Joseph Peter Breck (born March 13, 1929 in Rochester, NY; died February 6, 2012 in Vancouver, Canada) was an American actor. He was best-known for his role of Nick Barkley on the television series "The Big Valley". From January 1959 to May 1960, Breck starred as Clay Culhane, the gunfighter-turned-lawyer in the ABC western "Black Saddle", with secondary roles for Russell Johnson, Anna-Lisa, J. Pat O'Malley, and Walter Burke. Unlike in "The Big Valley", in which Breck played an easily angered rancher, he is low-key, restrained, and considerate as the lawyer Culhane.