death, also guest starred on an episode with Pete and his co-star Ben Murphy. "He was a complete natural" he commented. "He didn't even have to learn his lines until just before he went on. Such a complete absence of nerves gives you great strength as an actor.' He remembers one scene in particular. "Pete and Ben were at a poker table and Pete had the script on his lap. He kept having to get up and in the end just let it fall to the floor and got on and did the scene. It was great ensemble acting. Nobody wanted to let the other two down and Pete knew he could always rise to the occasion."

In fact, he had a reputation of wanting perfection and of raising hell if a script was inadequate. He would also pester the directors with pertinent questions about character motivation. As one producer said "He's a stickler about having everything perfect with his acting--he'll raise hell if something is off or if the acting is not up to his standards."

"I like the challenge of being his agent," said Marc "Butch" Clavell. "He is terribly headstrong and willing to take a suspension at the drop of a hat if the property is not up to par. He's not afraid to fight with the biggest people, but he's honest and a beautiful friend. When I was in the hospital, he offered to finance my three children's education in a private school."

Pete did keep his feet firmly on the ground throughout his career and never became "affected" by his stardom, never played "the star". He didn't like press interviews, but understood their importance - and their danger. "These interviews with the press can be fun, but they can also be a little scary. Sometimes they can build up your image to the point where you don't know yourself if it is a myth or reality."

Alias Smith and Jones had enjoyed only minor success in the US, due in great part to its being scheduled against the country's favourite show, Flip Wilson, on a Thursday night. Despite this, it was renewed for a second and indeed a third season. As Pete explained "When you throw somebody to the wolves, and they don't get devoured, you keep them on. After all, it's cheaper. You save money by not trying with a new baby.

On the other hand, the series was a major success abroad in countries such as the UK, the Netherlands and Japan. In fact, to this day many still remember the series, and Pete Duel, in the UK.

The series would not, however, survive without Pete for very long. As Egbert "Swack" Swackhamer said "He was the real star. A lot of the success of the series was due to him."

On the day of his death, Executive Producer Roy Huggins had assumed the show would be cancelled but the studios instructed that filming would continue and a replacement would be found to take over the role of Heyes. Filming even continued that very afternoon as they shot sequences involving Kid Curry but not Hannibal Heyes. Three days later, Roger Davis arrived on the set as the new Hannibal Heyes. The final five episodes of the second series were completed but after only 12 episodes of season three, the show was cancelled mid-season in 1973.

One final ironic comment from Pete Duel: "It would be funny if the series runs a couple of years, then the film is re-released, and the new audience that hasn't seen the movie will say, 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' resembles Alias Smith and Jones."

I don't know what Pete would say to this, but I remember clearly as a nine year old sitting down to watch Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with my parents and my father saying that I would probably like the film because it was "kind of the film version of Alias Smith and Jones." Maybe Pete just never quite knew what an impact he was making?

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