Legendary Country Singer Johnny Cash's Acting Debut Was On An Incredibly Popular Western Series

Johnny Cash is best known as one of the 20th century's most renowned singer-songwriters, but he was also a star in the world of television. His screen acting debut came just two years after he released his first album, when he guest-starred in a 1959 episode of the TV Western "Wagon Train."

The first episode of "Wagon Train" — one of the best Western pilot episodes of all time — premiered on NBC in the fall of 1957. The show followed a group of pioneers as they ventured from Missouri to California, and each episode had the core cast meet a new group of settlers, Natives, or other folk as they stopped along their journey. Notably, Gene Roddenberry would later compare "Star Trek" to "Wagon Train" in his pitch for the classic sci-fi series.

Cash's episode, "The C.L. Harding Story," aired as part of the show's third season on October 14, 1959. The episode follows Celia Lucinda "C.L." Harding (Claire Trevor), a reporter who tags along to document some of the wagon train's journey before starting a women's suffrage movement on the trail. The Man in Black has a small-but-memorable supporting role as Frank Hoag, a married man who supports his wife, Arletta (Amzie Strickland), after she joins Hardin's protest.

"Wagon Train" was incredibly popular at the time. When Cash appeared on the program, it was the second-biggest show in America, and it became the single most-watched show from 1961 to 1962, though the ratings declined after that peak.

Johnny Cash appeared as himself on television many, many times over the decades, including on "Saturday Night Live," "The Muppet Show," "Sesame Street," and his own music variety show "The Johnny Cash Show," which aired for two seasons on ABC in 1969 through 1971.

But he also had a robust filmography as a dramatic actor. A month after "Wagon Train," Cash made his second small-screen appearance in another Western, "Shotgun Slade." Some of his other notable acting roles included episodes of beloved shows like "Columbo" and "Little House on the Prairie." In the '80s, he starred in a television film remake of the classic 1939 Western "Stagecoach" alongside fellow country legends Willie Nelson and the late Kris Kristofferson. He played the famous outlaw Frank James opposite Kristofferson's Jesse in another TV movie, "The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James." Cash also had a recurring role as Kid Cole in "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman."

One of Cash's most fun roles was in "The Simpsons" episode "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)." In this Season 8 episode, Homer starts hallucinating after he eats "Guatemalan insanity peppers," and Cash plays a "Space Coyote" that guides him on his vision quest.