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TV series 'Hawkins' featured actor James Stewart (left) as "Billy Jim Hawkins", a lawyer who investigates cases in a fictional West Virginia town called Beauville.
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In the show, fans got to see actor Strother Martin (right) as "R. J. Hawkins", cousin of "Billy", who often accompanies him in his investigations. The pair usually travel together to seek evidence on the cases "Billy" receives.
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Although James Stewart and Strother Martin were best known for 'Hawkins', the actors shared screen in other different projects including films 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance' and 'Fool's Parade', from 1962 and 1971, respectively.
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James Stewart was already a very successful actor, but 'Hawkins' marked his second attempt in taking over a lead role in TV. Prior to the show, he had starred in 'The Jimmy Stewart Show', which ended up being unsuccessful.
However, his portrayal of "Billy" in 'Hawkins' was well received by the audience and got positive reviews. Stewart even took home a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in Television Drama Series in 1973.
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Sadly, rating numbers went down and Stewart expressed his wish of ending 'Hawkins'. The show was cancelled after only eight episodes, including the pilot episode.
Later on, Stewart said that the quality of scripts in TV productions wasn't as good as the one he was used to work with in films. That said, he never returned to TV.
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In March 1974, Strother Martin and James Stewart appeared together on 'Hawkins' for the last time. The episode 'Candidate for Murder' marked their final appearance as "Billy" and "R.J."
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After the cancellation of 'Hawkins', James Stewart went on to star in a couple films, like 'The Shootist' (1976), 'The Magic of Lassie' (1978) and 'An American Tail: Fievel Goes West' (1991).
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Sadly, Stewart died on July 2, 1997 in Beverly Hills, California, surrounded by his children. He was 89. The 'Hawkins' actor had a heart attack caused by an embolism, after years of battling depression following the death of wife Gloria in 1994.
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As for actor Strother Martin, following the cancellation of 'Hawkins' he went on to star in 'Rooster Cogburn' (1975), 'Up in Smoke' (1978) and 'The Secret of Nikola Tesla' (1980).
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Martin died on August 1, 1980 at the age of 61. He had spent a couple years under medical care due to a diabetes diagnosis. He had also been struggling with cardiac issues.
The star died of a heart attack at Thousand Oaks, California's Los Robles Regional Medical Center. He had experienced chest pains in his home a couple hours before.
Actors James Stewart and Strother Martin shared screen on the legal drama and murder mystery TV show 'Hawkins', which ran from 1973 to 1974.
Although the show aired for one season only, both James and Strother were two of the fan-favorites!
Sadly, both of them have already passed away.
