7 Real-Life Cowboys Who Got The Hollywood Treatment

Doc Holliday

If asked, Holliday would probably list his profession as “dentist” rather than “cowboy,” but today he’s most famous for his friendship with Wyatt Earp, so he stays in (how many of these guys actually worked with cows, anyway?). Like Earp, he’s famous for his participation in a gunfight at a certain Corral, against a band of outlaw cowboys. And he’s been played on the big screen by Val Kilmer, Dennis Quaid, Kirk Douglas, Victor Mature, and many others.

Pat Garrett

The lawman who famously killed outlaw Billy the Kid, Garrett rode that act to vicarious Hollywood fame in movies like Sam Peckinpah’s Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, in which he is portrayed by the legendary James Coburn. His story has been turned into numerous other films, most of which center on the more famous Billy the Kid – speaking of which:

Billy the Kid

A famous outlaw much like Jesse James, Billy the Kid was both an infamous killer and a beloved folk hero. On screen, he’s appeared in films directed by Sam Peckinpah, Howard Hughes, Marlon Brando, and Arthur Penn. Billy himself has been lucky enough to be portrayed on screen by Paul Newman, among others. The films tend to alternate between Billy the folk hero and Billy the killer (or are pitched somewhere in between), but as long as people remain fascinated by outlaws, there will probably continue to be versions of his story in a theater near you.