Empire (1962 TV series)

Empire
Male cast members clockwise from back: Warren Vanders, Ryan O'Neal, Charles Bronson and Richard Egan, 1963.
Starring	Richard Egan Ryan O'Neal Terry Moore Anne Seymour Charles Bronson Warren Vanders
Composer(s)	Johnny Green (pilot episode and two more episodes, plus series theme) Leith Stevens (two episodes) Hugo Friedhofer Van Alexander Richard Markowitz William Loose
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	32
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Production company(s)	Screen Gems
Release
Original network	NBC
Picture format	Color
Original release	September 25, 1962 – May 14, 1963 Renamed and shortened to Redigo, September 24—December 31, 1963
Chronology
Followed by	Redigo
Related shows	Bonanza; The Big Valley; Giant

September 25, 1962 – May 14, 1963

Empire is an hour-long Western television series set on a 1960s 500,000-acre (2,000 km²) ranch in New Mexico, starring Richard Egan, Terry Moore, and Ryan O'Neal. It ran on NBC from September 25, 1962, to May 14, 1963.

In the second abbreviated season, from September 24 to December 31, 1963, it was renamed Redigo after Egan's title character, Jim Redigo, the general manager of the fictitious Garrett ranch in Empire, and reduced to a half-hour.

Egan starred in the series at the age of forty-one, having previously been in the hit film A Summer Place, with the catchy theme song. Redigo was a rare ranch manager, having a Master of Business Administration degree. The ranch was located somewhere in the American Southwest, but the exact location was never pinpointed. The Garretts did have an empire. Besides ranching they were involved in oil, agriculture, and mining. The series has unusually- titled episodes.

Empire also featured 22-year-old Ryan O'Neal, some two years before he gained greater recognition as Rodney Harrington in ABC's Peyton Place. O'Neal, who began acting in 1959, played the son, Tal Garrett. Terry Moore portrayed O'Neal's 33-year-old sister, Connie, who had a romantic interest in Redigo. Their mother and ranch matriarch, Lucia, was played by 53-year-old Anne Seymour (1909–1988).

Another cast member, Warren Vanders, appeared in fifteen episodes as Chuck Davis. Anne Seymour and Terry Moore were dropped at mid-season; it was said that Seymour's character, Lucia, had died and Moore's character, Connie, had left the ranch in her grief. Charles Bronson, then forty-one, entered at mid-season in an all-male cast to portray the tough ranch hand, Paul Moreno, in thirteen remaining episodes.