Legends of Western Cinema Week 2026 Tag
I'm not wracking my brains to figure out my exact favorite character for each of these roles, but rather going with characters I love who fit into them. Might I have some other cavalryman or cowboy I love more? Possibly, but that's okay. These are all beloved, for sure.
I've linked movie titles to my reviews, where applicable.
1. Cavalryman -- Sgt. Major Thomas Riordon (Michael Rooker) in Horizon: An American Saga -- Chapter One (2024) immediately comes to mind. He's my favorite character in the whole film, even though he's really a side character. He's that perfect blustery old sweetheart, and he makes me laugh and cry both, which is always a really good mix for me.
Riordon is kindness itself, and possesses a lot of hard-earned wisdom, but also you can tell he is a seasoned officer who will fight fiercely when need be. And yet, he is hilariously terrified of his formidable wife, whom he also clearly adores. He's only got a few minutes of screen time here and there, but he has so much complexity even so!
2. Stagecoach driver -- Conway Madigan (Jay Kerr) on Five Mile Creek (1983-85), always and forever.
Con is a Texan who moves to Australia after the American Civil War to set up a stagecoach line there with an Aussie partner. His occasional revelations about his involvement in the Civil War are definitely what got me interested in how the Civil War affected the West, even at a very young age. Con was always my favorite character, so laid-back and soft-spoken, so tall and lanky and kind of awkward around womenfolk, but so kind. And yet, with a little spark of hidden darkness that shows once in a while, when he lets himself get riled.
We watched the entire series of Five Mile Creek over and over when I was a kid, and it's definitely become a part of me in a lot of very formative ways. It's the show that I first daydreamed myself into, in fact.
3. Doctor -- Doc Isdell (Karl Swenson) in The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) absolutely has to be my answer here. Doc Isdell is a teeny tiny little role in my favorite John Wayne movie, but he's very important because he gets to save the life of one of the Elder brothers. Whenever I'm naming a doctor character in a western book or story I'm writing, I always instinctively want to name them Doc Isdell. I never have, but I always want to.
4. Judge -- Judge Herman Spicer (William Schallert) in Hour of the Gun (1967) always pleases me because he is so fair. He doesn't fall for any of Ike Clanton's (Robert Ryan) lies, but he also doesn't just believe everything Wyatt Earp (James Garner) says. He's smart and wise, and exactly what a judge ought to be.
5. Sheriff -- U.S. Marshal Wistful McClintock (Harry Carey) in Angel and the Badman (1947) is such a great character.
Marshal McClintock suspects Quirt Evans (John Wayne) is planning to start some pretty big trouble, but he's super sympathetic about Quirt's reasons for it. At the same time, he is sworn to uphold the law, so he's going to do that even if it means making legal trouble for Quirt.
Harry Carey was an important mentor to John Wayne in the early days of Wayne's career, which also endears him to me. This is my favorite of his western roles.
6. Cowboy -- Sam "Bulldog" Burnett (James Stewart) in The Rare Breed (1966) is such an interesting fella. He starts out with pretty shaky morals, but gradually grows into a stubborn and helpful gent. And he certainly knows his cattle!
7. Homesteader -- Joe and Marian Starrett (Van Heflin and Jean Arthur) in Shane (1953) are so dear to my heart. They both have worked steadily to make their homestead successful, and they support and love and encourage each other in the best ways. Even when emotions get a little tangled up because of Shane (Alan Ladd), they still always turn toward instead of away from each other. Marian in particular works very hard to choose her husband above all else, repeatedly, while Joe's main aim in life is to be sure she is taken care of in every way she needs to be, above himself.
8. Gambler -- Donavan (Bill Bixby) in The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975) is another one of those characters I grew up with and love dearly partly because he is so familiar. I love his character arc, growing from a selfish loner to a loving family man, with a lot of bumps along the way. When I was a kid, I thought the three little kids were the main characters of the movie, but it's really Donavan, since he's the one who has to learn and grow and change over the course of the story.
9. Native American -- Tonto (Jay Silverheels) from The Lone Ranger (1949-1957) was one of my earliest heroes. I loved him just as much as the Lone Ranger right from the first time I encountered them, which was when my parents brought home the movie The Lone Ranger (1956) on VHS from the library when I was maybe six or seven years old. I remember my dad telling me, probably during my first viewing, that Tonto was special because he was played by a real American Indian, and that made a big impression on me. I hadn't ever considered that Indians onscreen might not be played by actual Native Americans, and I decided right then and there that, clearly, Tonto was the gold standard. I've measured not only Native American character portrayals against him ever since, but also sidekicks. Because Tonto is so much more than the guy who gives the main character a confidence boost now and then.
A few years later, someone gave my brother a VHS tape with the very first three episodes of the TV show on them, which we watched over and over and over and over. And noticed pretty quickly that it's actually Tonto who has all the big and important ideas for forming the Lone Ranger's character. It's Tonto who suggests he wear a mask. It's Tonto who suggests he call himself the Lone Ranger. It's even Tonto who kinda nudges his friend toward the idea of using silver bullets as a symbol of his quest to bring justice and order to the West.
Yup, he's the gold standard.
10. Outlaw -- Ben Wade (Glenn Ford) in 3:10 to Yuma (1957) is one of the few villains I like. He's not the only outlaw I like, but he's the first one that popped into my mind, and I do love him a lot, so I will answer with him. Even though I talk about him a lot.
11. Storekeeper -- Alex McSween (Andrew Prine) in Chisum (1970) has my heart. I mean, I love John Chisum (John Wayne) and Mr. Pepper (Ben Johnson) lots too, but man, Alex McSween. Hits me right here. Chisum is one of the first John Wayne movies I saw, and something about Andrew Prine's storekeeper really made me sit up and take notice. I think because he is calm and polite, but really firm... I don't really know. I just got very fond of him very fast, and I always get excited whenever Andrew Prine pops up in another movie or show. This is one of those instances of a character making me a fan of an actor, not the other way around.
12. Schoolteacher -- Molly Stark (Diane Lane) in The Virginian (2000) is such a cool, spirited, adventurous, but fairly sensible woman. I don't maybe love her deeply, but I like her a lot.
She's a great match for the Virginian (Bill Pullman), and they're one of those fictional couples I can really see being happy together for the rest of their lives.
And, that's all for me! I haven't read anyone else's tag answers yet, so I didn't have their answers in my head, but now I'll be free to do so :-)
%20Hobbiton%20Map.JPG)
%20Rivendell.jpg)
