14 Underrated Classic TV Cowboys (and Cowgirls) That Still Stand Tall
In a world of TV Westerns, we all know about Marshal Matt Dillon, who for 635 Gunsmoke episodes patrolled the hellacious territory of Dodge City, Kansas, for 20 years. Or Clint Eastwood getting his acting chops as Rowdy Yates in Rawhide. Of course, there are also the boys of the Ponderosa Ranch in Bonanza under their widowed father’s watchful eye, and Chuck Connors, who played Lucas McCain in The Rifleman, who was among the first-ever single parents on TV, but what about some of the other TV Cowboys, or Cowgirl stars that sometimes get overlooked?
Saddle up for a rousing salute to the Wild West and beyond as we look at the unsung TV shows that made this genre great.
Walter Brennan as Will Sonnett in The Guns of Will Sonnett (1967–69)
Everett Collection
Why He Stands Tall: Walter Brennan was 73 when he first starred in this memorable two-season series as an old man in search of his son. In a sense, this was the swan song cowboy performance for the first man to win three Oscars. Brennan’s distinctive voice and five-decade career were the stuff of legend.
The Star at His Western Best: Brennan was a Hollywood Western legend and one of the most decorated stars ever. Those three Oscars? They were all Supporting Actor wins: Come and Get It (1936), Kentucky (1938), and The Westerner (1940, below, with Gary Cooper). Along with that last one, his Western movie cred is writ large, thanks in part to the several films he made with John Wayne. In 1948’s Red River, he played the cook on a bitter, plagued cattle drive run by Wayne’s Tom Dunson. And he was a lame but very dangerous deputy alongside Wayne in 1959’s Rio Bravo. And in an absolutely terrific, vicious role in My Darling Clementine as Old Man Clanton, he famously whipped and chastised his sons with the words, “When you pull a gun, kill a man!”
Hugh O’Brian as Wyatt Earp in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955–61)
Everett Collection
Why He Stands Tall “Brave, courageous and bold,” as the opening theme song suggested, Hugh O’Brian’s Earp was indeed a stalwart figure, dressing the part and carrying an extra-long Buntline Special revolver that became a toy craze among fans during its six seasons. The series ended with the aftermath of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
The Star at His Western Best: Cast in part because of his physical resemblance to Earp, O’Brian played the famed frontier marshal as a man of conscience. Wanting to be as proficient as possible with a gun, O’Brian said he spent a thousand or more hours practicing the quick draw after getting his signature role. It loomed large throughout his career, ending in 1994 with the TV film Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone, which mixed new footage with colorized scenes from the original series. Prior to the original long-running series, he won a Golden Globe thanks to a supporting role in the 1953 Glenn Ford starrer The Man From the Alamo. And, in perhaps a nod to his noted place in the genre, he played one of the three men out to kill the notorious J.B. Books in John Wayne’s final film, 1970’s The Shootist.
James Drury as The Virginian in The Virginian (1962–71)
Gene Trindl/TV Guide/courtesy Everett Collection
Why He Stands Tall: Drury’s maternal grandfather came West with a wagon train, and Drury spent winters in Oregon on the family’s 100-acre ranch, watching his grandfather determinedly do everything. Drury imbued the show’s unnamed title character with that same solid temperament as foreman of Shiloh Ranch, keeping everybody safe between sips of whiskey for nine seasons on the first-ever 90-minute color Western TV series. “In his career, my grandfather was a rancher and a cowboy and a dirt farmer…. He taught me to shoot, he taught me my knowledge of how to survive in the woods, and we were constantly camping, hunting, and fishing.” That training from a young age helped Drury wear the hat and gun belt of the famed mystery man who sprang from Owen Wister’s seminal 1902 novel The Virginian, a Horseman of the Plains. The Wild West’s original “Man With No Name” kept law and order in the Wyoming Territory for 249 episodes.
The Star at His Western Best: Prior to his time on The Virginian, Drury costarred in a number of Western films, including roles opposite Richard Widmark in the 1956 American Indian Wars drama The Last Wagon. In the 1960 Disney Western Ten Who Dared, he played a Civil War vet helping to explore the West. And he had a small but pivotal role in the Sam Peckinpah classic Ride the High Country, the 1962 drama that was the legendary Randolph Scott‘s final film.
Richard Boone as Paladin in Have Gun—Will Travel (1957–63)
Everett Collection
Why He Stands Tall: By day, he was a wine-sipping, opera-attending, custom suit-wearing, expert chess-playing man of class and head of the San Francisco Stock Exchange Club. But as his business card read, “Have Gun Will Travel.” (Popular 1950s advertising line “Have Tux, Will Travel” influenced the name of the series, and the phrase then became even more popular.) And once you hired this gentleman mercenary—played by the darkly debonair Richard Boone, a relative of Daniel Boone—you’d find that no gun in the mid-1870s West was more lethal than his. The warm but cynical private eye righted wrongs—paladin means “a leading champion of a cause”—and purged some demons of his own along the way.
The Star at His Western Best: Boone was incredibly comfortable playing both complicated heroes and mighty bad guys in his films. In 1957’s The Tall T, he was a ruthless kidnapper and killer up against Randolph Scott, with Maureen O’Sullivan in the middle. In the 1964 Western Rio Conchos, he was an ex-Confederate officer seeking vengeance on those who killed his family. And in The Shootist (1970), he played one of three outlaws trying to kill John Wayne’s J.B. Books in the Duke’s swan song film.
Guy Williams as Zorro in Zorro (1957–59)
Walt Disney Co./Courtesy: Everett Collection
Why He Stands Tall: As an accomplished swordsman, Zorro was known throughout 78 episodes as warm and sympathetic when aiding Hispanic settlers and Indigenous peoples oppressed in 1820s California by a local corrupt military. The series had a rare combination of action, adventure, and suspense, whether Williams was portraying Don Diego de la Vega in the light of day or his alter ego Zorro slashing Zs after dark.
William Boyd as Hopalong Cassidy in Hopalong Cassidy (1952–54)
Everett Collection
Why He Stands Tall: As the first Western TV series, Hopalong Cassidy helped launch an entire genre of programming and was extremely popular with both kids and adults. Boyd’s character was featured on the covers of Life, Look, and Time, helping to fuel a wave of additional Western series. As a gunfighter on the right side of the law, Hoppy was seen as a consummate hero when rounding up the bad guys.
Ward Bond as Major Seth Adams in Wagon Train (1957–61)
Everett Collection
Why He Stands Tall: The military bearing of Seth Adams was apparent even before everyone called him “Major.” Authoritative and focused, he sized up people quickly and was a man of few words, though they were powerful. The Major’s not about to be a nursemaid to anyone, but he was kind and committed to helping settlers cross the country, while warding off all who came to harm anyone on his wagon train.
Wagon Train was the final role for Bond, one of the most prolific Western character actors in Hollywood history, and a charter member—alongside John Wayne—in director John Ford’s “stock company” of stars. Among his Westerns: My Darling Clementine, Fort Apache, The Searchers, Rio Bravo, 3 Godfathers, and Hondo.
Dale Robertson as Special Agent Jim Hardie in Tales of Wells Fargo (1957–62)
Why He Stands Tall: Hardie was a skilled gunman who protected stagecoaches, tracked down outlaws and recovered stolen goods. In navigating the challenges of the late-1800s American frontier, he often encountered historical figures like Jesse James and Billy the Kid. Known for his quick thinking and bravery, Hardie balanced his duties as a Wells Fargo agent with managing a ranch. The series combined action, drama, and historical storytelling.
Clint Walker as Cheyenne Bodie in Cheyenne (1955–62)
Everett Collection
Why He Stands Tall: At six-foot-six and with a determined but gentle disposition, ex-frontier scout Cheyenne Bodie roamed the West righting wrongs for seven seasons. His journey defied his origins—Bodie’s parents were killed by Native Americans, and he was raised by the Cheyenne tribe until a white family adopted him as a young teen. (That was pretty fascinating, forward-thinking for television in 1955.) The show—TV’s first hourlong dramatic series—and the kind temperament of the character made a big star of the strapping Walker, who also had some additional success in the genre. During his run on Cheyenne, he played the title role in Yellowstone Kelly (1959), loosely based on the life of the quiet trapper. And in one of Walker’s favorites of his films, 1966’s The Night of the Grizzly (1966), he played a former lawman trying to stake his rightful claim in a Wyoming town.
Fionnula Flanagan as Molly Culhane in How the West Was Won (1978–79)
Everett Collection
Why She Stands Tall: Irish-born Fionnula Flanagan received her second Emmy nomination portraying Aunt Molly in this sprawling series set throughout the Civil War, Gold Rush, and beyond. She joins the Macahan clan, headed up by rugged frontiersman Zeb (James Arness), to help raise her deceased sister’s children (including a young Bruce Boxleitner). As they travel west and later plant roots in Wyoming, Molly becomes a much-needed and beloved character with her “get things done” attitude. Whipping the lazy into shape and living by example, she works hard mentally and physically so they all can have a better life.
Gail Davis as Annie Oakley in Annie Oakley (1954–57)
TV Guide/Courtesy Everett Collection
Why She Stands Tall: In this fictional telling of the legendary American sharpshooter, Annie is a brave and strong independent woman who calls her own shots. When trouble starts, Deputy Sheriff Lofty Craig (Brad Johnson) is there to help Annie uphold justice and protect the town of Diablo, Arizona. Jimmy Hawkins plays Annie’s little brother, Tagg, appearing in 80 of the 81 episodes.
Guy Madison as Wild Bill Hickok in The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951–58)
Everett Collection
Why He Stands Tall: Hickok, the Wild West’s first real pop culture hero, had an inimitable look, a legendary mustache, issues with drink and poor eyesight. Madison’s version ignores all that and is instead one of the definitive tall, handsome Western TV figures of the genre’s golden age, protecting the innocent everywhere, with Andy Devine as his comic sidekick Jingles. His rootin’, tootin’ ridin’ and shootin’ in the opening credits still look great.
Barbara Stanwyck as Victoria Barkley in The Big Valley (1965–69)
Everett Collection
Why She Stands Tall: Good luck messing with Victoria Barkley, matriarch of the family’s Stockton, California, ranch and formidable queen of the West. Already decades into a stellar film career—The Lady Eve, Double Indemnity, Stella Dallas—Stanwyck lent enormous presence, not to mention incredible toughness, to the role, caring deeply for her sons but also facing plenty of challenges with the resilience she famously brought to many of her other roles.
Leif Erickson as Big John Cannon in The High Chaparral (1967–71)
Everett Collection
Why He Stands Tall: The determined Big John Cannon faces conflict on all sides and somehow remains a peacemaker. Trying to build a cattle empire in the Arizona Territory in the 1870s, he must first deal with the killing of his wife by an Apache arrow. To keep the Apache at bay, John allies with a powerful Mexican rancher, but to solidify their bond, he agrees to marry the rancher’s young daughter (Linda Cristal, right, with Erickson). Connections remain uneasy—even with his brother Buck (Cameron Mitchell), who fought with the Confederacy while Big John joined the Union Army. Somehow, with wisdom and strength, Big John stands tall and makes it all work.
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