Bat Masterson – Maria McClay

1958-1960

Another American Western television series Maria appeared in was “Bat Masterson”, a fictionalized account of the life of the very real marshal, gambler and dandy Bartholemew William Barclay “Bat” Masterson (1853-1921), a US Army scout, lawman, professional gambler, journalist, gunfighter and sheriff in the Old West.

The series ran in 107 episodes over three seasons from 1958 to 1960 and portrayed Bat Masterson as a ladies man, often dressed in Eastern clothing with a preference for solving problems with his walking cane rather than his gun.

Episodes

S02 E01 – To The Manner Born (1959)

October 1, 1959

An old friend asks Bat to San Francisco to look into the background of her daughter’s fiancée. Bat learns she is a frequent visitor at a casino where she seems to win but her fiancée seems to lose – even his life. Maria appears as a card dealer employed by the casino who refuses to hand more chips to the dubious fiancée, when he busts out and finds himself broke at the table.

*Director*	John Rich
*Producer*	Frank Pittman, Andy White
*Production Company*	Ziv Television Programs, Metro Goldwyn Mayer
*Aired*	October 1st, 1959, NBC
*Cast*	Gene Barry (Bat Masterson), Myron Healy, Audrey Dalton, Jack Hogan, Ernestine Barrier, David Thursby, James Hong, Maria Tsein (sic) (Card Dealer)

This is one of Maria’s more limited roles with very few lines and not a lot of screen time. On the other hand she gets to wear a rather fancy outfit while staring down Bat Masterson as she deals the House 21 and takes his money.

One thing that must be pointed out is that whoever was responsible for proof reading the credits messed up greatly and left her name on screen as “Maria Tsein” instead of “Tsien”.

Scenes Featuring Maria

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