Captains and the Kings (miniseries)

Captains and the Kings is an eight-part television miniseries broadcast on NBC in 1976 as part of its Best Sellers anthology series.^[1] It is an adaptation of the 1972 novel Captains and the Kings by Taylor Caldwell. Like the novel, the miniseries is about an Irish American family, headed by ambitious Irish immigrant Joseph Armagh (played by Richard Jordan), which accumulates economic and political power during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Plot

The story begins when Joseph Armagh, a poor Irish immigrant, arrives in New York in 1857, and ends when his last son dies in 1912. Armagh gains wealth and power after investing in the early oil industry. He becomes obsessed with having one of his sons get elected as the first Irish Catholic U.S. president, but that desire is unfulfilled, for his politician son, Rory, is assassinated.^[2]

Cast

Main

Richard Jordan as Joseph Armagh Harvey Jason as Harry Zieff Patty Duke as Bernadette Hennessey Armagh Blair Brown as Elizabeth Healey Hennessey Robert Vaughn as Charles Desmond Perry King as Rory Armagh Katherine Crawford as Mary Armagh Jane Seymour as Marjorie Chisholm Bernard Behren as Gentleman Cynthia Sikes as Claudia

Charles Durning as Ed Healey David Huffman as Sean Armagh Terry Kiser as Courtney Wickersham Vic Morrow as Tom Hennessey Barbara Parkins as Martinique Joanna Pettet as Katherine Hennessey Doug Heyes Jr. as Kevin Armagh Jenny Sullivan as Honora Houlihan Beverly D'Angelo as Miss Emmy

Supporting

Peter Donat as Clair Montrose Henry Fonda as Sen. Enfield Bassett John Houseman as Judge Newell Chisholm Celeste Holm as Sister Angela Joe Kapp as Strickland Ann Dusenberry as Anne-Marie Rod Haase as Mace Charles H. Gray as Captain Calvin Charles O. Lynch as Hotel Clerk Roberta Storm as Mrs. Calvin Ray Bolger as R.J. Squibbs Sian Barbara Allen as Cara Leslie Neville Brand as O'Herlihy John Carradine as Father Hale Lee de Broux as Teddy Roosevelt Robert Donner as Wounded Texan George Gaynes as Orestes Bradley Stefan Gierasch as Gannon Alan Hewitt as Gov. Hackett Cliff De Young as Brian Armagh Burl Ives as Old Syrup Clifton James as Gov. Skerritt Roger Robinson as Cpl. Lincoln Douglas Pernell Roberts as Braithwaite Ken Swofford as Capt. Muldoon Terence Locke as Faylen William Prince as Jay Regan Ford Rainey as Abraham Lincoln Richard Herd as Talmadge Walter O. Miles as Doctor Mills Watson as Preston John Herbsleb as Young Courtney Macon McCalman as Dolan

James O'Connell as Orren Teale Ann Sothern as Mrs. Finch Patrick Labyorteaux as Young Rory Leslie Simms as Mrs. Teale Johnny Doran as Young Joseph Harvey Gold as Miles Lawrence Sally Kirkland as Aggie George Skaff as Prosecutor Philip Bourneuf as Father Scanlon Edward Edwards as 1st Soccer Player John Dennis Johnston as Medical Orderly Ronald Long as Hotel Clerk Connie Kreski as Pearl Gray Kermit Murdock as James Spaulding Eldon Quick as Albert Randy Shields as 2nd Soccer Player William Bryant as Skeeter William D. Gordon as Doctor Gill Sandy Ward as Louie Vincent Milana as 1st Striker Norman Stuart as Swiss Gentleman Ned Wilson as Van Cleve Stephen Coit as President William McKinley John de Lancie as Timothy Armagh Sterling Swanson as Spokesman Ted Gehring as Heckler Patrick Whyte as English Gentleman Todd Martin as Bensinger Ben Wright as German Gentleman Albert Carrier as French Gentleman Byron Webster as William Jennings Bryan Grant Owens as Captain O'Neill Elizabeth Cheshire as Young Bernadette

Awards

Both Patty Duke and Jane Seymour were nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series for their performances; Duke won the award.^[3] Jordan won a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy nomination for his performance.^[3] Durning was nominated for both an Emmy and a Golden Globe. Beverly D'Angelo made her debut. Cinematographer Ric Waite won his only Emmy Award for his work on the miniseries.^[4]