Comments on: Seeking name of famous Westerns character actor

Question: Seeking name of famous Westerns character actor

bkdelong — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 08:28:24 -0800

Looking for the name of an actor who was typecast in many westers as a "crazy old coot".

My best recollection of him is from The Muppet Movie but I don't see him in the credits. I think he was also in the Maverick movie as well.

He was always typecast as a "crazy old coot" often with gray bristles from an unshaved beard, squinty eyes, a raspy drawling cackle of a laugh and a squashed top hat or bowler instead of a cowboy hat.

Any ideas?

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 08:31:08 -0800

Jack Elam?

By: bkdelong

bkdelong — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 08:38:49 -0800

He's definitely similar...but no, he's not the one. I don't remember him as the bowler hat type.

By: geekyguy

geekyguy — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 08:59:38 -0800

Walter Brennan?

By: mds35

mds35 — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 09:03:16 -0800

Walter Brennan is my first guess, too. My second guess would be George "Gabby" Hayes.

By: googly

googly — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 09:09:31 -0800

If it weren't for the "squinty eyes" in your description I'd say it is definitely Elam.

Maybe Lee Van Cleef?

By: kittyb

kittyb — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 09:16:19 -0800

James Coburn? He's on the IMDB as being in the Muppet Movie and Maverick...

By: steelbuddha

steelbuddha — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 09:17:23 -0800

James Coburn?

Better Picture.

By: steelbuddha

steelbuddha — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 09:17:52 -0800

Durn it, kittyb.

By: mds35

mds35 — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 09:18:45 -0800

Maybe Denver Pyle? (Dukes of Hazzard, Escape from Witch Mountain, etc.) He was in 1994's Maverick.

By: bkdelong

bkdelong — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 09:22:17 -0800

Less facial hair than Gabby Hayes, less head hair than Walter Brennan, and he has a more round face and beady eyes then both.

Denver Pyle's hair is way too long and too much beard hair.

Definitely not Lee Van Cleef - complexion is too dark, this guy didn't have a mustache, head is too "thin" etc.

Elam's face is too saggy and there's the blind left eye.

Not James Coburn either. Coburn is too thin.

He really donesn't have facial hair that I remember...just often looked unshaven for several days.

Man..I guess there were more character actors than I thought. I think this guy was also more background ambience than as prestigious as some of these actors were.

My recollection must suck ;)

By: inksyndicate

inksyndicate — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 09:26:51 -0800

Hank Worden, who played the wacky Mose Harper in "The Searchers" (1956)?

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 09:31:58 -0800

Andy Devine seems unlikely, but I thought I'd throw him out there.

By: bondcliff

bondcliff — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 09:34:24 -0800

Tracey Walter?

He also played Miller in Repo Man.

"The more you drive, the less intelligent you are."

By: Slack-a-gogo

Slack-a-gogo — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 09:44:24 -0800

When I think of crazy old western coots I think of Gabby Hayes who was in the Gunsmoke TV series as well as dozens of westerns. He was the definitive crotchety, bearded cowboy sidekick that always looked like he just came from the river fishin' for gold.

By: Slack-a-gogo

Slack-a-gogo — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 09:46:23 -0800

Oh, I somehow missed your Gabby Hayes reference above.

By: CunningLinguist

CunningLinguist — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 09:52:33 -0800

Walter Huston?

By: bkdelong

bkdelong — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 10:22:35 -0800

Hank Worden is too skinny, head not round enough.

Andy Devine has too much head hair.

Tracey Walter is much too young. This guy is about James Coburn or Denver Pyle's age

Walter Huston died too long ago.

This guy was in movies in the 80s and 90s.

Boy I'm at a loss here.

By: iconomy

iconomy — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 10:25:29 -0800

You could go to What a Character (a database of character actors) and see if you can find him. I'm looking now too, but none of the names so far are matching up with names from the muppet movie, except H.B. Haggerty, who doesn't fit your description. Tell us if you find him...this kind of stuff drives me nuts.

By: bkdelong

bkdelong — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 10:48:30 -0800

I just found "What a Character" myself. His name is Dub Taylor.

These are the type of pictures I was talking about.

It looks like my Muppet Movie reference was wrong...so I apologize.

By: grateful

grateful — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 11:07:50 -0800

Holy crap - 160 movies!

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 11:12:20 -0800

Oh him.

By: iconomy

iconomy — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 11:35:19 -0800

Dub Taylor, who always gave me the creeps:

I just found "What a Character" myself.

Yeah. That's what they all say.

By: goethean

goethean — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 11:43:19 -0800

Walter Brennan

Thats who immediately came to my mind. My favorite line: "Have you ever been stung by a dead bee?"

By: ikkyu2

ikkyu2 — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 13:55:23 -0800

Haha, I love that guy. Although Denver Pyle was the crazy old coot who immediately sprang to mind.

By: CunningLinguist

CunningLinguist — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 15:48:14 -0800

"Have you ever been bit by a dead bee?"