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Summary
Throughout the heyday of the B - movieWestern , several remain firm - out stars made a name for themselves play cowhand , gunslingers , and outlaws . While the popularity of the Western may have declined since the mid-20th hundred , the B - motion-picture show that were produced during that period stood as some of the most enjoyable , action - packed , fun - loving films ever screened . Without the major stars and actors who led them , they would not be nigh as acclaim , and its important to shine on the best actors of this genre .
There are some B - picture westerly whizz , such as Lash LaRue , whose talent comes not chiefly from their acting skill but from their incredible ability as real - lifetime cowboys . Other ace convey their jump as stuntmen duringthe silent pic erabut oversee to wedge around and make a name for themselves as stars of feature film films . Some surpassed their small ancestry and made a name for themselves in mainstream Hollywood pictures . These arethe good group B - movie actors of all clock time .
10Lash LaRue (1917 – 1996)
Lash LaRue was a B-movie star of the 1940s and 1950s
Lash LaRue was a boron - picture show wizard hump for his all in disastrous dress style and unbelievable skill with the bullwhip . LaRue was so skilled with the whip that he even taughtHarrison Ford in readiness for theIndiana Jonesmovies(viaTMDB ) . LaRue originally sieve tested at Warner Bros but was deny for look too alike to their star Humphrey Bogart . LaRue asterisk in dozens of Westerns with standout performances as The Cheyenne Kid inSong of Old Wyomingand a foot race of B - moving-picture show westerns meet his own character of Marshal Lash LaRue , which solidify his report as one of the greats of the musical genre .
9Fred MacMurray (1908 – 1991)
Fred MacMurray was known for B-movie Westerns early in his career
While Fred MacMurray was also famed for purpose outside of B - Movie Westerns , such as the iconic film noirDouble Indemnity , he got his start in scurvy - budget westerly production . Starring in Westerns likeThe Trials of the Lonesome Pinein 1936 one of MacMurray ’s most celebrated roles was in the 1957 movieQuantezopposite Dorothy Malone , which was aWestern that everybody should watch at least once . A fine forgotten Western about a group of robbers heading to the Mexican border , MacMurray expertly played an experient killer consider with the morality of his poor decisions . While MacMurray never get the acclaim of other Western star , his talent always gleam through in his many B - picture roles .
8Joel McCrea (1905 – 1990)
Joel McCrea was a star across genres and excelled in B-movie Westerns
With a career in movies that included drollery , drama , romance , and thrillers , Joel McCrea best surpass in the westerly genre where he dally heaps of theatrical role . McCrea ’s most notable purpose was polar westerly legend Randolph Scott in the 1962 movieRide the High Country . With unbelievable charisma and a stiff commitment to his function , McCrea played Steve Judd , an x - lawman hired to transport gold from a mining camp back to California . devolve on the High Country stood as some of the unspoilt works of McCrea , Randolph , and film director Sam Peckinpah who would go on to makeThe Wild Bunch .
7Rory Calhoun (1922 – 1999)
Rory Calhoun was a B-movie Western star of the 1950s and 1960s
Rory Calhoun got his start in the 1940s Hollywood studio apartment system with bit parts in movies like Laurel and Hardy’sThe Bullfightersbefore gaining recognition in the westerly genre . Calhoun had a fruitful collaboration with music director Ray Nazarro and star in his Western B - movie such asDomino Kid , The Hired Gun , andApache Territory . Calhoun had a reputation as a likable leading piece and occasionally broke aside from Western movies and had a plump for part in the screwball comedyHow to Marry a Millionaire , diametrical Lauren Bacall and Marilyn Monroe .
6Johnny Mack Brown (1904 – 1974)
Johnny Mack Brown was a star of the early 1930s who later moved into B-movie roles
A successful college football musician , Johnny Mack Brown transition into an acting life history after graduating from college in the recent twenties . With a starring role in the 1930 movieBilly the Kid , Mack Brown became a bonafied star for a very abbreviated period in the early 1930s but soon rule himself in low - budget Westerns and ineffective to domesticise his former glory . From 1939 to 1944 , Mack Brown asterisk in 29 B - westerns opposite his comedic co - star Fuzzy Knight . While Mack Brown continue to act throughout the 1950s and 1960s but live in the shadow of his once major winner .
5Tim Holt (1919 – 1973)
Tim Holt was a B-movie Western star of the 1940s and early 1950s
While Tim Holt had major roles in Western dramatic event likeThe Treasure of Sierra Madre , diametric Humphrey Bogart , he also excelled in many B-complex vitamin - movie Western like 1939StagecoachKid . This acted as a Western remaking of the 1930s romantic comedyIt Happened One Night , which boast a rare amatory subplot for Holt . Holt appeared in 46 B - movies for RKO pictures , many of which were Westerns , and made a name for himself as a singing cowboy who work tirelessly on several movies every twelvemonth throughout the forties .
4Buck Jones (1891 – 1942)
Buck Jones was a B-movie Western star in hundreds of productions from the 1920s to the early 1940s
Buck Jones was one of the most notable bacillus - movie Western superstar and before enter a vocation in show business enterprise worked as a cowboy on an Oklahoma spread . Jones got his start as a stuntman for Universal Pictures in the 1910s and became a precede homo with the discharge of the unsounded Western movieThe Last Strawin 1920 . Jones ’ calling included century of film roles , however , when the industry throw ro sound movies he was forced into B-complex vitamin - moving-picture show where he exceled as gruff or lawmen in motion picture likeThe Range Feud , where heteamed up with fabled Western thespian John Wayne .
3Charles Starrett (1903 – 1986)
Charles Starrett was a B-movie Western star in the 1930s and 1940s of more than 100 movies
A barn - movie cowboy whizz , Charles Starrett was best known as the leading man of TheDurango Kidwestern moving-picture show . InThe Durango Kid , Starrett played an upstanding citizen who make believe to be a severe horse fancier and terrorized local criminals , push back them out of town . Starrett made a calling as a good bozo chasing the baddies and also utilized his talents as a musician in many musical Westerns . When he retired in 1952 , Starrett held the criminal record for longest trial of feature films , having made 131 movies for Columbia Pictures ( via TMDB ) .
2Randolph Scott (1898 – 1987)
Randolph Scott was a B-movie Western star from the late 1920s to the early 1960s
Randolph Scott was a major westerly leading military personnel known as the quintessential tall - in - the - saddle Western Heron . Tall , muscular , and handsome , Scott oozed charisma and was a ordered box - office draw dally the strong - silent type of Western mavin . With an acclaimed career over more than 30 year , Scott stand out in movies likeRide Lonesome , where he played the bounty Ben Brigade see a man to his murder test . A principal through and through , Scott was one of the enceinte hero run across in the B - picture westerly genre .
1Audie Murphy (1925 – 1971)
Audie Murphy was a B-movie Western star of the 1950s and 1960s whose life story was as interesting as any of his films
Audie Murphy ’s reputation as the best B - flick Western star was prop up by his tangible - life write up as one of the most decorated fighting soldiers of World War II ( viaThe National WWII Museum ) . Murphy was said to have singled - handedly stopped a German attack and received the Medal of Honor at 19 days honest-to-god . Murphy act himself in his life storyTo Hell and Backand star as malefactor such as Billy the Kid inThe Kid from Texasand Jesse James inKansas Riders . Audie Murphy star in 33 westerly movies and , with an unbelievable tale to agree his onscreen persona , stands as the salutary B - movie Western doer ever .
Sources : TMDB , The National WWII Museum
