John Ernest Crawford was an American actor, singer, and musician. He first performed before a national audience as a Mouseketeer. At age 12, Crawford rose to prominence playing Mark McCain in the ABC Western series, The Rifleman. Crawford was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor at age 13 for his work on The Rifleman, which aired from 1958 to 1963. Disney started out with 24 original Mouseketeers. However, at the end of the first season, the studio reduced the number to 12, and Crawford was released from his contract. His first important break as an actor followed with the title role in a Lux Video Theatre production of "Little Boy Lost", a live NBC broadcast on March 15, 1956. He also appeared in the popular Western series The Lone Ranger, in 1956, in one of the few color episodes of that series. Following that performance, the young actor worked steadily with many seasoned actors and directors. Freelancing for two and one-half years, he accumulated almost 60 television credits, including featured roles in three episodes of NBC's The Loretta Young Show and an appearance as Manuel in, "I Am an American", an episode of the syndicated crime drama Sheriff of Cochise. He starred as Bobby Adams in the 1958 drama "Courage of Black Beauty". By the spring of 1958, he had also performed 14 demanding roles in live teleplays for NBC's Matinee Theatre, appeared on CBS's sitcom, Mr. Adams and Eve, in the Wagon Train episode "The Sally Potter Story" (in which Martin Milner also appeared) and on the syndicated series, Crossroads, Sheriff of Cochise, and Whirlybirds, and made three pilots of TV series. The third pilot, which was made as an episode of Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater, was picked up by ABC and the first season of The Rifleman began filming in July 1958. Crawford had a brief career as a recording artist in the 1950s and 1960s. He continued to act on television and in film as an adult. Beginning in 1992, Crawford led the California-based Johnny Crawford Orchestra, a vintage dance orchestra that performed at special events.
The Movie Orgy
(Self (archive footage))
El Dorado
(Luke MacDonald)
Village of the Giants
(Horsey)
The Great Texas Dynamite Chase
(Slim)
Bloodhounds of Broadway
(Musician)
When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion
(Self)
The Restless Ones
(David Winton)
The Resurrection of Broncho Billy
(Broncho Billy)
Indian Paint
(Nishko)
The Naked Ape
(Lee)
Courage of Black Beauty
(Bobby Adams)
The Gambler: The Adventure Continues
(Masket)
The Shootist
(Books' Victim in Flashback (archive footage / uncredited))
The Thirteenth Floor
(Singer)
The Space Children
(Ken Brewster)
Bill Tilghman and the Outlaws
Sonic Boom
(Charlton Heston)
Macbeth
(Seyton)
The inbreaker
Crossbow: The Movie
(Prince Ignatius)
Mister Ed
Murder, She Wrote
(Noah Paisley)
Trackdown
Hawaii Five-O
(Private Jerry Franklin)
The Mickey Mouse Club
(Self)
Rawhide
(Aaron Bolt)
Have Gun, Will Travel
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Millionaire
(Wally)
Lancer
Lux Video Theatre
(Jerry)
The Donna Reed Show
(Victor)
Matinee Theater
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
The Rifleman
(Mark McCain)
Mr. Novak
(JoJo Rizzo)
Cavalcade of America
(Billy Brandon (as a boy))
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
(Billy Prescott)
Telephone Time
Letter to Loretta
(Freddy)
Vicki!
(Self)
Branded
(Deputy Sheriff Clay Holden)
Letter to Loretta
(Arthur Mullen)
Letter to Loretta
(Bobby Wright)
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
(Mark McCain)
Mr. Novak
(USSR - United Nations Assembly)
Wagon Train
(Jimmy Bennett)
Paradise
(McKay)
The Gambler: The Adventure Continues
(Masket)
The Wonderful World of Disney
(Self)