10 Best Western TV Show Actors of All Time

Actors have built some pretty big careers in the western genre. Stars like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood are big names associated with western movies, but what about when it comes to television? Hopalong Cassidy premiered on NBC in 1949 and, since then, a ton of western TV shows have thrilled and delighted audiences.

So, who are the greatest western TV show actors of all time? That depends on what you want. Some great western stars have appeared in hundreds of episodes dedicated to the genre. Others have fewer than fifty episodes to their name but give stellar performances that cannot be denied. Whether you’re prioritizing quality, quantity, or something in between — here are the best western stars to grace the television screen over the last 56 years.

10

Amanda Blake

Number of Western TV Show Episodes: 571

Amanda Blake got her start in the 1950s, appearing in films such as Cattle Town and A Star is Born. She starred in a number of films, but is best known for her television work. Blake starred as saloon proprietor Miss Kitty Russell on Gunsmoke from 1955 to 1974, appearing in 569 episodes across 20 seasons.

Blake was nominated for one Primetime Emmy Award and three Golden Globe Awards for her performance in Gunsmoke. She also appeared in one or two episodes of shows like State Trooper and The Quest. In 1987, she reprised the role of Kitty in the made-for-TV movie Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge.

9

Kelly Reilly

Number of Western TV Show Episodes: 53

Kelly Reilly is an English actress who has appeared across many genres over the course of her career. She can be seen in the Jane Austen classic Pride and Prejudice, the fantasy drama Britannia, and the crime drama Above Suspicion. She was in the second season of True Detective and the Agatha Christie-inspired mystery A Haunting in Venice. She’s received the most acclaim, however, for her recent work in the western genre.

In 2018, Reilly landed the role of Beth Dutton opposite Kevin Costner in Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone. The show ran for five seasons and Reilly earned a lot of attention for her performance. She was nominated for multiple awards, including a Critics’ Choice Award in 2023 for Best Actress in a Drama Series. Her next project is the upcoming British crime drama Under the Salt Marsh.

Related

10 Westerns You Didn’t Know Were Remakes

Occasionally, new stories are produced, but more often than not, contemporary Westerns are based on established classics.

8

Michael Spears

Number of Western TV Show Episodes: 16

Michael Spears made his feature film debut in the 1990 movie Dances With Wolves and has been acting ever since. In addition to film work, the actor has appeared in a number of critically acclaimed western TV shows. Most recently, he appeared in the Yellowstone prequel 1923 as Runs His Horse. He can also be found in episodes of 1883, Longmire, Into the Wild Frontier, and Into the West — which won a Western Heritage Award in 2006.

Over the years, Spears has been involved in activism for the Indigenous community. Spears has been involved in projects supporting sustainable energy as well as demonstrations designed to bring attention to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. He is a member of the Kul Wičaša Lakota from the Lower Brulé Sioux Tribe of South Dakota and is passionately involved in Lakota culture.

7

John Hawkes

Number of Western TV Show Episodes: 38

Best known as a character actor across multiple genres, John Hawkes is a highly decorated performer. He received an Academy Award nomination for his role in the 2011 drama Winter’s Bone. In 2024, he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for True Detective. Hawkes has appeared in several westerns throughout his career, the most popular of which is Deadwood.

He played Sol Star, Co-owner of Star & Bullock Hardware, in Deadwood. The show ran for three seasons on HBO between 2004 and 2006. He’s also appeared in episodes of The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. and the 1998 television adaptation of The Magnificent Seven.

Related

15 Best Westerns on Hulu to Watch Right Now

Want to watch a Western? Here are all the best ones you can watch right now on Hulu.

6

Victor Sen Yung

Number of Western TV Show Episodes: 125

Victor Sen Yung had a prolific western career as a character actor starting in the 1930s. His most significant western TV role was as cook Hop Sing in Bonanza, which ran from 1959 to 1973. Sen Yung appeared across all 14 seasons and was only one of three actors to do so, though he was only ever credited as a reoccurring character and not a main cast member. As an Asian-American actor, he often faced typecasting and stereotypes during this period.

Sen Yung’s first TV western was an episode of Stories of the Century in 1954. He went on to book roles in The Lone Ranger, Death Valley Days, Broken Arrow, Yancy Derringer, Bronco, Shotgun Slade, The Rifleman, The Wild Wild West, Kung Fu, Barbary Coast, and How the West Was Won. He appeared in two episodes of Barbara Stanwyck’s 1961 anthology series. Stanwyck was another prolific actor in the western genre.

5

Milburn Stone

Number of Western TV Show Episodes: 607

Milburn Stone was a character actor best known for playing Doc Adams in Gunsmoke. He got his start on the stage in Vaudville acts and began performing on Broadway in the 1930s. He then landed about a dozen uncredited roles in various films before shifting into more prominent parts across different genres.

He made his first television appearance in two episodes of the 1950s western series Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok. Stone played Doc Adams on Gunsmoke from 1955 until 1975 with 605 episodes to his name. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 and, in 1968, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Gunsmoke. He passed away in 1980, seven years before the show was revived for the made-for-TV-movie, Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge.

4

James Drury

Number of Western TV Show Episodes: 282

James Drury‘s film career began with bit parts in 1954. He appeared in a few action movies and a few westerns before making the rounds on popular 1950s television shows, including Broken Arrow and Man Without a Gun. In 1958, Drury played the character of “The Virginian” for the first time on a show called Decisions, which was designed to test out TV pilots for audiences. He went on to appear in The Texan, Bronco, Zane Grey Theatre, Have Gun – Will Travel, Trackdown, Lawman, Black Saddle, Cheyenne, Death Valley Days, The Rebel, The Rifleman, Stagecoach West, Rawhide, and Wagon Train. He can even be found in four episodes of Gunsmoke.

In 1962, Drury stepped into the role of The Virginian full-time for NBC. He played the character for nine seasons. That’s 249 episodes. He then scored guest appearances on Alias Smith and Jones and The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., plus three episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger starring Chuck Norris. He returned to the world of The Virginian in 2000, when Bill Pullman directed and starred in a made-for-TV-movie of the same name. Pullman played the lead and Drury played a supporting character.

3

Barbara Stanwyck

Number of Western TV Show Episodes: 121

Barbara Stanwyck was a huge movie star in the 1940s, with four Academy Award nominations and multiple Lifetime Achievement Awards. Some of her best-known films include Annie Oakley, Stella Dallas, The Lady Eve, and Double Indemnity. Her performances resonated across multiple genres, including mysteries, comedies, melodrama, and, of course, westerns.

Stanwyck appeared in nearly a dozen western films during her lifetime, but she also had a prolific television career. She can be seen in Zane Grey Theatre, Rawhide, and Wagon Train. From 1965 to 1969, she starred as Barkley Ranch owner Victoria Barkley in the ABC western series The Big Valley. She was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards for the role, winning in 1966. The performance also earned her three Golden Globe nominations.

2

Timothy Olyphant

Number of Western TV Show Episodes: 122

Whether the western is a period piece or set in the modern age, Timothy Olyphant wears that cowboy hat well. He started acting for television in the 1990s, eventually earning film roles, too. He became leading man and everyone’s favorite lawman Seth Bullock on HBO’s Deadwood in 2004. The series was short-lived, only airing for three seasons, but remains beloved to this day as one of the best western TV shows ever made. In fact, the show was so popular that Deadwood: The Movie came out in 2019, with much of the original cast returning.

After Deadwood’s original run, Olyphant landed another lawman role, playing Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens in Justified on FX for six seasons. In 2023, the series was revived for a miniseries event on FX and Hulu called Justified: City Primeval. Olyphant returned as Givens. Between Deadwood and Justified alone, the actor earned two Primetime Emmy nominations, one Critics’ Choice Award nomination, four Critics’ Choice Television Award nominations, and two Gold Derby Award nominations. He was also nominated for two Satellite Awards in the Best Actor category for Justified, winning in 2011.

1

Sam Elliott

Number of Western TV Show Episodes: 135

The western is so ingrained in Sam Elliott‘s vibe that he feels like a character out of a western even when he genre hops. His deep, compelling voice is a staple in the genre. Some of his most notable films include Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Tombstone, The Big Lebowski, and A Star is Born. That last one earned him an Oscar nomination. He’s best known for westerns on both the big and the small screen. His early western TV credits include Lancer and Gunsmoke. He was also in the 1979 The Sacketts miniseries, where he played Tell Sackett.

Elliot starred in The Yellow Rose alongside Cybill Shepherd from 1983 to 1984. In 2007, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. He joined the cast of Justified for Season Six as drug kingpin Avery Markham. He then played Beau Bennett in the western comedy The Ranch from 2016 to 2020. His most recent western TV series was Taylor Sheridan’s 1883, where he starred as Shea Brennan and won a Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance.