Sammy Davis Jr. on The Rifleman

[jayhawker]

I have seen the episode several times. Love it as it is the closest I have came to seeing the "other" Hollywood gun coach, Rodd Redwing, do his famous knife/fast draw trick. Afraid Munden told you wrong. Rodd was famous for throwing a knife and with the same move drawing and firing a SA. The knife supposedly always stuck in the bullet hole. Remember, Sammy was doing it on film, which may be edited. Also, even when Rodd did it, it was a trick. He fired a blank and the knife created the bullet hole. There was an article in a TV guide of the era on Arvo Ojala and Rodd Redwing as rivals. In it, Rodd is quoted as saying that his gun was cocked in the holster before he threw the knife. He was famous for this. In several Glen Ford westerns, where Rodd was the gun coach, if you look close you will see Glen's gun is cocked before he reaches for it. Most likely, Rodd was the gun coach for the Sammy Davis episode of RIFLEMAN. Rodd had several acting parts in RIFLEMAN episodes. Also, Sammy was a very good fancy gun handler, and may have been fast, but he is not known to have ever competed in Fast Draw.
Jayhawker Bob