Captains and the Kings is an eight-part television miniseries broadcast on NBC in 1976 as part of its Best Sellers anthology series. It is an adaptation of the 1972 novel Captains and the Kings by Taylor Caldwell. Like the novel, the miniseries is about an Irish American family, headed by ambitious Irish immigrant Joseph Armagh (played by Richard Jordan), which accumulates economic and political power during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Cast
Main
Richard Jordan as Joseph Armagh
Harvey Jason as Harry Zieff
Patty Duke as Bernadette Hennessey Armagh
Blair Brown as Elizabeth Healey Hennessey
Robert Vaughn as Charles Desmond
Perry King as Rory Armagh
Katherine Crawford as Mary Armagh
Jane Seymour as Marjorie Chisholm
Bernard Behren as Gentleman
Cynthia Sikes as Claudia
Charles Durning as Ed Healey
David Huffman as Sean Armagh
Terry Kiser as Courtney Wickersham
Vic Morrow as Tom Hennessey
Barbara Parkins as Martinique
Joanna Pettet as Katherine Hennessey
Doug Heyes Jr. as Kevin Armagh
Jenny Sullivan as Honora Houlihan
Beverly D'Angelo as Miss Emmy
Supporting
Peter Donat as Clair Montrose
Henry Fonda as Sen. Enfield Bassett
John Houseman as Judge Newell Chisholm
Celeste Holm as Sister Angela
Joe Kapp as Strickland
Ann Dusenberry as Anne-Marie
Rod Haase as Mace
Charles H. Gray as Captain Calvin
Charles O. Lynch as Hotel Clerk
Roberta Storm as Mrs. Calvin
Ray Bolger as R.J. Squibbs
Sian Barbara Allen as Cara Leslie
Neville Brand as O'Herlihy
John Carradine as Father Hale
Lee de Broux as Teddy Roosevelt
Robert Donner as Wounded Texan
George Gaynes as Orestes Bradley
Stefan Gierasch as Gannon
Alan Hewitt as Gov. Hackett
Cliff De Young as Brian Armagh
Burl Ives as Old Syrup
Clifton James as Gov. Skerritt
Roger Robinson as Cpl. Lincoln Douglas
Pernell Roberts as Braithwaite
Ken Swofford as Capt. Muldoon
Terence Locke as Faylen
William Prince as Jay Regan
Ford Rainey as Abraham Lincoln
Richard Herd as Talmadge
Walter O. Miles as Doctor
Mills Watson as Preston
John Herbsleb as Young Courtney
Macon McCalman as Dolan
James O'Connell as Orren Teale
Ann Sothern as Mrs. Finch
Patrick Labyorteaux as Young Rory
Leslie Simms as Mrs. Teale
Johnny Doran as Young Joseph
Harvey Gold as Miles Lawrence
Sally Kirkland as Aggie
George Skaff as Prosecutor
Philip Bourneuf as Father Scanlon
Edward Edwards as 1st Soccer Player
John Dennis Johnston as Medical Orderly
Ronald Long as Hotel Clerk
Connie Kreski as Pearl Gray
Kermit Murdock as James Spaulding
Eldon Quick as Albert
Randy Shields as 2nd Soccer Player
William Bryant as Skeeter
William D. Gordon as Doctor Gill
Sandy Ward as Louie
Vincent Milana as 1st Striker
Norman Stuart as Swiss Gentleman
Ned Wilson as Van Cleve
Stephen Coit as President William McKinley
John de Lancie as Timothy Armagh
Sterling Swanson as Spokesman
Ted Gehring as Heckler
Patrick Whyte as English Gentleman
Todd Martin as Bensinger
Ben Wright as German Gentleman
Albert Carrier as French Gentleman
Byron Webster as William Jennings Bryan
Grant Owens as Captain O'Neill
Elizabeth Cheshire as Young Bernadette
Awards
Both Patty Duke and Jane Seymour were nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series for their performances; Duke won the award. Jordan won a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy nomination for his performance. Durning was nominated for both an Emmy and a Golden Globe. Beverly D'Angelo made her debut. Cinematographer Ric Waite won his only Emmy Award for his work on the miniseries.