# Top Western Bad-asses (movie & TV) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 1, 2015, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945 "2015-05-01T01:08:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945/21 "2015-05-01T14:48:09Z")
> [@Purd\_Werfect](#): > > All I know is that Henry Fonda in _Once Upon A Time In The West_ was the coldest and steeliest bad guy I ever saw in a western. [Wurd.](http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2e6935e&s=8#.VUOR8xt0w5g) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945/22 "2015-05-01T14:55:36Z")
Richard Boone, in _Have Gun, Will Travel_ Ben Foster, in his role in the remake of _3:10 to Yuma_. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945/23 "2015-05-01T15:42:45Z")
Someone mentioned Burt Lancaster as a “Bad-Ass.” Watch him in Valdez Is Coming. He starts as a meek little Mexican sheriff and becomes an avenging…not so angel. Also, I loved Richard Boone as a Bad Ass in _Hombre_ and _Big Jake_ too. He did that really well. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945/24 "2015-05-01T15:46:53Z")
Lee Van Cleef as Angel Eyes in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. I don’t know why but I love his mean face! Plus, he was quite the bad ass in that role. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945/25 "2015-05-01T15:49:13Z")
Yep, I was going to mention Boone in _Hombre_ (Newman too) and Burt Lancaster also, but Lancaster in **Battle Pope** ’s _Ulzana’s Raid._ I think UR is one of the best and most underrated westerns out there. I found it far more accurate than most. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945/26 "2015-05-01T16:08:20Z")
Just as a technical qualification, otherwise unnamed elderly extra [“face in the crowd” from 1916’s The Half-Breed.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1991141/?ref_=nmbio_bio_nm) Played by…Wyatt Earp. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945/27 "2015-05-01T16:13:48Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Richard Boone, in _Have Gun, Will Travel_ > > Ben Foster, in his role in the remake of _3:10 to Yuma_. Excellent selections! Also (as mentioned) Richard Boone in Hombre. ---
**Author:** ![Gothic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Gothic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gothic)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945/28 "2015-05-01T16:44:17Z")
Gene Hackman in Unforgiven. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945/29 "2015-05-01T16:57:15Z")
Another vote for Val Kilmer as your huckleberry. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945/30 "2015-05-01T17:02:29Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > James Arness in the early seasons of Gunsmoke. Really tough guy in those early seasons. They watered it down after the anti-violence campaigns in tv took hold. William Conrad’s Matt Dillon in the radio version was sufficiently badass, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945/31 "2015-05-01T17:17:03Z")
Robert Redford in _Jeremiah Johnson_ Tommy Lee Jones in _The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada_, a more modern sort of western Robin Weigert as Calamity Jane in _Deadwood_ Keith Carradine as Wild Bill in _Deadwood_ ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945/32 "2015-05-01T17:34:59Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > Excellent selections! Also (as mentioned) Richard Boone in Hombre. How are you going to get back down that mountain? ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945/33 "2015-05-01T18:14:34Z")
Two from the same film. From “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence.” Obviously Lee Marvin…but also Woody Strobe (I’m probably misspelling his name but such a bad ass!) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945/34 "2015-05-01T19:15:22Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > Clint - Bill Munny (and really, Gene for Little Bill) and Angel Eyes Do you mean Blondie or Lee Van Cleef’s character? Don’t forget Clint’s “Preacher”. ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945/35 "2015-05-01T20:02:42Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Charlie made a pretty badass Indian in _Cato’s Land_ too. Correction: it was “Chato’s Land”. And yes, he was a serious badass. (“Cato’s Land” was that spinoff from the Green Hornet series…) Chuck was also a pretty badass cowboy in “Red Sun” (even though Toshiro Mifune kicks his butt). ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945/36 "2015-05-01T20:23:12Z")
David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine in Kung Fu. He was so bad he didn’t even need a gun. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945/37 "2015-05-01T20:40:01Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > John Wayne - The OP is flawed. One of his early roles was a singing cowboy, albeit with someone else singing, so he fails the OP on that account. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945/38 "2015-05-01T20:42:53Z")
I’m no John Wayne fan (ref: Public Enemy, _Fight the Power_) and I agree with the OP, except for _The Shootist_. JB Books was a bad-ass. Glenn Ford - _The Last Challenge_ ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945/39 "2015-05-01T22:02:45Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Jack Palance-Shane? > > I dunno if Clu Gulager has played any Western heavies, but I bet he was very sinister if he did. Well, he played Billy the Kid in the television show “The Tall Man” with Barry Sullivan. However, he really wasn’t that Bad Ass as The Kid. Kind of but not quite. OP question - Do Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin get eliminated because of their one semi-singing attempt in _Paint Your Wagon_? Now most Bad Ass Western heroes in a single film…Well, probably Magnificent Seven, but consider, _The Professionals,_ Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Woody Strode, Jack Palance; and even the woman who played Lancaster’s ex was darn bad ass. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945/40 "2015-05-02T01:30:13Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Yul Brunner as “the Gunslinger” in Westworld. More for Catlow and the Magnificent Seven. I would go first for Lee Van Cleef, Clayton Moore, or maybe Warner Baxter (Cisco Kid). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-western-bad-asses-movie-tv/718945.md?page=3)