Eric Fleming, a talented individual with a life marked by both turmoil and triumph, embarked on a remarkable journey that spanned his childhood to his adult years. At the tender age of eight, he made the bold decision to flee his abusive father, boarding a freight train bound for Chicago in search of a better life.
Following a period of hospitalization for injuries sustained during a gang fight, Fleming returned to his childhood home in California, where he resided with his mother and took up laboring work at Paramount Pictures. His early adult years were marked by a series of experiences that would shape his future, including his time serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a Master Carpenter in the Seabees.
After the war, Fleming transitioned to a career in the performing arts, taking to the stage in Chicago and New York with featured roles in numerous Broadway productions, including "My Three Angels," "Stalag 17," and "No Time For Sergeants." His television career began in the early 1950s, with live performances on various dramatic series, including "Hallmark Summer Theatre," "The Web," "Suspense," and "Kraft Television Theatre."
Fleming's film career also gained momentum during this period, with starring roles in Paramount's "Conquest of Space" and Allied Artists' "Queen of Outer Space." In 1958, he landed the starring role of Gil Favor, the trail boss, in CBS-TV's long-running western series "Rawhide," a position he held for seven of the show's eight seasons.
Prior to his untimely death, Fleming had planned to retire to his ranch in Hawaii, where he had purchased a property. In 1965, he appeared in the film "The Glass Bottom Boat," and in 1966, he was hired by MGM-TV to film the two-part adventure program "High Jungle" in Peru. Tragically, Fleming's life was cut short on September 28, 1966, when he intentionally dove from a dug-out canoe into the turbulent waters of the Huallaga River, his body not being recovered until three days later.
