The Lonesome Dove miniseries originated from a chance meeting between Motown Productions president Suzanne de Passe and author Larry McMurtry in which de Passe asked McMurtry about his current project. McMurtry subsequently sent a copy of his unpublished Lonesome Dove to de Passe who quickly snatched up the film rights. The book was published in June 1985, and went on to spend 20 weeks on the New York Times best seller list. It received the 1985 Pulitzer Prize, the Spin Award for Best Western Novel of 1985 and the Texas Institute of Letters Jesse Jones Award for Best Fictional Book.
Lonesome Dove originated as a screenplay called The Streets of Laredo, which was intended as a vehicle for John Wayne, Henry Fonda and James Stewart. The 288-page script was written by McMurtry with Peter Bogdanovich in 1972. The project failed to materialize and McMurtry eventually chose to expand the idea into a sprawling 843-page novel eulogizing the Texas past, both factual and mythical, as represented by the horseman and cowboy. Motown Productions contracted with CBS Television to air the western as an eight-hour miniseries. Bill Wittliff, who had scripted the westerns Barbarosa (1982) and Red Headed Stranger (1986), was signed to write the teleplay. He also served as Executive Producer. Filming began March 1988 in Austin, Texas; moved to Del Rio, Texas in April and then to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in May, wrapping in July after 88 days of shooting. The film, directed by Simon Wincer and starring Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Robert Urich, Danny Glover, Anjelica Huston and Diane Lane, aired on CBS in February 1989 to high ratings and critical acclaim.
Among Lonesome Dove 's many awards were seven Emmys for directing, sound editing, sound mixing, makeup, costume, music, and casting. It also received a Peabody Award and two Golden Globe Awards, one for best miniseries and one to Robert Duvall for best actor in a miniseries. Duvall, already a celebrated actor noted for a distinguished career, reported that the character Gus was a favorite role, and he remarked "When I was doing The Godfather, I knew we were doing something big. When I was doing Lonesome Dove, I got the same feeling. I've only felt that a couple of times in my life." ( New York Tribune, Feb 6, 1989) Bill Wittliff reminisced "sometimes something just takes over and Lonesome Dove is a good example of that. I think every element works, from cast to crew to wardrobe to Jerry [sic] White's art design and the production design . . . it was just a beautiful combination of enormously talented people . . . [and] the final project was larger than all the people." ( Austin Chronicle, 3/11/94, 38)
From the guide to the Lonesome Dove Television Miniseries Production Archives, 1985-1990, (Southwestern Writers Collection, Special Collections, Alkek Library, Texas State University-San Marcos)
