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The Young Riders Cast
Don Collier in his role as William Tompkins, the shop keeper in The Young Riders.
Veteran actor Anthony Zerbe came to The Young Riders with an impressive background in just about everything pertaining to the performing arts. Born 20 May 1936 in Long Beach, California, he achieved television recognition as Lt. K. C. Trench in the popular detective drama Harry O, which earned him an Emmy award in 1976. He began acting in the early-1960's, and through the years, he has done just about every sort of characterization imaginable, appearing in films, television, commercials, and theater. As Aloysius "Teaspoon" Hunter in The Young Riders, he is the crusty, gruff, eccentric leader of the group. Although he has been in the picture business a long time, this is only his second television series. He is alive and well and still acting.
Ty Wesley Miller was born on 26 September 1964 in Granada Hills, California, and he grew up in a family that ran a Christmas tree business. It was always his plan to follow in his father's footsteps, but a girlfriend at his alma mater at the University of Southern California urged him to audition for a commercial. It was the first of at least 40 auditions before he landed his first non-speaking part in an ad for canned ham. Several guest spots later, he found himself playing Eric Lloyd, the Bellhop in Hotel. Studio executives apparently could not make up their minds whom they wanted for the coveted role of Kid in The Young Riders. After reading for the part five times, Ty won the role, becoming the last actor cast and the breakout star of the series. He is alive and well and still acting.
Stephen Baldwin comes from a family of actors, having three older brothers in the profession, of which Alec Baldwin is perhaps the most famous. Born 12 May 1966 in Massapequa, New York, he initially wanted to be a singer, and he traveled with the Long Island Philharmonic Orchestra for a year. With his older brothers providing the impetus, he found guest roles in movies and television before landing the part of Billy Cody in The Young Riders. He is still acting, one of the busiest stars in Hollywood.
Gregg Andrew Rainwater came to The Young Riders, as the Kiowa Indian half-breed Buck Cross, from a successful career in daytime television. Born 27 February (year unknown) in Flint, Michigan, of Cherokee - Osage ancestry, he always knew he wanted to be in the picture business. He started out in Community Little Theater as a small child and went on to study music and drama at Wayne State University in Detroit before heading to Hollywood. He made his mark in stage plays before getting his break in a role in Days of Our Lives. He is still acting and writing screenplays.
Josh Brolin came to the role of Jimmy "Wild Bill" Hickok in The Young Riders through perfect casting. It was a part he felt he was destined to play, and he gave it everything he had of himself. Born 12 February 1968 in Los Angeles, California, son of heart throb James Brolin, he became a teen idol himself with his first role at age 16 in the cult classic movie, The Goonies. His career faltered for a couple of years, until he won the role of the young legendary gunslinger in this, his first television series. Now a major star, he is one of the busiest actors in Hollywood. He is alive and well and lives on a ranch in real life.
Yvonne Suhor is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, and her character of Louise "Lou" McCloud was the only female rider of The Young Riders. It was a role she played well, masquerading as a male and fooling everyone for quite some time. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Illinois State University in 1985, which she followed with a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of California. After The Young Riders left the air, she stepped behind the camera as a director and teacher. She is alive and well and still acting when it suits her whim.
Travis Fine was born 26 May (year unknown) in Georgia, where he grew up. He had a dream to become a stage actor, and at the age of six, his career began in local plays. He moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota when he was 14 to attend the Children's Theater School, and a year later, he moved to California to become an actor. He initially auditioned for the part of Cody on The Young Riders, but people thought he sounded like the hillbilly Jed Clampett of the television comedy The Beveryly Hillbillies, so he was cast as the mute Ike McSwain. He is alive and well and still acting.
Don Franklin grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and began his show business career singing in local choirs before joining two dance troupes, one focusing on ballet and the other on modern jazz. He credits his role as Lisa Bonet's boyfriend on the biggest hit of the 1960's, The Cosby Show, as the gateway to his career success. By the time his role as the freed man Noah Dixon in The Young Riders came along, he was a veteran of five television series. He is alive and well and one of the busiest actors in Hollywood.
Brett Cullen comes from Houston, Texas. He began his acting career while still in high school, and after receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Drama from the University of Houston, he joined the Houston Shakespeare Festival for four years. His screen debut was in the television series The Chisholms, and after moving to Los Angeles, he landed a role in the second highest-rated mini-series ever aired, The Thorn Birds. He took the role of Sam Cain in The Young Riders where he was the marshal of Sweetwater for the first season. His character then married and moved on. He is alive and well and still acting.
Christopher Pettiet was born 12 February 1976 in Plano, Texas, a small town north of Dallas. When in his early teens, he moved to Los Angeles where he became one-third of a close-knit trio of fast friends and teen heart throbs, the other two being Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. He began acting around the age of fourteen, and by the time he joined the cast of The Young Riders as the real-life legendary outlaw Jesse James, in a highly fictionalized account of what his early life could have been like, he had a number of acting parts to his credit. Tragically, his young life ended at the age of 24 on 12 April 2000 in an accidental drug overdose.
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