Markham (1959-1960)

Markham is a CBS drama television series starring Ray Milland, which aired during the 1958-1959 and 1959-1960 seasons following Gunsmoke on Saturday nights, under the sponsorship of the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. Milland played private investigator and attorney Roy Markham. In that Markham had been a successful lawyer, he had the leisure to take detective cases based on his own interest. His fees could vary from the very considerable to his wealthier and corporate clients to nothing for those who desperately needed his services but had few financial means. Markham's cases could take him almost anywhere in the world, although he was based in New York City. In the early episodes of this program, Markham had an assistant, John Riggs, but the Riggs character was written out after only a few programs had aired, leaving Markham to solve crimes solo. Dayton Lummis appeared as Howard Fulton in the 1959 episode entitled "The Father". Elen Willard made her acting debut as Deidre Waugh in the 1960 segment "The Bad Spell". Prior to Markham, Milland played the lead role from 1953-1954 in a CBS sitcom, Meet Mr. McNutley, the story of a college professor at fictitious Lynnhaven College, an all-girls institution. For the second season, 1954–1955, the program was renamed The Ray Milland Show.