Death Valley Days is an American anthology western radio and television series that began on radio in 1930 and ran until 1945, then continued as a television series from 1952 to 1970 with a different guest cast dramatizing a different true story of the American Old West in each episode. The program was sponsored throughout most of its run by the Pacific Coast Borax Company, maker of 20 Mule Team Borax, and its long-running host duties on television were held for a time by future United States president Ronald Reagan. Counting both its radio and television runs together, Death Valley Days is one of the longest-running western programs in American broadcasting history and one of the earliest anthology series to make the transition from radio to television.
Facts
Classification
Original Language AwardBillboard TV Film Show Award for Best Western TV Film Program 1 Release Year FAQs
Why did a borax company sponsor Death Valley Days?
It was advertising for the 20 Mule Team Borax brand.
Pacific Coast Borax Company wanted to promote its 20 Mule Team Borax brand of household cleaners. It sought to sponsor a Western radio show and asked the advertising agency McCann Erickson to develop it, which led to the anthology of true Old West stories that later moved to television.
Did Ronald Reagan appear in Death Valley Days?
He hosted it and acted in four episodes.
Yes. Ronald Reagan hosted the series for a time and also acted in four installments of it. Those were his final onscreen acting roles before he moved into politics.
Connections
Created By
Source Death Valley Days, Wikipedia
Source Death Valley Days, Wikipedia
In Medium
Source Death Valley Days, Wikipedia
In the Other Atlases
Original Language
Also in Language Atlas: the original language of this subject.
Originated In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.
Source Death Valley Days, WikipediaLead sentence 1Quote, Lead sentence 1
Death Valley Days is an American Western anthology television series based on true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California.
Sources
1. Death Valley Days, Wikipedia
Lead, first sentence
Death Valley Days is an American Western anthology television series based on true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California.
Death Valley Days, Description, original language
Death Valley Days is an American anthology western radio and television series that began on radio in 1930 and ran until 1945, then continued as a television series from 1952 to 1970 with a different guest cast dramatizing a different true story of the American Old West in each episode.
Wikipedia Awards section (billboard-tv-film-show-award-for-best-western-tv-film-program), checked 2026-09-27
1953 Billboard TV Film Show Awards | Best Western TV Film Program | Death Valley Days | Won
Infobox
October 1, 1952
In Medium: Television, Article lead sentence
Death Valley Days is an American Western anthology television series based on true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California.
In Group: Radio Adventure, Western and Children's Serials, Lead
Death Valley Days is an American Western anthology television series based on true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California.
Created By: Nat Perrin, Infobox: producer
Dorrell McGowan, Nat Perrin, Armand Schaefer, Robert Stabler
Created By: Armand Schaefer, Infobox: producer
Dorrell McGowan, Nat Perrin, Armand Schaefer, Robert Stabler
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