How Well Do You Know Your Western TV and Movie Stars?

Let's have a little fun with a movie and TV quiz.

It is Friday. We made it. Time to have a wee bit of fun with a test of how well you know the stars of westerns in the movies and TV. The quiz should be a breeze for most of you, especially ardent devotees of the cinema. But if you are having trouble identifying the big fella pictured above, you may struggle a little.

Last week in Oklahoma City, I spent an enjoyable couple of hours wandering around the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. These paintings and images are hanging in its galleries.

Before moving on to the quiz, let me first include a note from Charley Kendall, the retired Hayward High basketball coach who has real Oklahoma roots. He writes,

“I hope you had time while [in Durant, Oklahoma] to go to the Choctaw Cultural Center. Absolutely fabulous. While my wife is half Swedish she is a quarter Choctaw and she and our kids are all members of the Choctaw tribe. The American Indian is the most mistreated segment of American society EVER. The Trail of Tears was because the tribes were kicked out of their lands in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Georgia after the government broke their treaty agreements. The Trail of Tears lasted 70 years. Maybe some material in all of this.”

Good reminder, Charley. Much appreciated. It is safe to say that Natives were generally not treated all that well in movies and TV for many years. Some movies and programs did a more respectful job than others.

Then again, one classic western spoof took every opportunity to make fun of everyone, no matter who they were, at all times. See if you can name the movie, these two actors, and for bonus points, the director. Hint: The cowboy on the left was married to Gilda Radner.

1. Let’s call that question No. 1. There will be ten in all, not counting the big fella at the top. Answers at bottom.

2. This is from the poster for Last Stand at Saber River. This star later played Courtney Cox’s love interest in Friends. But he was big in westerns too. If this is too easy, tell me the author who wrote the novel upon which the movie is based. Hint: He started with paperback westerns before moving into the literary genre that made him famous.

3. Here is a curveball for you. The personality who wore these boots in real life did not (to my knowledge) make any westerns. Instead he is best known for his role in a beloved fantasy adventure. Hint: These are BIG boots!

4. Let’s bring some females into this party. One of the greatest rodeo sharpshooting performers of all time, she appeared in some early silents in the formative years of movies. Her life inspired a Broadway musical.

5. I know, I know. Everybody knows who this saucy and talented country singer is. It’s Dolly Parton, right? Hint (if you need one): She played Nellie Forbush in a special one night “Great Performances” Carnegie Hall production of South Pacific and brought down the house.

6. Born in Sacramento, this California cowpoke made his film debut in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and later married its female star, Katharine Ross. His craggy good looks and gravely voice are still brightening up westerns, including a recent Taylor Sheridan streaming series. Bonus: Name the series too. It’s a chronological year.

7. Another little twister for you. This costume was worn by the star of a popular, charged-up western. The star and the movie, please.

8. One of the great film directors of all time, he directed the big fella up top in The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, How the West Was Won, and more. Hint: He loved Monument Valley in Navajo Nation.

   

   9. This may be a tough one. A screen legend, as they say, who starred in Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity and other classic films over a long and distinguished career. But she is best known for playing the matriarch in a hit TV western, The Big Valley.

   

   10. A giant of the small screen, this TV cowboy stood 6-foot-7 inches tall. For many years he starred as the chief lawman of a western town modeled on Tombstone or Dodge City. Let’s finish strong and go for the trifecta here: The actor, his character’s name, and the name of the series.

   

This trick-riding Oklahoma cowgirl of the 1950s wasn’t a movie or TV star. I just loved the picture and her joyful spirit and I needed something to visually separate the final question from the answers.

Here are the answers, and thanks for being such good sports! I’ll be gone next week. See ya on the flip side.

Top: John Wayne. 1. Blazing Saddles, Gene Wilder, Cleavon Little, Mel Brooks directed. 2. Tom Selleck. Film based on novel by Elmore Leonard. 3. Andre the Giant, Princess Bride. 4. The one and only Annie Oakley. 5. The one and only Reba McEntire. 6. Sam Elliott, 1883. 7. Robert Redford, The Electric Cowboy. 8. John Ford. 9. Barbara Stanwyck. 10. James Arness, Marshal Dillon, Gunsmoke.