Ethan Edwards in The Searchers (1956) 

Reuben J. 'Rooster' Cogburn in True Grit (1969)

Arguably the most popular -- and certainly the busiest -- movie leading man in Hollywood history, John Wayne entered the film business while working as a laborer on the Fox lot during summer vacations from U.S.C., which he attended on a football scholarship.

Matt Dillon in Gunsmoke (1955-1975)

In 1955, John Wayne was offered the role of Matt Dillon in the TV version of the popular radio series Gunsmoke. Wayne turned it down but recommended that Arness be cast and even went so far as to introduce Wayne to the nation's viewers in a specially filmed prologue to the first Gunsmoke episode.

Himself in Back in the Saddle (1941)

Legend has it that while working as a telegrapher late one evening, Autry passed the time by singing and plunking the guitar whereupon he was advised to pursue a show business career by a drop-in visitor who turned out to be cowboy humorist Will Rogers. Whatever the case, Autry left railroad work behind to try his luck as a local radio performer.

Hoss Cartwright in Bonanza (1959-72)

Big, burly Dan Blocker only did a handful of movies in his 17-year acting career, but he became one of the most beloved and popular television stars of the 1960s for his portrayal of Hoss Cartwright on the Western series Bonanza. Weighing 14 pounds at birth, Blocker was the largest baby ever born in Bowie County, TX. At 18, he stood 6'3" and weighed close to 300 pounds.

Paladin in Have Gun Will Travel (1957-63)

Gen. Sam Houston in  The Alamo (1960)

Rough-hewn American leading man Richard Boone was thrust into the cold cruel world when he was expelled from Stanford University, for a minor infraction. From 1957 through 1963, Boone portrayed Paladin, erudite western soldier of fortune, on the popular western series Have Gun, Will Travel. He directed several episodes of this series.

Dutch Engstrom in The Wild Bunch (1969)

Born Ermes Effron Borgnino in Hamden, CT, to Italian immigrants, he spent five years of his early childhood in Milan before returning to the States for his education. Following a long stint in the Navy that ended after WWII, Borgnine enrolled in the Randall School of Dramatic Art in Hartford.

Hopalong Cassidy in Hopalong Cassidy (1949-51)

William Boyd had created the character of Hopalong Cassidy for "B" movie features and the first episodes were adaptations of those. Later the character of Red Connors was added (Edgar Buchanan) and from 1951 to 1952, Hopalong rode for another 52 episodes. That's how popular the character had become.

Stumpy in Rio Bravo (1959)

Old Man Clanton in My Darling Clementine (1946)

American actor Walter Brennan had plans early in life to be an engineer, but the lure of amateur theatricals changed his destiny. During World War I, Brennan fell victim to a poison gas attack which permanently affected his vocal chords, resulting in the reedy, codger-like tones which would earn him "old" character parts even when he was a young man.

Bernardo O'Reilly The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Harmonica Once Upon A Time In The West (1968)

The son of a Lithuanian coal miner, American actor Charles Bronson claimed to have spoken no English at home during his childhood in Pennsylvania. Though he managed to complete high school, it was expected that Bronson would go into the mines like his father and many brothers. 

Chris Adams in The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Gunslinger in  Futureworld (1976)

During his lifetime, it was hard to determine when and where actor Yul Brynner was born, simply because he changed the story in every interview; confronted with these discrepancies late in life, he replied "Ordinary mortals need but one birthday." At any rate, it appears that Brynner's mother was part Russian and his father part Swiss.

Chico in The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Wiry and intense German leading man Horst Buchholz appeared in many British and Hollywood films where he was usually cast as a romantic lead. During his youth he frequently appeared on radio and stage; he entered films as a voice-over actor in the dubbing of foreign pictures.

Britt in The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Derek Flint in Our Man Flint (1966)

James Coburn was an actor whose style allowed him to comfortably embrace drama, action, and comedy roles, and many of his best-known performances found him blending elements of all these styles in roles that overflowed with charisma and a natural charm.

Lucas McCain in The Rifleman (1958 -1963)

Swifty Morgan inSupport Your Local Gunfighter (1971)

In films, Connors played a variety of heavies, including raspy-voiced gangster Johnny O in Designing Woman (1957) and swaggering bully Buck Hannassy in The Big Country (1958). He switched to the Good Guys in 1958, when he was cast as frontiersman-family man Lucas McCain on the popular TV Western series The Rifleman. 

James West in Wild, Wild West (1965-69)

Cast as frontier secret agent James West in The Wild Wild West in 1965, Conrad brought home $5000 a week during the series' first season and enjoyed increasing remunerations as West remained on the air until 1969. There are those who insist that Wild Wild West would have been colorless without the co-starring presence of Ross Martin, an opinion with which Conrad has always agreed.

Will Kane in High Noon (1952)

American actor Gary Cooper was born on the Montana ranch of his wealthy father, and educated in a prestigious school in England -- a dichotomy that may explain how the adult Cooper was able to combine the ruggedness of the frontiersman with the poise of a cultured gentleman.

Wyatt Earp in Wyatt Earp (1994)

Lt. John W. Dunbar in Dances with Wolves  (1990)

One of Hollywood's most prominent strong, silent types, Kevin Costner was for several years the celluloid personification of the baseball industry. The actor made an indelible mark with baseball-themed hits like Bull Durham and Field of Dreams, as well as his epic Western Dances with Wolves and the 1994 movie Wyatt Earp.

Mark McCain in The Rifleman (1958-1963)

A former Mousketeer, Johnny Crawford is best remembered for playing young Mark McCain on The Rifleman (1958-1963). His career slowed after he reached adulthood when he was relegated to supporting roles.

Festus Haggen in Gunsmoke (1955-75)

The Ken Curtis that most western fans are familiar with is the scraggly rustic deputy Festus Haggen on the long-running TV Western Gunsmoke. Ken was hired to replace Dennis Weaver (who'd played deputy Chester Good) in 1964, and remained with Gunsmoke until the series ended its 20-year run in 1975.

Harry Luck in The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Kenarsie in  Invitaion to a Gunfighter (1964)

Born Boris Milanovich, Dexter was a square-jawed supporting player and former lead, often cast in tough character roles. As early as his first film, 1950's The Asphalt Jungle, the talented Dexter found himself overshadowed by the star power of Sterling Hayden, James Whitmore, Louis Calhern and Marilyn Monroe.

Doc Holliday in The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

Once quoted as saying "I've made a career of playing sons of bitches," Kirk Douglas is considered by many to be the epitome of the Hollywood hard man. In addition to acting in countless films over the course of his long career, Douglas has served as a director and producer.

The Virginian in The Virginian (1962-71)

Drury spent nine years in TV's The Virginian, during which time Drury's reputation for stubbornness on the set and reluctance to reveal anything of himself in interviews earned him the soubriquet. James Drury wasn't seen much after The Virginian, though he did show up on the small screen

The Man With No Name  The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

The Man With No Name  For a Fistful of Dollars (1964)

With his rugged looks and icon status, Clint Eastwood is one of the few actors whose name on a movie marquee can still guarantee a hit. Less well-known (at least until he won the Academy Award as Best Director for Unforgiven), is the fact that Eastwood is also a producer/director, with an enviable record.

Micah Torrance in The Rifleman (1958-1963)

The son of a brewery owner, steely-eyed American character actor Paul Fix went the vaudeville and stock-company route before settling in Hollywood in 1926.  His most familiar role was as the honest but often ineffectual sheriff Micah Torrance on the TV series The Rifleman. Fix also appeared as Dr. Piper in the early episodes of Star Trek, The Original Series.

Wyatt Earp in My Darling Clementine (1946)

Frank in Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

One of the cinema's most enduring actors, Henry Fonda enjoyed a highly successful career spanning close to a half century. Most often in association with director John Ford, he starred in many of the finest films of Hollywood's golden era. 

Latigo Smith in Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971)

Marshal Zane Cooper in Maverick (1994)

The son of an Oklahoma carpet layer, James Garner did stints in the Army and merchant marines before working as a model. Later went on to star in the TV Western Maverick. The scriptwriters latched on to his gift for understated humor, and, before long, the show had as many laughs as shoot-outs.

Ben Cartwright in Bonanza (1959-72)

White-haired, patriarchal Canadian actor Lorne Greene attended Queen's College in pursuit of a chemical engineering degree. Generally in villainous roles. In 1959, Greene was cast as Ben Cartwright, owner of the Ponderosa ranch and father of three headstrong sons, in TV's Bonanza.

Pike Bishop in The Wild Bunch (1969)

Sefton in Stalag 17 (1953)

The son of a chemical analyst, American actor William Holden plunged into high school and junior college sports activities as a means of "proving himself" to his demanding father. Nonetheless, Holden's forte would be in what he'd always consider a "sissy" profession: acting.

Morgan Earp in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

Wexley in The Law and Jake Wade (1958)

The son of a Baptist minister, actor DeForest Kelley was one of the lucky few chosen to be groomed for stardom by Paramount Pictures' "young talent" program in 1946. Producer/writer Gene Roddenberry took a liking to Kelley and cast the actor in the leading role of a flamboyant criminal attorney in the 1959 TV pilot film 333 Montgomery.

Shane in Shane (1953)

Alan Ladd was a short (5' 5"), unexpressive lead actor with icy good looks and a resonant voice. He worked in a variety of odd jobs before entering films in his late teens as a bit player and grip; he also worked on radio and in local theater. In the mid-'30s he began appearing regularly in minor screen roles.

Sgt. Milton Warden in From Here to Eternity (1953)

Wyatt Earp in The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

Rugged, athletic, and handsome, Burt Lancaster enjoyed phenomenal success from his first film, The Killers, to his last, Field of Dreams -- over a career spanning more than four decades. Boasting an impressively wide range, he delivered thoughtful, sensitive performances across a spectrum of genres.

Little Joe Cartwright in Bonanza (1959-72)

Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie (1975-82)

Michael Landon played the character most beloved by audiences-Little Joe Cartwright.  The youngest member of the family, he was regularly involved in pranks and even more frequently falling madly in love!  After Bonanza,  he went on to star in Little House On The Prairie, as Charles Ingalls, and later as Jonathan Smith, the heavenly angel, in Highway To Heaven

Dude inRio Bravo (1959)

Tom Elder inThe Sons of Katie Elder (1965)

Dean Martin found phenomenal success in almost every entertainment venue and, although suffering a few down times during his career, always managed to come out on top. During the '50s, he and partner Jerry Lewis formed one of the most popular comic film duos in filmdom. 

Liberty Valance inThe Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

Kid Shelleen/Tim Strawn in Cat Ballou (1965)

Much like Humphrey Bogart before him, Lee Marvin rose through the ranks of movie stardom
as a character actor, delivering expertly nasty and villainous turns in a series of B-movies before finally graduating to more heroic performances.

Vin in The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Josh Randall in Wanted Dead or Alive (1959-60)

Steve McQueen was the prototypical example of a new sort of movie star which emerged in the 1950s and would come to dominate the screen in the 1960s and '70s -- a cool, remote loner who knew how to use his fists without seeming like a run-of-the-mill tough guy, a thoughtful man in no way an effete intellectual, a rebel who played by his own rules.

Jeff Bailey in Out of the Past (1947)

Sheriff J.P. Harrah inEl Dorado (1967)

The day after 79-year-old Robert Mitchum succumbed to lung cancer, beloved actor James Stewart died, diverting all the press attention that was gearing up for Mitchum. So it has been for much of his career. Not that Mitchum wasn't one of Hollywood's most respected stars, he was.

Tom McCall in The Drifter (1929) 

Mix served as a Texas Ranger and was, in fact, a legitimate champion rodeo rider and a genuine true blood cowboy, though it was Mix himself that was responsible for his greatest accomplishments, and not the active imaginations of starry-eyed publicists.

Colorado Ryan in Rio Bravo(1959)

The famous offspring of actors Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Hilliard Nelson, Rick Nelson (born Eric Hilliard Nelson) began performing on his parents' radio show when he was only four.  Nelson made his feature-film debut in A Story of Three Loves. He earned critical acclaim as a cocky young gunfighter in Rio Bravo starring opposite John Wayne and Dean Martin.

Butch Cassidy in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

In a business where public scandal and bad-boy behavior are the rule rather than the exception, Paul Newman is as much a hero offscreen as on. A blue-eyed matinee idol whose career has successfully spanned five decades, he is also a prominent social activist, a major proponent of actors' creative rights, and a noted philanthropist.

Jack Wilson in Shane (1953)

Curly in City Slickers (1991) 

One of the screen's most grizzled actors, Jack Palance defines true grit for many a filmgoer. The son of a coal miner, he was born Walter Jack Palahnuik on February 18, 1920, in Lattimer Mines, Pennsylvania. His background undoubtedly helped mold his tough on-screen persona

Taggart in Blazing Saddles (1974)

Though he spoke most of his movie dialogue in a slow Western drawl, actor Slim Pickens was a pure-bred California boy. An expert rider from the age of four, Pickens was performing in rodeos at 12. Three years later, he quit school to become a full-time equestrian and bull wrangler, eventually becoming the highest-paid rodeo clown in show business.

Sundance Kid in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

The rugged, dashingly handsome Robert Redford was among the biggest movie stars of the 1970s. While an increasingly rare onscreen presence in subsequent years, he remained a powerful motion-picture industry force as an Academy Award-winning director as well as a highly visible champion of American independent filmmaking.

Adam Cartwright in Bonanza (1959-66)

Pernell Roberts worked such odd jobs as butcher, forest ranger and tombstone-maker while studying acting and singing and scouting around for off-Broadway jobs. Roberts' film debut, in a characteristic Deep Brooder role, was in 1958's Desire Under the Elms. From 1959 through 1966, Roberts co-starred as black-clad, taciturn Adam Cartwright on Bonanza. 

Roy Rogers in The Roy Rogers Show

Through the early '50s he starred in dozens of Westerns, often accompanied by his horse, Trigger (billed "the smartest horse in the movies"), and his sidekick, Gabby Hayes; his female lead was often Dale Evans, whom he married in 1947. From 1951-57 he starred in the TV series "The Roy Rogers Show.

Wyatt Earp in Tombstone (1993)

Kurt Russell is among the few to make the successful transition from child star to successful adult actor. As a youth, Russell aspired to follow the footsteps of his father, Bing Russell, who, in addition to being a big league baseball player, was also an actor. That his heroes Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris did the same thing only strengthened Russell's resolve to have both a baseball and acting career.

Gil Westrum in Ride the High Country (1962)

Ben Brigade in Ride Lonesome (1959)

In the mid '30s he began landing better roles, both as a romantic lead and as a costar. Later he became a Western star, and from the late '40s to the '50s he starred exclusively in big-budget color Westerns. From 1950-53 he was one of the top ten box-office attractions. Later in the '50s he played the aging cowboy hero in a series of B-Westerns movies.

Linus Rawlings in How the West Was Won (1962)

Ransom Stoddard in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

James Stewart was the movies' quintessential Everyman, a uniquely all-American performer who parlayed his easygoing persona into one of the most successful and enduring careers in film history.

Angel Eyes Sentenza in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

Colonel Mortimer in  For a Few Dollars More (1965)

Following a wartime tour with the Navy, New Jersey-born Lee Van Cleef supported himself as an accountant. Like fellow accountant-turned-actor Jack Elam, Van Cleef was advised by his clients that he had just the right satanic facial features to thrive as a movie villain.

Lee in  The Magnificent Seven (1960)

To hear him tell it, Robert Vaughn has spent most of his acting career getting very well paid for being artistically frustrated.Though Oscar-nominated for his performance as a crippled, alcoholic war veteran in The Young Philadelphians (1959), Vaughn didn't rise to full stardom until 1964, where he was signed to play ultra-cool secret agent Napoleon Solo in the TV espionage series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1964-1968).

Ramón Rojo in  For a Fistful of Dollars (1964)

Indio in  For a Few Dollars More (1967)

Milan-born actor/political activist Gian Maria Volonté was trained at the Academia Nazionale de Arti Drammatica. Volonté's first film appearance was in the internationally produced Under Ten Flags (1960). He gained worldwide prominence with his apolitical performances in such spaghetti westerns as A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1965).

Tuco in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

Calvera in  The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Long before earning his B.A. from the University of Texas and his M.A. in Education from C.C.N.Y., Eli Wallach made his first on-stage appearance in a 1930 amateur production. After World War II service and intensive training at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse, the bumpy-nosed, gravel-voiced Wallach debuted on Broadway in Skydrift (1945)

Himself in Hare Trigger (1945)

Himself in Knighty Knight Bugs (1958)

Known for playing the roughest, toughest, meanest, old prospector west of the Pecos, Yosemite Sam's slapstick physical humor always sets his audiences laughing. This rootin', tootin', six gun shootin', varmit-huntin' wild man of the west believes in his own innate superiority and charges his way into one misadventure after another.

Himself in Bonanza Bunny (1959)

Himself in We Hare (1962)

A Nasty little fellow with a French accent who faced Bugs Bunny in two cartoons. Blacque Jacque Shellacque was the French-Canadian answer to Yosemite Sam. He was known to be "WANTED" for Claim Jumping, Pogo Sticking and of course Square Dance Calling!!!