John Wayne and Clint Eastwood remain two of the biggest icons of the Western genre, but plenty of great Western movie stars aren’t either of those two titans. The Duke famously detested Eastwood’s Spaghetti Westerns primarily because he found them to feature morally ambiguous characters rather than the sort that upheld the ideals of altruism and integrity he believed to be integral to Western movies. Where Wayne’s movies might have represented paragons of heroism from the ’40s through to the ’70s, Eastwood’s mysterious drifter archetype of dubious but more realistic intent reigned throughout the ’60s and ’70s.
Between two very opposing concepts of what it meant to be a Western movie star others represented a plethora of alternatives. From laconic leading men with a sense of nihilism as presented by Robert Mitchum and Lee Marvin, to stoic rebels like Steve McQueen and Sam Elliott, there’s more to headlining a Western than just the two depictions. Not only that but many of these Western movie stars crossed over into plenty of other genres and starred in lots of popular movies of their day.
Kurt Russell
In between starring in horror movies like The Thing or Hollywood blockbusters like Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 Kurt Russell has made Westerns off and on for decades. Every Kurt Russell Western reveals a different side of the versatile actor, who has learned to balance the eccentricities of a character actor with the likable accessibility of a leading man. His effortless charm and jocularity can become stern and irascible in a flash in films like The Hateful Eight and Bone Tomahawk, and his Wyatt Earp from Tombstone remains among the very best depictions of the frontier legend.
James Stewart
James Stewart, known for heart-wrenching dramas like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and It’s A Wonderful Life starred in plenty of Westerns from the ’40s to the ’60s, many of them for director Anthony Mann. In movies like The Far Country and Bend of the River, a post-WWII Jimmy Stewart got to dig his teeth into psychological Western that evoked some of what he’d seen in the war. The traditional “swell guy” persona he often adopted in other films all but disappeared when he made a Western, where he brought pathos and complexity to revenge-obsessed antiheroes.
Charles Bronson
From a poor mining town in Pennsylvania, Charles Bronson lived the scrappy life of the survivors he often embodied on screen, and whereas John Wayne showed up in Westerns looking clean-cut without mud on his boots, Bronson looked dirty and roughed up. Known for his muscular physique and world-weary expression, he often played antiheroes, desperados, and hard men wanting vengeance in movies like The Magnificent Seven and Once Upon A Time in the West. Though his toughness made the Death Wish films instant crime drama classics, it also made him a truly believable cowboy for most of his career.
Sam Elliott
With a voice like thunder rolling over the Texas plains, Sam Elliott seemed to be born riding a horse and strapping on a pair of six-shooters. Though he’s known for starring in ’80s classics like Road House and Mask, he helped define the image (and sound) of the Western movie star in Tombstone, Conagher, and the Civil War epic Gettysburg. Recently he’s starred in several high-profile Western series, including Justified, The Ranch, and 1883.
Robert Duvall
Robert Duvall has worked with John Wayne in True Grit and Clint Eastwood in Joe Kidd, but he’s also made a name for himself by starring in his own Westerns. Whether in Open Range with Kevin Costner, or Wild Horses alongside younger actors like Josh Hartnett and James Franco, he adds gravitas and authenticity to a frontier setting. Given his starring roles in movies like The Godfather, Duvall would be one of the most celebrated actors of his generation had he never starred in a Western, but because of the massive popularity of projects like Lonesome Dove, he’s still starring in Westerns at 92.