Kenny Rogers as The Gambler (1980)
Kenny Rogers as The Gambler first hit the airwaves on April 8, 1980. The made-for-television Old West film was heavily based on one of Rogers’ most cherished songs of all time – the Grammy-award-winning song “The Gambler.”
The music icon played the role of gambler Brady Hawkes who has seen it all, except for the young son – Jeremiah – he didn’t know about. One day, Hawkes surprisingly received a letter from Jeremiah; so, he set out on a journey to finally meet his child. During his trip, Hawkes crossed paths with the reckless Billy Montana, whom he quickly became friends with.
Montana thinks of himself as a professional gambler, but he keeps making poor judgments along the way, and Hawkes got some very friendly advice for him.
Though the show was the usual low-budget TV fare, it was well-received and managed to draw plenty of viewers to CBS than any other TV show had in the previous two years.