Character Name
| Image
| Role — Venue
| Years
| Actor
| Horse's Name |
Adam Cartwright |
|
Son in Bonanza
— 430 TV episodes (more) |
1959-1973 |
Pernell Roberts |
Beauty
|
Adam MacLean |
|
Newpaperman in Man Without a Gun
— 39 TV episodes (more) |
1957-1959 |
Rex Reason |
|
Allan “Rocky” Lane |
|
Cowboy hero in 51 movies
— 38 as “Rocky” (more) |
1946-1953 |
Allan “Rocky” Lane |
Thunder
|
Annie Oakley |
|
Rancher in Annie Oakley
— 83 TV episodes (more) |
1954-1956 |
Gail Davis |
Target
|
Bart Maverick |
|
Gambler in Maverick
— 124 TV episodes (more) |
1957-1962 |
Jack Kelly |
|
Bat Masterson |
|
Lawman in Bat Masterson
— 108 TV episodes (more) |
1959-1961 |
Gene Barry |
Stardust
|
Ben Calhoun |
|
Gambler, railroader in The Iron Horse
— 47 TV episodes (more) |
1966-1968 |
Dale Robertson |
Hannibal
|
Ben Cartwright |
|
Patriarch in Bonanza
— 430 TV episodes (more) |
1959-1973 |
Lorne Greene |
Buck
|
Bret Maverick |
|
Bart's brother in Maverick
— 124 TV episodes (more) |
1957-1962 |
James Garner |
Lo Ball, El Loaner
|
Buck Roberts |
|
Marshal
— 8 movies (more) |
1941-1942 |
Buck Jones |
Silver
|
Buffalo Bob Smith |
|
Host of the Howdy Doody Show (more) |
1947-1960 |
Robert Emil Schmidt |
|
Cat(herine) Ballou |
|
Woman hired gunman in Cat Ballou
— movie (more) |
1965 |
Jane Fonda |
|
Chester Goode |
|
Deputy in Gunsmoke
— about 110 TV episodes (more) |
1955-1964 |
Dennis Weaver |
|
Cheyenne Bodie |
|
Drifter in Cheyenne
— 108 TV episodes (more) |
1955-1963 |
Clint Walker |
Brandy
|
Christopher Colt |
|
Government agent in Colt .45
— 67 TV episodes (more) |
1957-1960 |
Wayde Preston |
|
Cisco Kid, the |
|
Masked Mexican hero The Cisco Kid
— 165 TV epidsodes (more) |
1950-1956 |
Duncan Renaldo |
Diablo
|
Clay Hollister |
|
Sheriff in Tombstone Territory
— 91 TV episodes (more) |
1957-1958 |
Pat Conway |
Mormon
|
Cochise |
|
Indian chief in Broken Arrow
— 73 TV episodes (more) |
1956-1960 |
Michael Ansara |
|
Cord |
|
Fast gun working undercover for the U. S. Army in Gunslinger
— 12 TV episodes (more) |
1961 |
Tony Young |
|
Cordell Walker |
|
Lawman in Walker, Texas Ranger
— 203 TV episodes (more) |
1993-2001 |
Chuck Norris |
|
Dan Troop |
|
Marshal in Lawman
— 156 TV episodes (more) |
1958-1962 |
John Russell |
|
Durango Kid |
|
Alter-ego of deputy Bill Lowry
— 65 movies of various titles (more) |
1940-1952 |
Charles Starrett |
Raider
|
Festus Hagen |
|
Deputy in Gunsmoke
— about 120 TV episodes (more) |
1965-1975 |
Ken Curtis |
Ruth
|
Frank “Flip” Flippen |
|
Sidekick in Overland Trail
— 78 TV episodes (more) |
1957-1959 |
Doug McClure |
Buckskin
|
Frank Morgan |
|
Lawman in Sheriff of Cochise
— 78 TV episodes (more) |
1955-1958 |
John Bromfield |
|
Fred Kelly |
|
Businessman in Overland Trail
— 78 TV episodes (more) |
1957-1959 |
William Bendix |
|
Heath Barkley |
|
Rancher in The Big Valley
— 112 TV episodes (more) |
1965-1969 |
Lee Majors |
Charger
|
Hopalong Cassidy |
|
All-around hero in Hopalong Cassidy
— 52 TV episodes (more) |
1949-1952 |
William Boyd |
Topper
|
Hoss Cartwright |
|
Son in Bonanza
— 430 TV episodes (more) |
1959-1973 |
Dan Blocker |
Chub
|
James West |
|
Secret agent in Wild, Wild West
— 104 TV episodes (more) |
1965-1969 |
Robert Conrad |
Hobby
|
Jason McCord |
|
Undercover gunfighter in Branded
— 48 TV episodes (more) |
1965-1966 |
Chuck Connors |
Domino
|
Jeff Sonnet |
|
With his grandfather, a gunfighter looking for his father in Guns of Will Sonnett
— 50 TV episodes (more) |
1967-1969 |
Dack Rambo |
|
Jess Harper |
|
Drifter in Laramie
— 124 TV episodes (more) |
1959-1963 |
Robert Fuller |
Traveler
|
Jim Bowie |
|
Frontiersman in The Adventures of Jim Bowie
— 76 TV episodes (more) |
1956-1958 |
Scott Forbes |
|
Jim Hardie |
|
Agent, rancher in Tales of Wells Fargo
— 167 TV episodes (more) |
1957-1962 |
Dale Robertson |
Jubilee
|
Jingles |
|
Sidelick in The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
— 113 TV episodes (more) |
1951-1958 |
Andy Devine |
Joker
|
Joe Riley |
|
Texas ranger in Laredo
— 56 TV episodes (more) |
1965-1967 |
William Smith |
Buttermilk
|
Johnny Ringo |
|
Lawman in Johnny Ringo
— 38 TV episodes (more) |
1959-1960 |
Don Durant |
Bingo
|
Josey Wales |
|
Avenging farmer in The Outlaw, Josey Wales
— movie (more) |
1976 |
Clint Eastwood |
|
Josh Randall |
|
Bounty hunter in Wanted: Dead or Alive
— 94 TV episodes (more) |
1958-1961 |
Steve McQueen |
Ringo
|
Kit Carson |
|
Drifter in The Adventures of Kit Carson
— 104 TV episodes (more) |
1951-1955 |
Bill Williams |
Apache
|
Little Joe Cartwright |
|
Son in Bonanza
— 430 TV episodes (more) |
1959-1973 |
Michael Landon |
Cochise
|
Lone Ranger, the
(Real name was John Reid) |
|
Good guy in The Lone Ranger
— 221 TV episodes (more) |
1949-1957 |
Clayton Moore
(From 1952-1953, played by John Hart) |
Silver
|
Lone Rider, the
(Real name was Tom Cameron) |
|
Gunfighter
— 11 movies with various titles (more) |
1941-1942 |
George Houston |
Shamrock
|
Lucas McCain |
|
Rancher in The Rifleman
— 169 TV episodes (more) |
1958-1963 |
Chuck Connors |
Blue Boy, Razor
|
Lucky Luke |
|
Belgian comic character
—
comic books (more) |
orig. 1948 |
Lucky Luke |
Jolly Jumper
|
Matt Dillon |
|
U.S. marshal in Gunsmoke
— 633 TV episodes (more) |
1955-1975 |
James Arness |
Buck
|
McLintock, George Washington |
|
Cattle baron in McLintock!
— movie (more) |
1963 |
John Wayne |
Beau
|
Mike Dunbar, Marshal |
|
Marshal in Wichita Town
— 26 TV episodes (more) |
1959-1960 |
Joel McCrea |
Outlaw
|
Nick Barkley |
|
Rancher in The Big Valley
— 112 TV episodes (more) |
1965-1969 |
Peter Breck |
Coco
|
Paladin |
|
Hired gunfighter in Have Gun - Will Travel
— 226 TV episodes (more) |
1957-1963 |
Richard Boone |
Rafter
|
Pat Garrett |
|
Deputy sheriff in The Tall Man
— 75 TV episodes (more) |
1960-1962 |
Barry Sullivan |
|
Pecos Bill |
|
Fictional cowboy cartoon character, probably invented by Edward O'Reilly in 1923
— (featured in a 1948 Disney cartoon) |
1923-now
(see also) |
1948 movie begins as a story told by Roy Rogers |
Widow Maker
|
Pancho |
|
Side-kick to the masked Mexican hero The Cisco Kid
— 165 TV epidsodes (more) |
1950-1956 |
Leo Carrillo |
Loco
|
Ranald S. MacKenzie |
|
Colonel in MacKenzies Raiders
— 39 TV episodes (more) |
1957-1959 |
Richard Carlson |
|
The Range Rider |
|
Principled and tough Range Rider and his boyish sidekick
— 78 TV episodes (more)
(The Range Rider's real name was unknown) |
1951-1953 |
Jock Mahoney |
Rawhide
|
Red Ryder |
|
Gunfighter
— TV series, comic books, radio, and 27 movies of various titles
(more)
(Red Ryder comic strip created in 1938 by Stephen Slesinger) |
1940s |
Don “Red” Barry (shown here),
Allan Lane,
Bill Elliott and
Jim Bannon |
Thunder
|
Reese Bennett |
|
Lawman in Laredo
— 56 TV episodes (more) |
1965-1967 |
Neville Brand |
Cactus
|
Rooster Cogburn |
|
U.S. marshal in Rooster Cogburn
— movie (more) |
1975 |
John Wayne |
|
Rowdy Yates |
|
Cowboy in Rawhide
— 217 TV episodes (more) |
1959-1966 |
Clint Eastwood |
Midnight
|
Roy Bean, Judge |
|
Judge in Judge Roy Bean
— 39 TV episodes (more) |
1956-1956 |
Edgar Buchanan |
|
Sam Buckhart |
|
Marshal in Law of the Plainsman
— 34 TV episodes (more) |
1959-1960 |
Michael Ansara |
|
Sam McCloud |
|
Detective in McCloud
— 20 TV episodes (more) |
1970-1977 |
Dennis Weaver |
|
Seth Adams |
|
Wagonmaster in Wagon Train
— 284 TV episodes (more) |
1957-1963 |
Ward Bond |
|
Shane |
|
Drifter, gunfighter in Shane
— movie (more) |
1953 |
Alan Ladd |
|
Shotgun Slade |
> |
Detective in Shotgun Slade
— 78 TV episodes (more) |
1959-1961 |
Scott Brady |
|
Simon Fry |
|
Marshal in The Deputy
— 76 TV episodes (more) |
1959-1961 |
Henry Fonda |
|
Slim Sherman |
|
Brother in Laramie
— 124 TV episodes (more) |
1959-1963 |
John Smith |
Alamo
|
Stony Brooke |
|
One of the Three Mesquiteers
— 29 movies (more) |
1936-1941 |
Bob Livingston |
Shamrock
|
Sundance |
|
Part owner of a hotel in Colorado in Hotel de Paree
— 32 TV episodes (more) |
1959-1960 |
Earl Holliman |
|
Tagg Oakley |
|
Annie’s brother in Annie Oakley
— 83 TV episodes (more) |
1953-1957 |
Jimmy Hawkins |
Pixie
|
Tate |
|
One armed gunfighter in Tate
— 13 TV episodes (more) |
1960 |
David McLean |
|
Temple Houston |
|
Son of the legendary Sam Houston, traveled the circuit
courts in the Southwest in Temple Houston
— 27 TV episodes (more) |
1963-64 |
Jeffrey Hunter |
|
Texan, the
(The Texan’s real name was Bill Longley) |
|
Gunslinger in The Texan
— 79 TV episodes (more) |
1958-1960 |
Rory Calhoun |
Domino
|
Texas John Slaughter |
|
Biographic chapters of the man in Texas John Slaughter
— 17 TV episodes as part of the Wonderful World of Disney
(more) |
1958-1961 |
Tom Tryon |
|
Tom “Sugarfoot” Brewster |
|
Cowboy in Sugarfoot
— 69 TV episodes (more) |
1957-1961 |
Will Hutchins |
Penny
|
Tom Jeffords |
|
Indian agent in Broken Arrow
— 73 TV episodes (more) |
1956-1960 |
John Lupton |
|
Tonto |
|
Sidekick in The Lone Ranger
— 221 TV episodes (more) |
1949-1957 |
Jay Silverheels
(His real name was Harold J. Smith) |
Scout
|
Victoria Barkley |
|
Matron in The Big Valley
— 112 TV episodes (more) |
1965-1969 |
Barbara Stanwyck |
|
Vint Bonner |
|
Drifter in Restless Gun
— 78 TV episodes (more) |
1957-1959 |
John Payne |
Scar
|
Virginian, the
(Real name was a mystery) |
|
Gunslinger The Virginian
— 249 TV episodes (more) |
1965-1966 |
James Drury |
Joe, Easter, Ute
|
Wild Bill Hickok |
|
Legendary lawman in Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
— 113 TV episodes (more) |
1951-1958 |
Guy Madison |
Buckshot
|
Will Kane |
|
Small Kansas town marshal in High Noon
— movie (more) |
1952 |
Gary Cooper |
|
Will Sonnet |
|
Fatherly gunfighter looking for his son in Guns of Will Sonnett
— 50 TV episodes (more) |
1967-1969 |
Walter Brennan |
|
William Colton |
|
Drifter in Loner
— 26 TV episodes (more) |
1965-1966 |
Lloyd Bridges |
Rex
|
Woody |
|
Cowboy doll in Toy Story
— animated movie (more) |
1995 |
voiced by Tom Hanks |
|
Wyatt Earp |
|
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
— 226 TV episodes (more) |
1955-1961 |
Hugh O'Brian |
Candy
|
Yancy Derringer |
|
Gambler in Yancy Derringer
— 34 TV episodes (more) |
1958-1959 |
Jock Mahoney
|
he following list
is (in alphabetical order of first name) of 87 notable cowboys and
cowgirls of TV and the movies—legends as well as fictional characters. Not
included are lesser characters, such as some sidekicks and characters occuring in
a single TV episode or western (except notables such as Shane, McLintock, etc.)
Sources for much (but not all) of this information are