KELLIE'S BIG VALLEY WEBSITE
GALLERIES:
Barbara Stanwyck
SITE MUST BE VIEWED FULL SCREEN TO SEE MENU TO THE RIGHT.
Richard Long
Peter Breck
Hello and welcome. I  grew up  watching reruns of  the old TV  western  The Big  Valley. It
quickly became my all  time favorite TV show. For  those of  you unfamiliar  with  the show,
it  ran  from 1965 to 1969 and starred Barbara Stanwyck, Richard Long, Peter Breck, Lee
Majors and Linda Evans as the Barkleys, a wealthy ranching family located in California's
San  Joaquin Valley in  the 1870s. The family  also  had  holdings and  interests  in lumber
and mining.

I am dedicating this site to the show and  its stars. I  will include a cast list, links,  articles,
episode guide, fan fiction stories and  photos of the stars, yesterday and today. I will  update
this site once a month. Any areas with new material will be signified with an asterisk.
Lee Majors
Linda Evans
Cast Photos
Miscellaneous Items
EPISODE
GUIDE:
LAST UPDATED:
July 17, 2008
First Season
Second Season
Third Season
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Fourth Season
   OTHER
SITE PAGES:
VICTORIA
MY FAN
FICTION
LIBRARY
BIG VALLEY
STARS' BIO
PAGES
NICK HEATH
JARROD
AUDRA
BIG VALLEY
FREQUENTLY
ASKED
QUESTIONS
Victoria Barkley - Barbara Stanwyck
Family matriarch; strong willed and self assured
Character's age at start of show not given; probably mid to late 50s
Jarrod Barkley - Richard Long
FAVORITE LINKS
Eldest son; a lawyer with strong morals and sense of justice
Character's age at start of show - 32
Nick Barkley - Peter Breck
Second son; runs the ranch; hot tempered but a heart of gold
Character's age at start of show - 28
Heath Thomson Barkley - Lee Majors
Illegitimate son of Tom Barkley (deceased family patriarch)
Hard childhood; came to Barkleys as an adult; quiet natured; helps run the ranch
Character's age at start of show - 24
Audra Barkley - Linda Evans
Only daughter; started fiery and spirited; ended as a weaker character
Character's age at start of show - 19
Eugene Barkley - Charles Briles
Youngest son; college student; character not well developed; dropped after first season
Character's age at start of show not given; probably younger than Audra
Silas - Napoleon Whiting
The Barkleys' house servant
Character's age not given; probably late 50s or early 60s
ABOUT HEATH
On to  my  favorite  subject. Okay, in  case that  statement and the above  caption hasn't  given it
away, Heath  is my  FAVORITE  Barkley and I  feel his character  needs extra  space for a  little
more detail on his life.

Heath  was  born  and raised  out of  wedlock. Tom  Barkley, deceased  for six  years by  the time
Heath  comes to  the Barkleys, was his father. His mother  was  Leah Thomson  and he  grew up
in a small mining  town called Strawberry. Two lady friends of  his mother, Rachel and Hannah,
helped raise him.

In 'Palms of Glory', the show's first episode, Heath hires on at the Barkley ranch after learning
his  father's identity  following his mother's death.  Nick, thinking he is a  spy for the  railroad,
confronts him and, after a fight, he reveals his relationship to the family.

In 'Boots With My Father's Name' Victoria rides to Strawberry to learn more about the circum-
stances of  his birth. In  a letter  written by Tom  to  Leah she discovers that Tom never knew  of
Heath's existence. Rachel  is  deceased  but Hannah tells her that Leah found Tom  beaten in  an
alley and nursed him back to health. Apparently this led to the affair that produced Heath.

In 'Guilt of Matt Bentell'  we learn  that Heath  was  a  prisoner of  war  at Carterson  (fictional)
during  the Civil War. Since  he came to  the Barkleys in 1876 at  the age of  24 he  would  have
only been thirteen when the war ended. A harsh introduction to adulthood, I would say.

Heath's  character  is  quiet  natured,  solemn, full  of  painful  memories, resentful  and  angry
but  as he  settles into the family much of  his anger  passes. Eventually he is not only  accepted
as a brother  by his  siblings but  also as  a son by Victoria. Many  times she calls  him 'my son'
and, eventually, he calls her 'Mother'.

On a side note, Heath always  seems to be in  harms  way;  getting shot or beaten up in  several
episodes. He  is  even  whipped  in  at  least  three  and  in 'Town  of No Exit'  he is hanged  for a
brief  period  of  time. In 'By  Force  and  Violence' he  is  pinned  under  an  overturned  wagon.
Sad to say but his propensity to be injured only makes me love him more!!!
CREDITS
A heartfelt  and  sincere thank  you to Linda  for  permission  to use her  wonderful
screen  captures in my photo galleries and episode guide and for the opening credit
ones  shown on this page. A special thank you also goes to Sherry  for contributing
many of  the  photos  of  Mr.  Long.  I  would  also  like  to  thank  Fuzz, Lily,  Jana,
Warren James and Chuck Goodenough for their photo contributions as well.
TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK
ABOUT THIS SITE
DISCLAIMER
This is a non-commercial site for fans. I am not related to or  affiliated  with any star of  the
TV series The Big Valley nor of the show itself. All photographs and other information are
used  solely for  the enjoyment of  other fans. If  I  have placed  copyrighted  material on this
site that  you  would  like me to remove, please let me know and  I  will remedy the  problem
immediately.