ross martin played artemus gordon in wild wild west.
who played artemus gordon in wild wild west?
ross martin
"the wild wild west" is set in the 1870s and deals with the exploits of james west (played by robert conrad) and artemus gordon (ross martin), two agents of the united states secret service who work directly under the command of president ulysses s. grant. james west is presented as a sort of "james bond of the west", i.e. the handsome, muscular action-hero who is handy with his fists, as well as a dashing ladies' man. artemus gordon is west's partner, a master of disguises and also the inventor of the many gadgets that the two of them use in the course of their adventures. the two men travel about in a private train and use their talents to vanquish the many dastardly villains that threatened the united states — among them, disgraced ex-soldiers seeking revenge against president grant, power-hungry megalomaniacs, and mad scientists with their brilliant but diabolical inventions. the last group includes the recurring character of dr. miguelito loveless, played by 3'11" michael dunn. as series producer bruce lansbury stated:
list of the wild wild west episodes
warner bros. optioned the film rights to "the wild wild west" in 1992, and hired richard donner to direct from a screenplay by shane black that would have starred mel gibson as james west (donner coincidentally directed three episodes of the original series). finally in 1999, a theatrical feature-length film loosely based on the series was released as "wild wild west" (without the definite article used in the series title). co-produced and directed by barry sonnenfeld, the film made substantial changes to the characters of the series, such as re-imagining james west as a black man (played by will smith) and artemus gordon (played by kevin kline) as egotistical and bitterly competitive with west. additionally, significant changes were made to dr. loveless (played by kenneth branagh). no longer a dwarf, he was portrayed as a double amputee with no legs and confined in a steam-powered wheelchair (similar to that employed by the villain in the episode "the night of the brain"). loveless' first name was changed from miguelito to arliss and was given the motive of a bitter southerner who sought revenge on the north after the american civil war.
the wild wild west