Stockwell took a number of years off and resumed his acting career as an adult in 1956. He guest-starred on shows such as "Front Row Center", "Matinee Theatre", "Schlitz Playhouse", "The United States Steel Hour", "Climax!", "Men of Annapolis", "Cimarron City", "General Electric Theater", and "Wagon Train". He had a support role in a Western, "Gun for a Coward" (1957) and the lead role in a low-budget teen melodrama, "The Careless Years" (1957), the feature directorial debut of Arthur Hiller. It was made for Bryna Productions, the company of Kirk Douglas. Stockwell signed a five-year deal with the company but this was the only film he made for them.