9 Iconic Cowboy Duos from Classic Western TV Shows & Movies

We all know it takes two to tango, but even in the Wild West, it was hard for some heroes to go it alone. These dynamic duos of the screen, like the Lone Ranger and Tonto and Butch and Sundance,  or even a real cowboy duo, like Gene Autry, with his singing sidekick Roy Rogers, show us that when it comes to riding high, it’s often better to have someone with your back.

Saddle up as we ride through some of our favorite cowboy duos from TV and movies — and let us know which pair tops your list!

TV SERIES

Gus McCrae (Robert Duvall) and Woodrow Call (Tommy Lee Jones)

 “My God, Woodrow. It’s been quite a party, ain’t it?” Grown men wept during the final episode of Lonesome Dove, the greatest Western miniseries ever made, based on Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book (perhaps the greatest Western novel ever written). Even John Wayne would have blubbered at these last words — uttered with wry wonderment to Tommy Lee Jones’ stoic Woodrow Call by Robert Duvall’s magnificently memorable Augustus “Gus” McCrae, two former Texas Rangers and best friends enjoying one last adventure on an epic cattle drive from Texas to Montana. Duvall had been approached to play Woodrow, but relished tackling what he described as the “romantic lead,” wooing Diane Lane and Anjelica Huston before succumbing to his wounds, which was a crying shame, even for Woodrow.

The Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore) and Tonto (Jay Silverheels) 

The masked man of frontier mystery had good reason to be loyal to his Native American companion, Tonto. He’d have been a dead ranger if Tonto hadn’t rescued John Reid, the sole survivor of an ambush of Texas Rangers. Faking his demise, the Lone Ranger (who Tonto called “Kemo Sabe,” which means “trusty scout”) scoured the prairie for nearly a decade with his trusty friend, righting wrongs and riding off with a “Heigh-Ho, Silver,” while Tonto followed along on Scout. Though Clayton Moore was briefly replaced by John Hart in what may have been a contract dispute, Mohawk actor Jay Silverheels played Tonto throughout the show’s successful run, which was the first major hit for the fledgling ABC network.

James West (Robert Conrad) and Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin)

Inspired by the 1960s spy trend of James Bond and The Man From U.N.C.L.E., this fantastical Western romp paired action hero James West (Robert Conrad) with clever master of disguise Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) as Secret Service agents in post-Civil War America. While West often won the day with his fists in displays of derring-do — Conrad did most of his own stunts, often splitting his astonishingly tight pants in the process — Gordon lived by his wits in what the actor called “a show-off’s showcase.” (Martin’s versatility in the role earned him an Emmy nomination in 1969.)

Slim Sherman (John Smith) and Jess Harper (Robert Fuller)

This buddy Western was set in the Wyoming territory on the Sherman family ranch that doubled as a stagecoach relay station, with former stuntman Robert Fuller often stealing the spotlight as the easily riled drifter Jess Harper. He stayed in Laramie to help the more level-headed Slim Sherman (played by one-time MGM messenger boy John Smith) in a partnership that felt more like a brotherly bond — especially once Robert Crawford Jr., who played Slim’s kid brother Andy, left the show. Fuller, who would go on to star in Wagon Train (1959-65) and the more contemporary Emergency! in the 1970s, loved playing Jess’ dark side, telling TV Guide Magazine in 1960, “Jess has a shady past. It gives dimension. I’d compare him with Shane.”

Friendly offscreen but seen by the media as rivals, these singing cowboys were cut from the same buckskin cloth, swapping the No. 1 position atop the Motion Picture Herald‘s “Money-Making Western Stars” poll in the 1940s and ’50s until TV beckoned. Their self-titled shows in the early 1950s, Autry’s on CBS and Rogers’ on NBC, were nearly identical, with Gene as Gene and Roy as Roy (alongside wife Dale Evans), each with a comical sidekick — Pat Buttram for Gene, Pat Brady for Roy — and an iconic horse: Gene rode Champion and Rogers the immortal Trigger. In the 1980s, Autry hosted Rogers on his Melody Ranch Theater showcase for their old movies, burying any metaphorical hatchet and leaving fans wondering why they didn’t make beautiful Western music together more often.

MOVIES

Butch (Paul Newman) and Sundance (Robert Redford)

Even when more bullets than raindrops were falling around them, the banter never let up between those endearing outlaws on the lam, played to the charismatic hilt by Paul Newman and Robert Redford at the peak of their stardom. William Goldman’s witty Oscar-winning screenplay was especially fruitful for Newman as the glib and sardonic Butch Cassidy, leader of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang and partner in crime with the sharp-shooting Sundance Kid, who sputters “One hell of a time to tell me!” after Butch confesses during a moment of crisis that “I never shot anybody before.” Their chemistry was so strong that Hollywood demanded an encore, and they teamed up again as Depression-era grifters in 1973’s The Sting, a Best Picture Oscar winner.

Sheriff Pat Garrett (James Coburn) and Billy the Kid (Kris Kristofferson)

Fate comes “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” (a song that costar Bob Dylan wrote for the film) for legendary outlaw Billy the Kid (Kris Kristofferson) in the form of his old friend and newly minted Sheriff Pat Garrett (James Coburn) in director Sam Peckinpah’s brooding revisionist Western. The lingering affection between the pals turned adversaries is palpable, and when Billy asks Pat how it feels to be a sellout, Pat responds, “It feels like times have changed.” Billy’s answer: “Times, maybe. Not me.”

Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) and Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) 

Doc Holliday never got his own TV show the way his lawman friend Wyatt Earp did, but as played with genteel and scathing Method sophistication by Val Kilmer, the boozing and consumptive gambler walks away with this cult classic. (He also famously uttered the line that eventually gave a title to his memoir: “I’m your huckleberry.”) Kurt Russell brings the necessary earnestness as Earp, who comes to Tombstone hoping for a little peace and quiet, but instead becomes embroiled in the legendary gunfight at the O.K. Corral. When he tells his friend of his desire for a normal life, Doc Holliday expounds: “There’s no normal life, Wyatt. It’s just life. Get on with it. … Live every second. Live right on to the end. Live, Wyatt. Live for me.”

Sheriff John T. Chance (John Wayne) and Dude (Dean Martin) 

Long before there was Jeff Bridges‘ Dude in The Big Lebowski, another Dude — played by Dean Martin, sending up his own louche reputation as a lush — held his own opposite the immortal John Wayne in Howard Hawks‘ royally entertaining Western. “Is he as good as I used to be?” town drunk and former deputy Dude asks Sheriff John T. Chance (Wayne) about the new gunslinger (Ricky Nelson) in town. “I’d hate to have to live on the difference,” Chance replies, offering Dude a second chance at self-respect when they take on a corrupt rancher gunning to free his brother from jail.