I was thinking of the TV westerns I grew up watching and I was trying to figure out who was the greatest TV western actor of all time. I know John Wayne was the best movie actor but of the shows on weekly I think James Arness was the best, who do you think deserves the title?


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The Bonanza Boys!

Clint Eastwood, Rawhide!

Hoot Gibson

Gun Runner

Don't know if he was the best "cowboy" on TV, but Maverick appears to have been the smartest.....not to mention the prettiest!

Dan

I will throw my 2BITS atcha! My vote goes to William H. Boyd, none other than "Hoppalong Cassidy" He was a big screen star as well as having his movies played on TV and there still going today folks. Most important true fact about Hoppy, was that he was the greatest of all as a humanitarian and could have been elected president of the USA, if he had wanted to run for public office.

Well, I watched all of what has been posted. Awful lot of westerns in the 60's. Some others I watched were Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger, Chuck Connors as the Rifleman, Steve McQueen in Wanted Dead or Alive and Nick Adams as The Rebel. Then you had Richard Boone in Paladine and Hugh O'Brien as Wyatt Earp. Who was the best? I liked Steve McQueen with his sawed-off shotgun.

I always liked Wild Bill Elliott and And Allan "Rocky" Lane too!

Red Ryder and little beaver too!

I gotta go with Chuck Conners as the rifleman or Nick Adams as The Rebel. If my poor old memory is still functioning Steve McQueen carried a chopped down modle 92 winchester and Nick Adams had the sawed off shotgun.
How many of the GREATS caried some kind of trick weapon. Don't forget Jock Mahoney as Yancy Derringer.

Palidin had a derringer, Johny Yuma had the Greener, Josh Randall had the cut down rifle, Johny Ringo carried a Lematte revolver, Yancy's sidekick Wolf Stands in Water had the knife in a neck sheath, Chuck Conners had the lever impact trigger on his 44-40.

Some of you older ones help me out here I was just a kid back then.

Clint Walker as Cheyenne Bodie.

DC

John Russell as "The Lawman", from Laramie, WY. Peter Brown was his deputy and they always wore big heavy coats. My mother used to call them "mackinaws". :)

I tend to think that Lucas McCain, The Rifleman, is my favorite t.v. westerns actor of all-time, with the "Bonanza Boys" following close behind.

Thanks,
Timberwolf

Go with the Duke as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit, just something about a guys with the reins in his teeth a winchester in his hand saying "fill your fists you S.O.Bs. Take care and have fun. Swany

Not the biggest Hollywood star but a true hero "Audie L. Murphy"

Nick Barkley was cool on Big Valley. He was like the Fonz in Western Garb. Not a whole lot of authenticism in dress or firearms though. There is no equal to the character's played by Gus McRae(Robert Duvall) and Capt. Woodrow F. Call(Tommy Lee Jones) in Lonsome Dove. I doubt the movie/characters will ever be surpassed in my lifetime. John Wayne is at the top, especially as Rooster Cogburn. My favorite line from True Grit is...."Not bad for a one eyed fat man". I AM a one eyed fat man so I always liked that one and have taken comfort in it.

One of the stories I heard about Mr. Murphy was that when Hugh O'Brian challenged him to a fast draw contest, Audie suggested instead that they take real bullets and each one start at the opposite ends of town. I also understand that inspite of his boyish looks, the shy, quiet, never push back that you might expect, rather would challenge the stunt men to real fist fights. And that a number of the stunt men didn't want to do stunts with him because he didn't always pull his punches. It's interesting that the number one (Murphy) and number two (Neville Brand) most decorated WWII soldiers became actors.

Dan

Chris,

If you like Duvall in "Lonesome Dove", suggest you will want to see the newly released movie, "Open Range". Very similiar character and the movie has one of the better shoot-outs I've seen. And yes, "Lonesome Dove" is also my favorite, but was not as enamored with the follow-up movies about the earlier and later careers.

Dan

Thanks Dan...have been trying to see Open Range since it came out. I agree...the other Lonesome Dove prequels/sequels were no comparison to the original masterpiece. The actors did a wonderful job in most of those, but the stories weren't as powerful as the original. I just bought "The Long Riders" on DVD......hadn't seen it in a while...another good flick. It was the "Family Movie" for my family, enough so that my brothers named their country Western band after it. I always love to see David Carradine toting that Savage Single Shot Shotgun(makes you go huh, what's that doing there?), the one with the finger barrel release. I have a soft spot for single shot shotguns and they comprise much of my gun collection. For anyone who loves Civil War era flicks...."Ride with the Devil" is a good one. Toby Macquire does impress. Very period correct it looks like to me. You might laugh, but a Western that I always thought was the best growing up was "The Shadow Riders" with Tom Selleck and Sam Elliot. You get some Sharps Buffalo Gun action on that one and Sam Elliot is just the Best...even better in Connager. Didn't mean to divert from the question...the Greatest of All time. There are so many great ones out there, for different reasons :) .

Tom Selleck and Sam Elliot both fit the "speak softly and carry a big stick" mold. And the Shadow Riders was excellent. But while I undertand that the Western hero is supposed to be bigger than life, I'll admit that for me, Mr. Elliot's roles are sometimes almost over the top. "Quiggly (spelling?) Down Under is another one where Mr. Selleck excels....they're always better when the bad guys are really, really bad and the good guy(s) are really, really good. I'll be that movie helped sell a lot of single shot rifles.

Dan

I have to cst my vote for James Arness as Marshall Matt Dillon. I grew up on Raw-Hide and have very fond memories associated with that show. Best supporting, Festus and Chester, and lest we forget, the HOT Miss Kitty. MEOW!

I vote for Hoppy along with 2Bits. By the way, I heard that John Wayne was offered the part of Matt Dillon but didn't want to commit to the little screen so he recommended some guy they never heard of named James Arness.

I gotta say Richard Boone as Paladin, in the weekly series " Have Gun Will Travel". Remember that one ?

I was thinking of the TV westerns I grew up watching and I was trying to figure out who was the greatest TV western actor of all time. I know John Wayne was the best movie actor but of the shows on weekly I think James Arness was the best, who do you think deserves the title?


http://www.roberteast.net/45anilft2.gif Just found this website and joined yesterday. Robert Culp in "Track Down". He carried a S&W Russian with an extention welded on the hammer spur so he could fan the gun. he gets my vote

What about the Lone Ranger and Tonto?

I was thinking of the TV westerns I grew up watching and I was trying to figure out who was the greatest TV western actor of all time. I know John Wayne was the best movie actor but of the shows on weekly I think James Arness was the best, who do you think deserves the title?


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My favorite weekly actor would Festus from gunsmoke.

I can't believe no one has nominated Quick-Draw McGraw........ :D
PJ

Hey if we are gonna go cartoon Yosemite Sam rules.

Yea, what y'all already said. Let's see, who was it that played Sugarfoot? And don't forget the folks on Big Valley - Barbara Stanwick - a legend. And why can't I remember his name this morning, he sang Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer - why can't I remember? Who played Annie Oakley on the TV show - used to watch it all the time (just dated myself, huh?). And the modern day cowboy - Sky King! Pat Brady, too, in his Jeep, Nellie Belle. I think that of all of them though, my absolute, number 1 all time favorite is J. B. Books, none other than the Duke himself, in The Shootist. sundog


ah ha! Just premembered - Gene Autry, the singing cowboy! Man'o'man, what a classic !!!

Ya know, I just gotta add one more. Ben Johnson, an Oklahoma native. This guy sits tall in the saddle in my book !

Well maybe another, Andy Devine, as Jingles. sundog

What about the Lone Ranger and Tonto?

Clayton Moore better known as the "Lone Ranger" started off playing in the cowboy movies as a Bad Guy, yep. The original actor who rode the big white horse was hurt or killed. There was NO......Indian Tonto at that time. However, later on Clayton Moore was wrote into the script (he could ride that white horse, as he had been taking riding lessons on the side from a real cowboy) along with Jay Silver Heels (the two had good chemistry on set) Thus the masked man known as the Lone Ranger and his side kick Tonto were born on screen.

Now at one time back in the 60's, there were 26 different western movies on TV.

No body has even metioned the best "cowboy scene " ever produced, Slim Pickins riddin' that atomic missle, but dang it cant remember the movie! ( sometimers desease got me again.)

Dr. Strangelove

Man, those are all good.........what about Randolph Scott?

The all time greatest cowboy movie ever made in my opinion and I remember my dad and I seeing it when they had those huge semi-circular movie screens, my vote....THE WILD BUNCH....go rent it tonight....that is what I call Cowboy Action Shooting!!!!!

David

The Duke is my old time favorite, but Tom Sellack has made great westerns while striving for authenticity.

Yeah, I forgot - Duval and Jones in "Lonesome Dove" was an absolute masterpiece.
Although I have a deep reverence for the Duke, the "clean hat" westerns, (he did some of them), were not my cup of tea.

Concerning Lonesome dove sequels - Tommy Lee Jones reportedly didn't want to reprise his role as Woodrow F. Call in "Return to Lonesome Dove" because, (among other things), it wasn't wriiten my McMurtry, merely endorsed by him. John Voight did an admirable job as Call, though. James Garner was very good in "Streets of Laredo" as well.
Oddly, both Garner and Voight turned down the role of Call in the original "Lonesome Dove" film. That was, in an odd way, good for fans because Jones gave the performance of his lifetime....

Anybody remember Errol Flynn in "Rocky Mountain"? As the huge, (supposedly Apache), war party chased the small Confederate Cavalry squad into the box canyon, realizing he was trapped, Flynn's character draws his saber, (as the old sergeant ties the stars and bars to his carbine barrel), and says something to the effect of, "We've showed 'em our backs, lads. Now, lets's show 'em our front. Bugler, sound the charge!"
Melodramatic, but very moving. Especially when the Federal officer in charge of the Cavalry sent to find Flynn's rebels orders the Confederate flag raised above the ground where their bodies were found.

Speaking of "Streets of Laredo", George Carlin gave a shockingly great performance, too.

I think my fav had to be the 'Rawhide' crew. Course Clint Eastwood was Rowdy Yates, but I liked the trail boss( Gil Faver?) and 'Cookie'. Can't remember thier names now. And one vote for Fess Parker as Davy Crocket.