Cowboys Worth Watching

Media entertainment for sprouting Baby Boomers was black and white, and predominately of the Western genre. There were TV Westerns every night of the week.

Terrific black and white Westerns from the 1950's and earlier portray a somewhat historical record of life in America--especially the Civil War of 1861-1865, and the remainer of the 19th Century. That history was less than 100 years old then, and it was a culture that grandma had actually lived in.

Toilets were still outhouses in small North Texas towns in the 1920's. My great Aunt told root cellar stories, and my mom recalled that going to the out house for a midnight visit might involve dealing with snakes or other country critters. Life wasn't like that when I grew up. The techno kids of today probably can't comprehend life without their electronic necessities.
Ages Boomers to school kids can pick up historical culture, and some stories that always ended happily, Happy endings are cliche now, but experiencing one again brings good feelings to my heart. If you are open to this kind of experience, I'd like to share some of the most familiar faces and names with you.

Almost all the popular actors of the time did a Western or two, or more. The good ones played different characters among the weekly series offerings---on three channels.

I stop my list in 1969 because Westerns became few and far between. My highlights from the "post-Western Era" Would be Billy the Kid played by Kris Kristofferson, with Bob Dylan ("Knockin' on Heaven's Door") as a side character. My other favorite is the Young Guns series (I and II) with Emilio Estevez, Keifer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, and Lou Diamond Phillips. Pat Garrett and Doc Holiday have been played by actors of top quality.

This was about 40-50 years before cable television or taped movies, and twenty years before PBS. This was before President Kennedy was assassinated. The world has turned a couple of generations since then. There is high quality TV, now easily available on cable runs or "on demand," of the Western genre. These are some Western Cowboy Movie actors that I admire.

Sergio Leone was the best known director of a series of films, shot in Italy, and consequently called "Spaghetti Westerns." From the actors, scenery, and the music, these movies will move you.


This is 1st draft. Check back. Still brain-storming--next step is alphabetizing.


Clint Eastwood

Lee Van Cleff

Royal Dano

Bruce Dern

Dennis Hopper

John Wayne

James Stewart

Yul Brynner

James Caan

Dean Martin

James Garner

Jim Brown

Angie Dickinson

Mariette Hartley

Dyan Cannon

Ron Howard

Marlon Brando

Gene Hackman

Paul Brinegar

Robert Vaughn

James Coburn

Charles Bronson

Karl Swenson

Clint Walker

Burt Reynolds

Ernest Borgnine

Carroll O'Conner

Richardo Montalban

Steve McQueen

Paul Newman

Robert Redford

Audie Murphy

Jay Silverheels

Clayton Moore

(Robert Salinas? -- High Chap)

Morgan Freeman

Alan Ladd

Adam West

Edgar Buchanan

Jack Nicholson

Tex Ritter (John Ritter's Dad)

Richard Boone

Susan Clark

Katharine Ross

Michael Landon

Dan Blocker

Pernell Roberts

Lorne Green

Paul Fix

Chuck Conners

James Arness

Dennis Weaver

Amanda Blake

Max Baer

Ray Teal

Strother Martin

DeForest Kelly

Leonard Nimoy

William Shatner

Leif Ericson

Cameron Mitchell

Henry Darrow

Linda Crystal

Rudolph Acosta

Sheb Wooley

Slim Pickens

Strother Martin

John McIntire

Clu Gulager

Doug McClure

Lee J Cobb

James Drury

Clark Gable

Robert Duval

Robert Wagner

Cliff Robertson

Gregory Peck

Rock Hudson

Cloris Leachman

Suzanne Pleschette

Barbara Stanwick

Richard Long

Lee Majors

Peter Breck

Glen Ford

Karl Maulden

Trevor Bardette

Richard Evans

Robert Blake

Henry Fonda

Peter Fonda

Alan Hale

Agnes Morehead

Robert Carradine

Brian Keith

Fred MacMurray

Jack Nicholson

Denver Pyle

Joseph Cotten

Walter Matthau

Bruce Dern

Leslie Nielson

John Dehner

James Best

Anthony Perkins

John Smith

James Fuller

Peter Whitney

Dennis Weaver

Festus --

Milburn Stone

Amanda Blake

Bert Reynolds

Charles Bickford

Joan Blondell

Mike Conners

Telly Savalas

LQ Jones

Warren Oates

John Dehner

David Canary

Joan Collins

Mark Slade

Frank Silva

Albert Salmi

Charles Bronson













Suggestions welcome!