Herb Meadow; TV Writer Who Created ‘Have Gun, Will Travel’

Herb Meadow, 83, a scriptwriter who created the television series “Have Gun, Will Travel.” Growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y., Meadow worked at an art supply house, sold jewelry and sheet music, and was a runner on Wall Street and later for bootleggers. He had a deep, resonant voice and was hired as a radio announcer at a small Brooklyn station where he sold his first scripts. He came to Hollywood to help write the screenplay of “The Robe.” Meadow wrote about a dozen screenplays before moving into television, including “The Strange Woman” starring Hedy Lamarr, “The Master of Ballantrae” starring Errol Flynn, “Redhead From Wyoming” with Maureen O’Hara, and “The Unguarded Moment” with Esther Williams. In addition to his innovative Western “Have Gun, Will Travel,” Meadow developed “Arrest and Trial,” the first 90-minute television series, and “The Man from Blackhawk.” He also wrote for about 20 television series. Writing until his death, he independently sold a film script last year for $500,000 about a woman pirate named Anne Bonney. On Wednesday in Los Angeles of a heart attack.