Carl Betz spent eight seasons as Donna Reed’s obstetrician husband on The Donna Reed Show, but finally broke out of the apple pie mould with his portrayal of the explosive, unpredictable, high-powered and high-priced Texan lawyer Clinton Judd.
Stephen Young played Judd’s young Eastern law partner, Ben Caldwell, who did the legwork.
The series regularly tackled controversial themes with scripts which were often provocative, blunt and honest.
In 1977, Betz was diagnosed with terminal and inoperable lung cancer. He died seven weeks later on 18 January 1978, aged 57.
