Griff King, a parolee who tries to reform his life as a worker at the Ponderosa Ranch under Ben Cartwright's tutelage. He portrayed a corrupt motorcycle cop, Phil Sweet, who was part of a death squad with some other young cops in the film Magnum Force (1973). In 1975, he guest starred in CBS's short-lived family drama Three for the Road.

In 1976, Matheson appeared