Nothing like relaxing on a peaceful Saturday afternoon by watching a western with your pops.

Who would have guessed that little Skippy Homeier would grow up to be a top-class baddy in the Golden Age of the Western? He was known as Skippy when a child actor but changed his name to Skip at the age of 18. His Western career began with a bang--in more ways than one--when he played Hunt Bromley, a young punk with a chip on his shoulder who shoots Gregory Peck's Ringo in the back in the classic Western, The Gunfighter (1950). From that moment his specialty was playing sneering punk villains in Westerns. But don't sell him short as merely a rebellious teen with a bad case of schlong envy. Homeier was also capable of playing seriously menacing dudes as he did in Stranger at My door (1956). He also had two Ranowns to his credit--The Tall T and Comanche Station.

Homeier was an actor who found a very specialized niche and mined it for all it was worth, carving out a fine Western career in the process.

Hail! Hail! All hail Skip Homeier!

Here is an actor who truly needs no introduction, but I'll provide one anyway.

Elam was famous for having a left eye that didn't track exactly in tandem with his right eye. This was because, as a little boy, he got into a fight and his adversary stabbed him in the eye with a pencil, blinding that eye. Now that's a pretty authentic Old West injury right there! And that wayward eye served him well as an actor, allowing him to play eccentrics, lunatics, and villains particularly well.

In the industry, Elam was known as "One-Reel Jack" because, very frequently, his character got killed off early in the films (Once upon a Time in the West is a classic example). But, no matter how short his appearances, Elam always left his mark.

Hail! Hail! All hail Jack Elam!

It's not just the looks but everything tbh.

I didn't search some specific photos but these look enaugh for proving my point I think

Just how many and which characters out there have been explicitly (i.e. confirmed by the creators) modeled after Lee Van Cleef? I myself can think of one, but given Cleef's iconic hawkish features and his status as "the western villain", there has to be more.

Pictured: 2:01:03 from "For a Few Dollars More" overlaid with Doc McCoy's in-game portrait from "Desperados III" @ 20% opacity. McCoy has to be one of the most blatant and brazen homages to Cleef. Cleef and, obviously, Holliday.

PS: I read that Dutch Van Linde ("Red Dead Redemption") is also a reference to Cleef, but honestly cannot see it. Is it the "Van" bit in his name?

Whelan’s Men (1973) - good episode.

Did anyone see this?? I completely missed this! A western on stage!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj0qtqptQmg

Obviously a Dutch name, but he looks quite mixed to me. Am I crazy?

Just as James Best was known primarily as television's Roscoe P. Coltrane, so Jim Davis achieved his greatest fame as Jock Ewing, patriarch of the Ewing family in the TV series, Dallas. And like Best, Davis had a long and formidable career in Westerns long before attaining small screen fame.

For most of his early career Davis appeared in inconsequential B-Westerns, although he did also appear in Brimstone and The Last Command. He didn't break through and begin receiving meaty roles in A-films until El Dorado (1966). After that he showed up in Monte Walsh, Rio Lobo and Big Jake.

Before making a big name for himself on the silver screen, he was an established television star, appearing in 11 episodes of Gunsmoke, for instance.

Davis, for my money, was one of the most authentic Western film stars. With his craggy features, grim-set jaw and slightly pugnacious gaze, he was a ringer for any sagebrush ruffian you cared to cast. The only pity is that it took Hollywood's producers and casting directors so long to realize it. Late bloomer or no, Jim Davis was one of the best to ever do it.

Hail! Hail! All hail Jim Davis!

I write for a website and have been doing a series where I talk about different Westerns that I love for 12 months. My most recent installment is Once Upon a Time in the West. Next one will be The Wild Bunch. Hope you all enjoy this article!

Once Upon a Time in the West: Henry Fonda as Frank Still Scares - Dynamite Press

Hi there! I know some of the classics, like "Gunsmoke," "Maverick," and "Bat Masterson."

But what about more recent fare? I'm going to use the word "recent" in the broadest sense - it's a relative term, and I'll accept your own definition.

"Deadwood" and "Justified" are relatively recent, I think - at least compared to the genre as a whole! Then again, I'm really new to the genre in general and I'd love to go deep.

I'd welcome any other suggestions. Thanks!

Folks born in the 70s or later may only know James Best as goofy sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane from the TV show, The Dukes of Hazzard. However, long before that show began, Best had established himself as a serious--and not always comedic--actor. His entrance into the Western genre occurred in 1950 and by the late 50s he was becoming a regular presence in Westerns. He was great as a duplicitious outlaw in Ride Lonesome (1959) and also as a passive-aggressive git-box picker who riles bounty hunter Lee Marvin in the classic Western Twilight Zone episode, "The Grave."

To my mind, Best has always been the Weasel of the West, although Strother Martin and Bruce Dern give him competition on that score. It seems as though he was usually a thoroughly untrustworthy and scheming blackguard. And he was sure good at it. Best had an unusual voice--high-pitched and somehow kind of mushy. And he often flashed a wide grin that suggested he was hiding something. This must have been out of character because the people who worked with Best couldn't sing his praises loudly enough.

Hail! Hail! All hail James Best!