Historically,Westernactors are so synonymous with the silver screen that it’s easy to forget some of the greats who made their names in TV. Whether it’s John Wayne’s surly heroes of the Old West or Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name, the stars we’re used to associating with the genre tend to belong to the movies.
But even thebest Western movie actorshave never achieved what some of their small-screen counterparts have managed. From being the most watched thing in the homes of millions of families, to spending decades successfully playing the same role,the greatest Western TV actors are a class apart from their more celebrated big-screen counterparts.
Most of the big names in this television genre come from the golden age ofTV Westerns, between the mid-1950s and late 1960s. Still, there are multiple modern-day greats of the neo-Western subgenre who’ve earned their spurs in recent years, too. In fact, the best of them are worthy of comparison with their golden age predecessors.
10Kevin Costner
Known for: Hatfields & McCoys, Yellowstone
There’s no question that, were his Western movies taken into account, Kevin Costner would be much higher on this list. Nevertheless, even justas John Dutton and Devil Anse Hatfield on the small screen, Costner earns his place alongside some small-screen pioneers.
AsYellowstone’s central patriarch and the notorious leader of the American Civil War’s most famous family feud,the actor cuts an intimidating figure who commands every scene he’s in,like a Western version of Tony Soprano.Costner’sYellowstoneexitmay have sullied his iconic character’s show ending, but he’s still the biggest and best thing in the series.
9Jack Elam
Known for: Gunsmoke, The Texan, Bonanza, Cheyenne
By the time Jack Elam starred inJohn Wayne’s underrated movieRio Lobo,he was already one of the most experienced actors the Western genre had ever seen.While never playing the lead role in any series, he became such a specialist Western villain that several TV shows kept bringing him back in different guises.
Name a classic Western TV show, and jack Elam probably appeared in it at one time or another.
Elam is most famous for his 15 appearances inGunsmokeas 15 different characters between 1959 and 1972. But he also showed up repeatedly in series such asHave Gun – Will Travel,The Texan,Bonanza, andCheyenne. Name a classic Western TV show, and Jack Elam probably appeared in it at one time or another.
8Richard Boone
Known for: Have Gun – Will Travel
Like Jack Elam, Richard Boone found big-screen recognition starring alongside John Wayne, in one ofWayne’s most famous late-era moviesBig Jake. Contrary to Elam, however, Boone became famous by playing just a single role in a Western TV show.
Boone’s mysterious, mustachioed American Civil War veteran Paladin was one of the first small-screen icons in the genre’s history.
An expert dueler and more than handy in hand-to-hand combat, Paladin’s steely-eyed visagelaid the blueprint for the anti-heroes of later spaghetti Westerns, including Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name. Every young Western fan in the late 1950s wanted to be Boone’s enigmatic character. Even watching episodes ofHave Gun – Will Traveltoday, it isn’t hard to see why.
7Jay Silverheels
Known for: The Lone Ranger
WhileThe Lone Ranger’s lead actor, Clayton Moore, might get more attention, Jay Silverheels broke new ground as a TV actor way back in the late 1940s and early 1950s, asTonto was one of the first positive onscreen portrayals of a major Native American character. More than just a sidekick, Tonto was indispensable to Moore’s ironically named protagonist.
Silverheels went on to feature in various otherold-school Western showsafterThe Lone Rangerfinished its eight-year run, includingWagon Train,Gunslinger, andRawhide.Rarely has an indigenous actor done more for the image of Native Americans onscreen. Jay Silverheels was truly ahead of his time.
6Burt Reynolds
Known for: Riverboat, Gunsmoke
Today, Burt Reynolds is seen as an icon of Western cinema. But he got his big break on television back in the late 1950s, playing a leading role in the Western showRiverboat. This part was only a precursor tohis most famous TV role, though, as half-Comanche blacksmith Quint Asper inGunsmoke.
Reynolds’Gunsmokecharacteris a temperamental young rebel out for vengeance, who James Arness’ protagonist Matt Dillon takes under his wing.While the casting of a white actor as a character of Native American descent wouldn’t happen today, the charismatic Reynolds more than left his mark on the show, becoming a key part ofGunsmoke’s most successful period.
5Walter Brennan
Known for: The Real McCoys, The Guns of Will Sonnett
Veteran screen actorWalter Brennan won three Oscarsin his early career, two decades before becoming one of the biggest TV stars of the Western genre.Brennan’s major small-screen Western roles couldn’t be more different from each other, from the genial and absent-minded Grandpa Amos in the sitcomThe Real McCoys, to gunslinging title character inThe Guns of Will Sonnett.
The contrast between these two roles speaks to Brennan’s talent and range as an actor, as he reinvented himself asone of the most comforting faces of television in the late 1950s and the 1960s. While neither of his roles is as iconic as those of other stars on this list, as a Western actor, few could match him.
4Clint Eastwood
Known for: Rawhide
Before he became a cinematic legend in Sergio Leone’sDollars Trilogyand his ownDirty Harryfranchise, Clint Eastwood needed a Western TV show to help him become a major star of the screen.WhileEastwood’s role as Rowdy Yates inRawhidehas little to do with his most famous big-screen characters, his onscreen magnetism was palpable throughout the show.
Clint Eastwood’s first TV Western role was actually in an episode of the comedy seriesMaverickopposite James Garner.
What’s more, in one scene where Eastwood’s character faces down guest-star Charles Bronson,we get a taste of the archetypal Western anti-hero he was about to become. The star outshone his fellow protagonist Eric Fleming to makeRawhideone of the two biggest Western shows on television for most of its run, before becoming an even bigger big-screen great.
3Barbara Stanwyck
Known for: Wagon Train, Rawhide, The Big Valley
After starring in some of themost underrated Western movies of the 1950s,Barbara Stanwyck became a regular fixture on television during the latter part of her career. Her star quality helped boost the ratings forWagon TrainandRawhidein their early seasons, before she cemented her legacy in the Western genre in her landmark showThe Big Valley.
By the timeThe Big Valleyconcluded its fourth season, Westerns were no longer exclusively the preserve of male leads.
Stanwyck dominated the screen in a genre with virtually no other female protagonists at the time, andher barnstorming performance as widowed matriarch Victoria Barkleyproves that she’s more than a match for her male counterparts. By the timeThe Big Valleyconcluded its fourth season, Westerns were no longer exclusively the preserve of male leads.
2James Arness
Known for: Gunsmoke, The Macahans, How the West Was Won
Along with Milburn Stone, James Arness is one of just twoactors to appear in all 20 seasons ofGunsmoke, arguably the greatest Western series in television history.Arness playedGunsmoke’s chief protagonist, US Marshal Matt Dillon, straight down the middle,and it worked like a charm for the show’s unprecedented two-decade run.
He was the face, the voice, the moral compass, and the heart ofGunsmoke, unselfishly playing the anchor role while other, more colorful characters came and went around him. No one has ever played a more iconic role in a Western TV show, and it’s likely that no one ever will.
1Timothy Olyphant
Known for: Deadwood, Justified, Fargo, Justified: City Primeval
As good as Will Arness is inGunsmoke,Timothy Olyphant boasts a résumé that no other Western TV actor can match.From hisbreakout role as steely sheriff Seth Bullock inDeadwood, to his stoic, fugitive-hunting marshal Raylan Givens inJustified, Olyphant plays small-screen Western protagonists with a balance of grit and depth that his classic-era forerunners couldn’t compare with.
It’s surprising thatOlyphant hasn’t starred in Taylor Sheridan’s Western shows, given how consummately the actor has perfected the neo-Western subgenre. Either way, as long as his most famous hero, Givens, has something to say about it, we’ll continue seeing him acting inWesternTV shows for many years to come.
