Gunsmoke: The Only Major Actor Still Alive From Landmark Western Drama

Long-running CBS Western "Gunsmoke" ended back in 1975, and sadly, most of the show's core cast members have passed away in the time since. However, Buck Taylor is still with us, and even in his late 80s, he's still booked and busy. 

While Buck only joined the cast of "Gunsmoke" more than a decade into the show's run (his first appearance on the show came in 1967, while the show premiered in 1955), he stuck around right until its finale. Despite being a hit with viewers, Buck wasn't one of the faces of the show, but back in 1970, he said at a CBS "Star Weekend" event that he had no hard feelings about that. "I'm not over-exposed, which is fine with me. That gives me a chance at another good series later," he told the press (via MeTV). Buck wasn't wrong there, and after the hit Western show ended, the "Gunsmoke" cast member continued to work steadily, featuring in countless other Western projects in the decades that followed. Among the productions on his resume, the actor has "Tombstone," "Dallas," "Cowboys & Aliens," and he even joined the cast of "Yellowstone" in 2018. While his character Emmett Walsh wasn't one of the show's leads, he made several appearances throughout its five-season run. 

As for why he's stuck to the cowboy niche throughout his career, Buck spoke to David Morris about that back in 2015. "The cowboy is salt of the earth. ... It's the epitome of what I think Americans dream of being," he said. "I think all of us have that cowboy image, and the image is someone who has integrity, soft-spoken, mean what they say, and don't have to roar like lions and brag and all that kind of stuff." Buck added that he was passionate about being a "reel" cowboy, and always would be.

Despite being in his late 80s, in addition to regular work (at the time of this writing, he had a whopping four films in the works), Buck Taylor also connects with his fans on Facebook, sometimes sharing throwback "Gunsmoke" clips, and sometimes chatting directly with his followers, offering autographs and advertising his artworks. 

Buck also connects with his fans at events, like the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. In 2023, he attended the show to sell his artworks, and told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he'd been an attendee for decades, stretching right back to the early '90s. "There's good people here," he said of why it was such a highlight for him. 

Speaking of those artworks, for "Gunsmoke" fans who weren't aware, Buck is a painter. In his interview with David Morris, he explained that his goal when making art was to highlight his own heritage and pass down history. "Our history is passed down from one generation to another ... either done word of mouth, or it's done through paintings or it's done through books, or now it's done through movies, and we can choose to keep it or lose it, and I think I want to keep it," he said. Buck became emotional while explaining that his art was also a way to honor not just his own story as a Western performer, but his father's too. In case you didn't know, Buck has a famous parent: His father, Dub Taylor, was a Western character actor. Of creating things that would keep their legacy alive, Buck told Morris, "That means a lot to me." Well, between his films, TV shows, and artwork, there's no question Buck has made his mark on the genre he loves best.