The Big Valley
was a television Western which ran on ABC from 1965 through
1969. It starred Barbara Stanwyck as Victoria Barkley,
the widowed matriarch of the Barkley family of Stockton,
California. Richard Long played Jarrod Barkley, her eldest
son and a respected lawyer. Hot-tempered younger son Nick
Barkley, who managed the family ranch, was played by Peter
Breck. (Both Long and Breck had been regulars for a short
time on another classic Western series, Maverick, although
in different seasons.) Linda Evans played Audra, Victoria's
only daughter. In the first episode, Lee Majors was introduced
as Heath, the youngest, and the illegitimate son of Victoria's
late husband; Heath gradually gained acceptance from the
rest of the Barkley clan. The regular cast was rounded
out by Napoleon Whiting, who played Silas, the Barkleys'
majordomo.
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