25 Actors Who Played the Most Memorable Villains in Westerns

As “JACK WILSON” in SHANE (1953).

Simply the best! This hired gunfighter is a dispassionate, cold professional killer who, obviously, enjoys his work. Even Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name would think twice before taking him on.

“You’ll know him when you see him. Packs two guns. Kinda lean. He wears a black hat.”

As “BEN VANDERGROAT” in THE NAKED SPUR (1953).

Captured, unarmed, and alone except for the naïve daughter of his best friend, he is able to survive through guile, wit, and by goading his captors into mistrusting one another.

“He’s mean. He was born mean. And you know he was born mean.”

As preacher “JONATHON RUDD” in 5 CARD STUD (1968).

Although Mitchum’s role here is a somewhat watered-down version of his Harry Powell in “The Night of the Hunter,” he’s still menacing enough to insure that God’s House will be filled to capacity every Sunday.

As “MR. GANNON” in THE FAR COUNTRY (1955).

Dressed in his habitual Lincolnesque top hat and frock coat, this affable self-styled lawman of Skagway is as trustworthy as a smiling alligator. Mr. Gannon was probably based on true-life character Soapy Smith, a con-man who was known as Skagway’s dictator during the Klondike gold rush of 1897-98.

As “’WACO’ JOHNNY DEAN” in WINCHESTER ’73 (1950).

The perpetual juvenile delinquent who thinks that robbing a bank is no more a crime than stealing from a candy store.

As “FRANK USHER” in THE TALL T (1957).

The worst kind of criminal. The cultured man whose intelligence has made him contemptuous of humanity but who will use – and later ruthlessly discard – those who helped him after he gets what he wants. Boone was almost equally reprehensible in his portrayal of John Fain in 1971’s BIG JAKE.

As “DECKER” in DESTRY (1955).

Unctuous, smooth-talking, gravel-voiced scoundrel who owns the local saloon and has most of the politicians who run the town in his vest pocket.

As “TEVIS” in RAWHIDE (1951).

Elam plays a not-too-bright, somewhat deranged, woman-hungry escaped ex-con who partners with a vicious gang of stage robbers. With his trademark bulging eyes (the left one unmoving) and haunted expression, he has never been spookier.

As “GOLD HAT” in THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948).

Gold Hat and his bandidos are holed up in the Sierras from where they attack and rob unwary travellers of their goods. When asked to produce badges to verify their claim as being Federales, he responds with this memorable gem: “Baaaches? We ain’t got no baaaches. We don’t need no baaaches. I don’t have to show you any stinkin’ baaaches .”

As “MA GRIER” in THE OX-BOW INCIDENT (1943).

Good grief! A pre-feminist woman who not only rides with the lynch mob, but helps lead it.

As “CHET SWANN” in RED SUNDOWN (1955).

A young, cocky gun-for-hire whose smile oozes confidence in his own abilities. But his eyes betray a certain mental instability. His character raises this ordinary, cliché-ridden movie to above average.

As “JUDGE ROY BEAN” in THE WESTERNER (1940).

Representing the law “West of the Pecos,” Bean runs a kangaroo court from behind a bar in a saloon where he passes sentence (mostly hanging) on the accused, but has a soft spot for all things Lily Langtree. Brennan nabbed a well-deserved Oscar for this portrayal.

As “MARTHA WILKISON” in THE VIOLENT MEN (1955).

A heartless, selfish woman played by Stanwyck as only she knows how. She tosses her paraplegic husband’s crutches into the fire and leaves him to die in a flaming ranch house.

As “PREACHER QUINT” in WILL PENNY (1967).

Pleasence is a guy who could make your skin crawl at even the best of times. Here he is one of the most dastardly villains ever to grace the screen. He is mean, unkind, and slightly insane. His deadbeat sons are no different and almost as callous.

As “ANGEL EYES” in THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY (1965).

Angel Eyes is not so different from other villains Van Cleef has played, but here he is much more sharply developed; calmly self-assured, murderous, sadistic, traitorous, and remorseless.

As “CAPTAIN JACK” in DRUM BEAT (1954).

Although not indigenous, Bronson delivers a credible performance as the vengeful but not entirely reprehensible renegade Modoc chief who sports the US Army coats and medals of victims of his marauding band. This role was a huge stepping stone in his emergence from bit player to ‘70s superstar.

As ”FRANK” in ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968).

It is shocking to see Fonda completely abandon his redoubtable socially-conscious image and play one of the coldest villains in screen history, a man able to kill without blinking an eye. He gives you the creeps with just one gaze at the camera and his every sentence leaves the bitter taste of malfeasance.

As “EL INDIO” in FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE (1965).

A true head case. This unscrupulous nutbar is constantly haunted by the memory of a young woman who shot herself dead even while he was forcing sex on her.

As “LITTLE BILL DAGGERT” in UNFORGIVEN (1992).

Sheriff Little Billy has a peculiar sense of justice. He overlooks the mutilation of a prostitute, yet takes sadistic pleasure in humiliating and torturing anyone he mistrusts or disagrees with, all the while abetted by numerous armed deputies to insure the odds are in his favour. Hackman won an Oscar for his performance.

As “EMMA SMALL” in JOHNNY GUITAR (1954).

A vengeful cauldron of hate who irrationally believes that her rival has encroached on her land, is responsible for stagecoach and bank robberies, and the death of her brother as well as luring away her lover. Only the rival’s death will appease her.

As “LIBERTY VALANCE” in THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962).

The town bully, as noted for his flamboyant dress – white shirt, black pants, decorated black vest and silver-handled whip – as he is for his thuggery. Marvin made the most of a relatively small part.

As “CALVERA” in THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960).

Calvera and his henchmen, who have continually terrorized a small Mexican village into giving them food, money, and sometimes shelter in exchange for their lives, seeks vengeance when he discovers that the villagers have hired seven gunmen to put an end to this “free lunch.”

As “STAN BODINE” in THE KENTUCKIAN (1955).

This malevolent local businessman is the town bully whose skill with a bullwhip is unmatched. When he is showing off, he uses it to douse candle flames; when he is angry, he can and will thrash a man to make his point.

As “DUDE” in YELLOW SKY (1949).

A smirking, cynical gambler with a bullet embedded in his chest, he tags along with a group of bank robbers until they come across a cache of gold after which he succumbs to greed and becomes homicidal. Nothing new here but Widmark turns in an effective performance, one he would emulate five years later in BROKEN LANCE.

As “LONG HAIR” in THE COWBOYS (1972). He killed John Wayne. You can’t get much badder than that.