The Iconic Western Actor With Roles Spanning 7 Decades

In the history of screen acting, few figures have epitomized the Western genre better than Sam Elliott. His roles in Westerns on both the big and the small screen span seven different decades, beginning with a cameo appearance in the 1967 movie The Way West. Now, it’s impossible to imagine the genre without him, especially when it comes to television.

Elliott might not be an automatic contender for the best Western TV actor of all time, given that most of his performances outside low-budget TV movies have been in supporting roles. However, his broad-voweled, rumbling vocal delivery and walrus mustache have made him an inimitable icon of the genre.

The Coen brothers famously employed his trademark screen persona to foreground their movie The Big Lebowski in the traditions of classic Hollywood Westerns. Now, Taylor Sheridan is utilizing that same persona in Landman season 2 to burnish the status of Tommy Norris as a true Western anti-hero.

Sam Elliott Has Played A Western Role In Every Decade Since The 1960s

Over the past 58 years, Sam Elliott has enhanced many of the very best Western TV shows and movies with his rough and rowdy charisma. Following his brief appearance in The Way West, Elliott was an extra in the genre classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, before making three appearances in the Western show Lancer between 1969 and 1970.

He began to hone his reputation as a specialist of the Western genre throughout the 1970s, featuring in the all-time great TV series Gunsmoke, as well as two movies made for the small screen, and 1979 miniseries The Sacketts. Tell Sackett was his first major role in a Western.

Elliott Established Himself As A Genre Great In The 1980s

It was in the 1980s, however, that Sam Elliott fully established himself as a great of the genre. Some of Elliott’s best Westerns were released during this decade. Most notably, his lead roles in TV movies The Shadow Riders, Gone to Texas, and The Quick and the Dead, turned him into the most sought-after small-screen Western actor around.

The 1980s saw Elliott develop the signature elements of his onscreen persona, from his earthy Western drawl, to his iconic mustache. By the time he fronted his most famous TV movie, Conagher, and starred in the seminal big-screen hit Tombstone alongside Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer, he was arguably the most recognizable figure in the Western genre.

More recently, his performances in the TV series Justified, The Ranch – which he also produced – and 1883 have introduced his work to new generations of Western fans. As a result, only Clint Eastwood can rival Sam Elliott’s tenure as an actor in the genre.

Landman Is Sam Elliott’s 21st Western TV Role

Now that the trailer for Landman season 2 has revealed Sam Elliott’s role as Tommy Norris’ father, we can look forward to Elliott collaborating with Billy Bob Thornton once again. The pair famously worked together on Tombstone, before sharing the screen again in Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone spinoff 1883.

Landman is Elliott’s 21st Western project for the small screen, and his 29th Western role overall. Given the relative importance of his television work, he can justifiably stake a claim for being the most prolific TV actor in the genre’s history.