The All-Time Best Cowboy Movie Stars!

Posted on by

Liam Gaughan, at /Film, came up with his list of The Twenty Best Western Movie Actors and it is a good one.  As I thought about my choices the top two were easy.  The tough part was deciding which order for the top two and who would get the third spot.  After some deliberation here are my top three…

#3.  Kurt Russell comes in at the third spot based on two strong lead performances in Tombstone and Bone Tomahawk.  It’s a shame Russell hasn’t made more westerns because the genre suits him.

#2.  Clint Eastwood was my choice for the number two spot and I really considered putting him in at #1.  Eastwood’s westerns always score well with fan and critics.  The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Josey Wales and Unforgiven are considered classics.  I wouldn’t argue too hard against Eastwood in the number one spot, but this time out I gave it to…

#1.  John Wayne.  My first place spot goes to the man that most folks think of first when they think of cowboy movie stars.  Wayne’s career spanned 50 years and he made so many popular westerns: Stagecoach, Angel and the Badman, Fort Apache, Red River, Hondo, The Searchers, Rio Bravo, True Grit, The Cowboys and The Shootist are some of my favorites.