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Wayde Preston, born William Erksine Strange on September 10, 1929, in Denver, Colorado, was raised in Laramie, Wyoming, alongside his two younger sisters, Joan and Mary, by their schoolteacher parents, John and Bernice Strange. He graduated from Laramie High School in 1947, where he participated in football, track, ROTC, and the school band. He then attended the University of Wyoming, studying pharmacy. A skilled musician, he played string bass with various popular bands in the late 1940s. Drafted into the army in 1950, he rose to the rank of First Lieutenant and served in an artillery unit at Fort Bliss, Texas, before being transferred to Korea, where he fought in the Korean War. After his discharge, he worked as a park ranger at Grand Teton National Park and competed in rodeos across Wyoming. A licensed pilot, Preston was flying for TWA when he received his first break in acting. During this period, he met Carol Ohmart, whom he married on Thanksgiving Day in 1956; they divorced less than two years later. After appearing alongside Clint Walker in a 1955 episode of Cheyenne, Preston secured the lead role in Colt .45 (1957) as Chris Colt, an undercover government agent. The series premiered on October 18, 1957. Over the next three years, Preston, like many stars of the time, faced challenges demanding higher pay and shorter work hours. Colt .45 concluded in 1960 with Donald May as the lead after Preston walked off the set once more due to being denied a stuntman. In the 1960s and 1970s, Preston pursued a successful career in European "spaghetti westerns." Returning to the United States in the late 1970s, he underwent surgery to remove a cancerous growth near his right temple. Following recovery and reconstructive surgery, he reemerged in the mid-1980s, appearing at various western film festivals and taking on small film roles, including Jack in Captain America (1990). Wayde Preston passed away on February 6, 1992, after battling colon cancer.
