A Look at Western Movie Character Actors
I have listed several of my favorite character actors mainly from the 1940’s to the 1980’s. This is by no means an exhaustive list. But there is something to be said for these wonderful role players. Their careers often spanned several decades. All the while, they seldom shared the spotlight with the lead actors. Nevertheless, their level of talent and professionalism is worthy of recognition. Most have passed on. But they leave a legacy of marvelous supporting performances.
Jack Elam was one of the most memorable of these actors. His fine acting was seen in westerns like “Rio Lobo”, “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral”, “High Noon” and “Cat Ballou”. He appeared in no less the 200 movies and TV westerns. His highly distinguishable look was partly the result of a fight from his childhood. His left eye was severely injured causing it to move off center. He also lost the sight in that eye. Whether cast as the saddle tramp, thief, or all around good guy, mister Elam added many a splendid performance to so many great westerns. He was the perfect choice to round out any western movie.
Paul Fix appeared in well over 300 movies beginning in the late 1920’s. This fine actor could play any type of role. He was extremely versatile and mild mannered. He went on to make 26 pictures with John Wayne, including “The Sons of Katie Elder” and “El Dorado”. He was excellent in his role as Doc Miller in the latter. Probably his most noted role was from a TV series. He played the tough but fair sheriff, Micah Torrance, in the “Rifleman” series that starred Chuck Connors. One of his famous quotes from this imaginative and gifted man was “The only reason some people get lost in thought is because it’s unfamiliar territory”. One of his favorite non-western roles was that of the judge in “To Kill a Mockingbird”.
Ward Bond might be most famous for his role as wagon master in the TV series “Wagon Train”. His acting career began in the 1930’s and was cut drastically short with his untimely death in 1960. Known often as a burly, ruff and tumble kind of character, he still managed to appear in over 250 pictures and TV shows. He has appeared in 7 of the top 100 films of all time as listed by the American Film Institute. That is the most of any actor. Bond was the perfect expression of the American west. Many times he was portrayed as the “take charge” kind of guy. This was was well noted in several films such as “The Searchers” and “Hondo”. He also appeared is such classic movies as “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “Maltese Falcon” and “Gone With the Wind”.
Slim Pickens started his career as a real cowboy and became on one of the highest paid rodeo clowns. At the age of 31, his first film was in 1950 called “Rocky Mountain”. He would go on to make over 150 appearances in movies on the big screen and in television. Noted for his hoarse and twangy western style voice, he played a variety of rolls from comic sidekick to offensive villain. By the early 1960’s, he had put on so much additional weight that he nearly grew out of his nickname. Some of his most noted western films were “Major Dundee”, “Will Penny”, and “Blazing Saddles”.
Strother Martin was often seen playing the parts of grimy, unlikeable villains. His filmography credits him with nearly 150 appearances, many of them in westerns. He could be seen in such notable films as “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”, “True Grit”, “The Wild Bunch” and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”. He always gave solid performances as a character actor. His most notable role was that of the “Captain” which was both colorful and memorable in the movie “Cool Hand Luke”. Although not a western, the line he says to Paul Newman, “What we have here is a failure to communicate” is rather legendary. It is still true as much now as it was back in 1967.
Denver Pyle enjoyed an acting career that spanned 50 years. To his credit, he appeared in over 200 movies and TV shows, about equally splitting his time. He brought true western authenticity to whatever role he played. Born in Colorado, he often played the parts of slowly-speaking southern types. He was a natural for these types of characterizations. A few of his notable westerns were “The Alamo” and “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”. A few of his more important roles came later in his acting career. These were as Texas Ranger Frank Hamer in the movie “Bonnie and Clyde”. And later as Uncle Jesse Duke in the TV series “The Dukes of Hazard”. Later in life, that rugged mountain-man look personified a truly popular and well liked character actor.
R.G. Armstrong was known for his tough and rugged characterizations. With about 170 film and TV appearances, his acting career has lasted almost five decades. Perhaps a slightly lesser known role player, he started acting mostly in westerns and later expanded to other genre. “Ride the High Country” and “El Dorado” were two of his more noted movie credits. Later he was seen in “Predator” and portrayed the spooky Lewis Vandredi in the 1987 TV series “Friday the 13th”. He always displayed an upbeat and fun-loving demeanor off the set . R.G. stands for Robert Golden and since retiring after 1999, has lived in sunny California.
Harry Cary Jr became a reliable character actor right from the start. The young boyish understudy quickly gained acceptance with roles in legendary westerns. Early on he played parts in “Red River”, “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon”, and “Rio Grande”, all featuring John Wayne. He married Paul Fix’s daughter, Marilyn in 1944 and they still remain married today. Credited with almost 100 films, he was a mainstay in many westerns. Seen in pictures like “The Searchers”, “Cheyenne Autumn”, and later as marshal Fred White in the epic “Tombstone” in 1993, he forged a remarkable seven decade career.
Dub Taylor began his career playing the part of “Cannonball” in about 60 western movies in the 1940’s. He was still performing into the early 1990’s. Much of a “sidekick” in most of his roles, he made appearances in a few notable movies. He played in “The Wild Bunch”, “Major Dundee” and “Bandolero”. As a role player in the movie “The Undefeated”, he played the surly trail cook named McCartney. Not to fond of grits, he later finds himself covered in them after a rollicking free-for-all in the famous “southern hospitality” scene. The fact that his acting stint covered six decades, is the reason he is deservedly credited with over 200 role appearances.
Other character actors worthy of mention include: Chill Wills, Ben Johnson, Bruce Cabot and Edgar Buchanan. All were excellent supporting actors with movie and TV credits over many decades. For the most part, they honed their skills in the western movie arena. I believe that if not for these superb character actors, many a western movie would have lacked quality and depth. These actors should be noted for helping to create many of the best movies ever produced.
