The Western TV genre doesn't just thrive on movies. There are, in fact, several television shows that have gained popularity in the genre over the years and have given viewers some iconic characters. Several other shows became all-time favorites and turned their lead actors into household names.
These stars, who often portrayed roles of lawmen, outlaws, or cowboys, carried the shows with their charming screen presence and versatile performances (without overlooking the contributions of the rest of the cast, of course). Below, I have put together a list of the best Western TV actors of all time, ranked by their impact, popularity, and the legacy of the roles they played on screen.
10 Lorne Greene
Image via NBCLorne Greene became a household name because of his iconic role as Ben Cartwright, the wise patriarch in Bonanza. Bonanza was one of TV's longest-running Westerns, and Greene's presence as the lead made it more special. He was a seasoned radio broadcaster before breaking into Hollywood, and his transition into Hollywood came around when TV moved from radio dramas to serials. At that time, Bonanza was among the first shows to be broadcast in color.
The series ran for 14 seasons, and Greene appeared in over 400 episodes, which made him one of the most familiar faces on Western TV. Other than that, he also starred in The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory, Griff, and played Commander Adama in the original Battlestar Galactica series. These shows simultaneously proved his range beyond the Western frontier.
9 James Stewart
Image via Columbia PicturesJames Stewart is best known for his Western films, but he also made notable TV appearances that are impactful and worthy of inclusion when evaluating his contribution to Westerns and American screen history overall. He headlined The Jimmy Stewart Show, Mr. Krueger's Christmas, and Hawkins, the shows that mark his versatility as an actor outside movies.
Stewart returned from WWII as a bomber pilot, and that's when his roles became darker and more ambiguous, which led him to appear in the thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock. Then, he delivered some of his most dynamic performances in classic westerns like Winchester '73, The Naked Spur, The Far Country, and The Man from Laramie. During the '50s, Stewart collaborated with director Anthony Mann, where his characters moved away from black and white morality and introduced psychological complexity in characters that wasn't common among Westerns back then.
8 James Arness
Image via ABCJames Arness wasn't just a Western TV star; he was Western TV, for the longest time. He is best known for his iconic role as Marshal Matt Dillon in Gunsmoke, one of the longest-running primetime shows in American television history. Over 20 seasons and nearly 635 episodes later, he became the face of frontier justice.
Before Gunsmoke, Arness had a respectable film career, including a lead role in Them! and a memorable part in The Thing from Another World, but television made him a household name. Even after Gunsmoke ended, Arness reprised the role in several TV movies and starred in other Westerns, like How the West Was Won. Few actors have worn the badge as long or as well as James Arness. When people think of the Western sheriff archetype, odds are they're picturing him.
7 Chuck Connors
Image via ABCChuck Connors was one of TV's most enduring faces, and also a professional basketball player. Before coming to Hollywood, he played basketball with the Boston Celtics and baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers and Chicago Cubs, a rare dual-sport athlete. But it was his role as Lucas McCain in The Rifleman that turned him into a Western icon.
The Rifleman was one of the biggest TV shows of its time and stood out because of its emotional depth. Connors brought gravitas and heart to the role, and played a sharpshooting rancher with a customized Winchester rifle and a strong moral compass. The Rifleman had over 160 episodes, and shaped the family-friendly Western format, during the time of its release. Other than his role in The Rifleman, Connors also appeared in various series, including Arrest and Trial and Branded, and some movies like Old Yeller, Geronimo, Flipper, and more.
Collider Exclusive · Taylor Sheridan Universe Quiz
Which Taylor Sheridan
Show Do You Belong In?
Yellowstone · Landman · Tulsa King · Mayor of Kingstown
Four worlds. All of them brutal, complicated, and built on power, loyalty, and the price of survival. Taylor Sheridan doesn't write heroes — he writes people who do what they have to do and live with the cost. Ten questions will reveal which one of his worlds you were made for.
🤠Yellowstone
🛢️Landman
👑Tulsa King
⚖️Mayor of Kingstown
FIND YOUR WORLD →
01
Where does your power come from? In Sheridan's world, everyone has leverage. The question is what kind.
ALand, legacy, and a name that's been feared and respected for generations. BKnowing the deal better than anyone else in the room — and being willing to walk away first. CReputation. I've earned it the hard way, and everyone in the room knows it. DBeing the only person both sides will talk to. That makes me indispensable — and dangerous.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
Who do you put first, no matter what? Loyalty in Sheridan's universe is always absolute — and always costly.
AFamily — blood or chosen. The ranch, the name, the people who carry it with me. BThe company — or whoever's signing the cheques. Loyalty follows the contract. CMy crew. The men who stood with me when it counted — I don't abandon them for anything. DMy community — even when my community is a powder keg and I'm the only thing stopping it from blowing.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
Someone crosses a line. How do you respond? Every Sheridan protagonist has a line. What matters is what happens after it's crossed.
AQuietly, decisively, and in a way that sends a message to everyone watching. BI outmanoeuvre them legally, financially, and politically before they even know I've moved. CDirectly. Old school. You cross me, you hear about it to your face — and then you deal with the consequences. DI absorb it, calculate the fallout, and find the move that keeps the whole system from collapsing.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
Where do you feel most in your element? Sheridan's worlds are as much about place as they are about people.
AWide open land — mountains, sky, silence. Somewhere you can see trouble coming from a mile away. BThe oil fields of West Texas — brutal, lucrative, and indifferent to whoever happens to be standing on top of them. CA mid-size city where the rules haven't quite caught up yet — fertile ground for someone with vision and nerve. DA rust-belt town built around a prison — where everyone's life is shaped by what's inside those walls.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
How do you feel about operating in the grey? Nobody in a Sheridan show has clean hands. The question is how they carry the dirt.
AI do what has to be done to protect what's mine. I'll answer for it eventually — but not today. BGrey is just business. The line moves depending on what's at stake, and I move with it. CI have a code — it's not the law's code, but it's mine, and I don't break it. DI've made peace with it. Keeping the peace requires compromises most people don't have the stomach for.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
What are you actually fighting to hold onto? Every Sheridan character is fighting a war. The real question is what they're defending.
AA way of life that the modern world is doing everything it can to erase. BMy position — and the leverage that comes with being the person everyone needs to close a deal. CRelevance. I've been away, I've been written off — and I'm proving that was a mistake. DWhatever fragile order I've managed to build — because without it, everything burns.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
How do you lead? Authority in Sheridan's world is never given — it's established, maintained, and constantly tested.
ABy example and force of will. People follow me because they believe in what I'm protecting — and because they know what happens if they don't. BThrough negotiation and leverage. I don't need people to like me — I need them to need me. CBy being the smartest, most experienced person in the room and making sure everyone quietly knows it. DBy being the calm centre of a situation that would spiral without me — and accepting that nobody thanks you for it.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
Someone new arrives and tries to change how things work. Your reaction? Every Sheridan show has an outsider disrupting an established order. Sometimes that outsider is you.
AThey'll learn. Or they won't. Either way, the land was here before them and it'll be here after. BI figure out what they want, what they're worth, and whether they're an asset or a problem — fast. CI was the outsider once. I give them a chance — one — to show they understand respect. DNew players destabilise everything I've built. I assess the threat and manage it before it manages me.
NEXT QUESTION →
09
What has your position cost you? Nobody gets to where these characters are without paying for it. The bill is always personal.
AMy family's peace — maybe their innocence. The ranch demands everything, and I've let it take too much. BRelationships, time, any version of a normal life. The job eats everything that isn't nailed down. CYears. Decades in some cases. Time I can't get back — but I'm not done yet. DMy conscience, mostly. And the ability to ever fully trust anyone on either side of the wall.
NEXT QUESTION →
10
When it's over, what do you want people to say? Sheridan's characters all know the ending is coming. The question is what they leave behind.
AThat I held the line. That the land is still ours and everything I did was worth it. BThat I was the best at what I did and that no deal ever got closed without me at the table. CThat I built something real, somewhere nobody expected it, and I did it on my own terms. DThat I kept the peace when nobody else could — and that the town is still standing because of it.
REVEAL MY SHOW →
Sheridan Has Spoken You Belong In…
The show that claimed the most of your answers is the world you were built for. If two tied, both are shown — you're complicated enough to straddle two Sheridan universes.
🤠 Yellowstone
🛢️ Landman
👑 Tulsa King
⚖️ Mayor of Kingstown
You are a Dutton — or you might as well be. You understand that some things are worth protecting at any cost, and that the modern world's indifference to history, to land, to legacy, is not something you're willing to accept quietly. You lead from the front, you carry your family's weight without complaint, and when someone threatens what's yours, you don't escalate — you finish it. You're not cruel. But you are absolute. In Yellowstone's world, that combination of ferocity and loyalty doesn't make you a villain. It makes you the only thing standing between everything that matters and everyone who wants to take it.
You thrive in the chaos of high-stakes negotiation, where the money is enormous, the margins are thin, and the wrong word in the wrong room can cost everyone everything. You're a fixer — the person called when a situation is already on fire and needs someone with the nerve to walk into it. West Texas oil country rewards exactly what you are: sharp, adaptable, unsentimental, and absolutely clear-eyed about what people want and what they'll do to get it. You're not naive enough to think this world is fair. You're smart enough to be the one deciding who it's fair to.
You are a Dwight Manfredi — someone who has served their time, paid their dues, and arrived somewhere unexpected with nothing but their reputation and their wits. You adapt without losing yourself. You build loyalty through respect rather than fear, though you're not above reminding people that the two aren't mutually exclusive. Tulsa King is for people who are still standing when everyone assumed they'd be finished — who find, in an unfamiliar place, that they're more capable than the world gave them credit for. You don't need a throne. You build one, wherever you happen to land.
You carry the weight of a system that is broken by design, and you do it anyway — because someone has to, and because you're the only one positioned to do it without the whole thing collapsing. Mike McLusky's world is for people who are comfortable operating where there are no good options, only less catastrophic ones. You speak every language: law enforcement, criminal, political, human. That fluency makes you invaluable and it makes you a target. You've made your peace with both. Mayor of Kingstown belongs to people who understand that keeping the peace is not the same as being at peace — and who do the job regardless.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
6 Richard Boone
Image via CBSRichard Boone brought brooding intelligence to Western TV that few others matched. He’s best remembered as Paladin in the hit CBS series Have Gun – Will Travel, where he played a cultured gunslinger-for-hire dressed in black who quoted poetry, carried a calling card, and operated out of a San Francisco hotel. The series ran for six seasons, racked up top ratings, and earned Boone both an Emmy nomination and a place among the most iconic TV Western leads.
Boone also found big screen recognition after he starred opposite John Wayne in his famous film, Big Jake. He brought the sophistication of Shakespearean theater to his work and till date is considered the best anti-hero for spaghetti Westerns. Outside of Have Gun – Will Travel, Boone starred in other Westerns like The Rifleman and The Tall T, and he even hosted and directed episodes of The Richard Boone Show.
5 Timothy Olyphant
Image via FXTimothy Olyphant has that rare, magnetic presence on screen that fits the Western genre like a glove. He established himself as U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens in FX's critically acclaimed series Justified, where his cowboy hat, ice-cold stare, and dry wit gave off serious Clint Eastwood energy in the 21st century. The role earned him multiple Emmy nominations as well.
Before Justified, Olyphant played Sheriff Seth Bullock in his breakout role in HBO's gritty epic, Deadwood, another Western that completely redefined the genre for modern TV. Other than Deadwood, he recently returned as Raylan in Justified: City Primeval, a continuation of the original Justified series. The actor still carries the same charm and wit as he did in his early years.
4 Jack Elam
Image via United ArtistsJack Elam was the quintessential Western villain of TV. He appeared in over 100 feature films and at least 41 TV shows in his career that spanned 50 years. His work is not limited to typecast roles only; in fact, he has done countless supporting roles, and it is often said that he has appeared in more movies and shows than any other actor.
Elam made his mark in both film and television, with notable performances in Once Upon a Time in the West, where his silent opening scene became iconic, and Support Your Local Sheriff!, where he flipped the script and hilariously played against type. On the small screen, Elam appeared in Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Rifleman, Rawhide, and The Twilight Zone, and often stole scenes despite limited screen time.
3 Kevin Costner
Kevin Costner became a defining face of the Western genre on TV, and his deep-rooted love for the genre shows in both the roles he chooses and the stories he directs. One of his most recent roles that has garnered praise from the audience was John Dutton III in Yellowstone, where he portrayed a modern-day rancher juggling brutal politics and family legacy.
Earlier in his career, Costner starred in films, too, and played Lieutenant John Dunbar in Dances with Wolves, which he also directed. The movie earned seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. More loved roles of his are found in Wyatt Earp, a serious, character-driven look at the legendary lawman, and later in Open Range, which is still praised for its realism, tight pacing, and one of the best shootouts in Western film history. Not to overshadow the fact that Costner has always tried to take full creative control of his work by sometimes directing, acting, and producing movies and songs.
2 Sam Elliott
Image via Paramount+Sam Elliott is the cowboy with a deep, gravelly voice and signature mustache who has become one of the most recognizable faces on Western television. He has proven his range and versatility as an actor over the years with his roles in dramas, comedies, TV shows, and movies. His early works in The Sacketts and Conagher were perfect examples of rugged men shaped by the hardships of the frontier. Conagher was based on a Louis L'Amour novel and even earned him a Golden Globe nomination and solidified his image as a classic western lead.
Elliott's acting style was remarkably subtle, and he was well-known for conveying depth through silence. He appeared in Yellowstone prequel 1883 as Shea Brennan and in Buffalo Girls as Wild Bill Hickok. And in every role, Elliott brought a quiet intensity without needing long monologues or flashy scenes to dominate with his presence on the screen. Even after decades, he has remained loyal to the genre, and in return, the Western name has become inseparable from his own. Not to forget his stint as Mr. Bennett in Netflix's sitcom The Ranch, which is also a recent one and casts him in the same light.
1 Clint Eastwood
Image via CBSNow let's crown the king of Western TV — Clint Eastwood. Frankly, this was not a difficult choice at all. Long before he became a legendary filmmaker, Eastwood was Rowdy Yates on Rawhide, the show that launched him into stardom. He was the cool cowboy with a sharp stare and barely-there dialogue, who swooned the audience with his presence.
Right after TV, he shot to international stardom and also crossed into the iconic spaghetti Westerns with A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. He later returned to the genre on his own terms, directed and starred in Pale Rider and the Oscar-winning Unforgiven. Unforgiven was also the reason Eastwood got his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor, and the film was termed as one of the best "Last Ride" films. His trademark glare, a cigar clenched between his teeth, and that haunting harmonica tune are what most people picture when they think of Westerns.
Rawhide
Release Date 1959 - 1965-00-00
English (US) ·