The Rebel

10/4/1959 – 9/17/1961 ABC
6/1962 – 9/1962 Rerun on NBC
Black and White – 30 minutes – 76 episodes
(ABC) Oct. 1959 – Sept. 1961 Sunday 9:00-9:30
(NBC) June 1962 – Sept. 1962 Wed.8:30-9:00

Created by Andrew J. Fenady and Nick Adams
A Goodson-Todman Production

The Rebel Cast

Nick Adams as Johnny Yuma
(Real Name: Nicholas Aloysius Adamshock)

The Rebel Theme Song

“Ballad of Johnny Yuma” music by Richard Markowitz & Andrew J. Fenady

Performed by Johnny Cash
(See Below for Lyrics)

The Rebel Tidbits

“He Packed No Star As He Wandered Far”

Johnny Yuma (Nick Adams) was an ex-Confederate solder who wandered the West. In his travels he came across people who needed his help which was freely rendered. He kept journals on his travels, a habit which Adams also embraced.

Nick Adam’s played Johnny Yuma as a brooding, troubled man. People close to Adam’s say he totally identified with the character which provided Adams with his favorite role.

Which brings us to the strange death of Nick Adams in 1968. Ruled a suicide by LA coroners, many feel foul play was involved. Friends Robert Conrad, Forrest Tucker and others were quoted as saying Adams would not have commited suicide.

He was found sitting in a chair. The amount of the prescription drug paraldehyde found in his system is now a matter of debate. This drug when mixed with alcohol and other sedatives can be lethal. But no delivery method was found near the body. No glass, needle etc.

Fueling the mystery were the missing momentos. A avid diarist, Adam’s recorder and the reels were never found. Nor was his typewriter, a cherished gift from James Dean. A miner’s hat given by Adam’s father and kept to remind him of his roots also disappeared. And where was his prized Rebel cap?

We will never know what or who killed him, but Johnny Yuma won’t be soon forgotten.

Passings

Nick Adams died in 1968.
Nick Adams

Nick Adams
From the Doug Abbott Collection

Nick Adams
From the Doug Abbott Collection

External Links
TV Guide’s Rebel Page, with TV Listings, Photos, Videos, Exclusive News and More.
Nick Adams
From the Doug Abbott Collection

The Ballad of Johnny Yuma Lyrics

Away, away, away rode the rebel, Johnny Yuma.

Johnny Yuma, was a rebel,
He roamed, through the west.
And Johnny Yuma, was a rebel,
He wandered alone.

He got fightin' mad,
This rebel lad,
He packed his star as he wandered far
Where the only law was a hook and a draw, the rebel.

Away, away, away rode the rebel.

Johnny Yuma, was a rebel,
He roamed, through the west.
And Johnny Yuma, was a rebel,
He wandered alone.

He searched the land,
This restless lad,
He was panther quick and leather tough
Cause he had figured that he'd been pushed enough, the rebel.

Away, away, away rode the rebel.
Johnny Yuma.

Johnny Yuma, was a rebel,
He roamed, through the west.
And Johnny Yuma, the rebel,
He wandered alone.

He was fightin' mad,
This rebel lad,
With a dream he would hold until his dying breath
He would search his soul and gamble with death.

Away, away, away rode the rebel, Johnny Yuma.