What The Hottest Western Actors From The '70s Look Like Today

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While the golden age of westerns was said to have ended at the turn of the '60s, iconic films such as "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean," "The Shootist," and "Jeremiah Johnson" all helped the genre to survive through the '70s. Of course, many of the leading men who spent the decade in sharp-shooting, saloon-drinking mode are sadly no longer with us — see Paul Newman, Charles Bronson, and Kris Kristofferson to name just a few.

However, there are still at least a dozen high-profile stars who are still very much alive and kicking. In fact, many are still working today. So what have the actors who played legendary characters such as Butch Cassidy, Josey Wales, and John McCabe been up to since? How many went on to win Academy Awards? Who enjoyed success on the hit parade? And which has recently lent their voice to the inescapable world of the Minions?

In the '70s, Sam Elliott played a real-life Nez Perce War soldier in the TV movie "I Will Fight No More Forever," shared top billing in the western miniseries "The Sacketts," and appeared as a cowboy in multiple commercials for Falstaff Beer. And he continued to explore throughout the genre over the following decades, too.

Elliott, renowned for his strong, dependable presence, thick mustache, and remarkably deep baritone voice, portrayed American Old West folk hero Wild Bill Hickok in "Buffalo Girls," lawman Virgil Earp in "Tombstone," and Captain William "Bucky" O'Neill in "Rough Riders." He also received a Golden Globe nomination for his leading turn in 1991's "Conagher."

The 81-year-old has also ventured into other territories, picking up an Oscar nod for playing Bradley Cooper's manager in the umpteenth remake of "A Star Is Born," showing up as a love interest in golden years comedy "Grace and Frankie," and appearing in the superhero films "Ghost Rider" and "Hulk." But he's always kept one foot in westerns, whether bringing a touch of gravitas to Netflix sitcom "The Ranch," guest-starring on the cult FX hit "Justified," or joining the ever-expanding "Yellowstone" universe created by Taylor Sheridan. Starring as Shea Brennan in the prequel "1883," the veteran also took on the role of patriarch Thomas 'TL' Norris in the West Texas drama "Landman."

Already a bona fide western icon by the time the '70s, Clint Eastwood extended his legacy in the genre with classic performances in "Joe Kidd," "The Outlaw Josey Wales," and "High Plains Drifter," the latter two of which he also directed.

Eastwood continued to pull double duty on several other westerns over the following decades, including "Pale Rider," "Cry Macho," and what many consider his masterpiece, the multiple-Oscar-winning "Unforgiven." The veteran has also been just as successful elsewhere, though, whether romantic drama "The Bridges of Madison County," neo-noir "Mystic River," or war biopic "American Sniper. "

Following 2024's legal thriller "Juror #2," Eastwood reportedly decided to retire from the industry he'd been a part of since monster flick "Revenge of the Creature" way back in 1955. When asked by The Metrograph about what he hoped would be his Hollywood legacy, the 90-something responded (via IndieWire), "That would be up to them, to the audiences, to answer. Up to the people on the outside ... You have a story, you make a movie of it. You have to just go for it. If you think too much about how it happened you might ruin it. I go back and look at films I've made, and I could easily ask, 'Why the heck did I make this?'"

Classically trained actor Sam Waterston continued to tread the boards throughout the '70s while simultaneously establishing himself as a screen presence in "The Great Gatsby," "Interiors," and "Capricorn One," not to mention the westerns "Rancho Deluxe" and "Eagle's Wing."

Waterston went on to impress in "Oppenheimer" — the 1980 BBC version, not the Christopher Nolan phenomenon — show up on the big screen in "Hannah and Her Sisters," "Nixon," and "On the Basis of Sex," and land recurring parts in "Grace and Frankie" and Aaron Sorkin drama "The Newsroom." But his most famous role has unarguably been Jack McCoy, the District Attorney who graced the original "Law and Order" for no fewer than 405 episodes.

Although Waterson insisted that he wasn't retiring after waving goodbye to the character for good in 2024, he hasn't been seen in anything since. And while attending the opening night of Shakespeare in the Park two years later, the 85-year-old told People that he's enjoying his newfound downtime: "Well, we've been living our life, my wife and I," he shared. "And we're very lucky where we live and then our family and our children. And they are thriving and it's good."

Very much an outdoorsman in real life, the oft-shady Tom Selleck no doubt landed his dream role in 1979 when he was cast alongside western icons Ben Johnson and Glenn Ford in the TV adaptation of Louis L'Amour's "The Sacketts." The thick-mustachioed man also got the chance to showcase his marksman skills in the pilot of "Concrete Cowboys" that same year.

Of course, Selleck would become one of the '80s ultimate hunks in a slightly more contemporary setting, the detective show "Magnum, P.I." But he maintained his connections to the Wild West in "The Shadow Riders." And alongside recurring '90s roles in "Friends" and "The Closer," and memorable performances in "Three Men and a Little Lady" and "In and Out," he also fronted "Last Stand at Saber River" and "Quigley Down Under."

In the '00s, Selleck gravitated toward modern-day crime fighting, as Jesse Stone in a series of eponymous TV films and then as New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan in procedural "Blue Bloods." Speaking to Entertainment Weekly about the latter's end in 2024, the 80-something admitted that he was finding it hard to let go: "It's a 15-year relationship with most of those people, and it just doesn't go away that fast. It's hard — on a movie, you always say, 'Well, let's get together,' and then you get busy or you work somewhere else and a couple of years go by, but this is just a bigger adjustment."

Alongside his regular partner-in-crime Bud Spencer, Terence Hill imbued the typically serious spaghetti western with a sense of humor in '70s comedies such as "They Call Me Trinity," "My Name is Nobody," and "A Genius, Two Partners and a Dope." The Venice-born actor also played it straight that same decade, too, in the likes of "The Wind's Fierce" and "Man of the East."

Hill's career in front of the camera slowed down in the '80s. But he added a new string to his bow when he turned director for "The World of Don Camillo," going on to helm "Lucky Luke" and its small-screen spinoff and "Troublemakers," the last of the 18 films he made with Williams, who sadly died in 2016.

In the '00s, Hill gravitated toward television, landing recurring roles in mystery comedies "Don Matteo" and "Un passo dal cielo" and starring alongside Paul Sorvino in "Doc West." In 2018, however, he returned to the film world to direct and act in road movie "My Name Is Thomas." The multi-talent, whose last credit was a voice role in the 2023 shoot-em-up game "Slaps and Beans 2," recently obtained German citizenship at the age of 83.

Quality over quantity appears to be Warren Beatty's career motto. Despite his status as a Hollywood legend, the ladies' man has fewer than two dozen acting credits to his name. 1970s "McCabe and Mrs Miller," in which he starred as an early 20th-century gambler, is the only western on his resume. But it's widely regarded as one of the decade's greatest. It's even been selected by the U.S. National Film Registry for preservation.

Beatty, who's married to fellow acclaimed thespian Annette Bening, went on to forge a career in directing, pulling double duty on "Reds," "Bugsy," and "Bulworth." He also appeared in the notorious flop "Town and Country," reprised his role as Dick Tracy in several TV specials, and, through no fault of his own, famously co-announced the wrong Best Picture winner at the 2017 Oscars. The year previously, the Virginia native made what appears to be his final film, 2016's "Rules Don't Apply," in which he also depicted the famously reclusive Howard Hughes.

Interestingly, according to reports, 89-year-old Beatty seems to have become something of a hermit himself in recent years. "He's accomplished everything he wants to in his career and keeping up with the Hollywood rat race holds no interest to him," an insider told Closer Weekly.

Although his Oscar-nominated turns in "The Last Picture Show" and "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" remain the pinnacle of his '70s career, Jeff Bridges also acquitted himself well in several of the era's Wild West tales, including "Bad Company" and "Rancho Deluxe." He also starred in "Hearts of the West," a comedy in which an aspiring western writer is suddenly propelled onto the big screen himself.

Bridges went on to earn awards attention for two very different westerns, the 2010 remake of "True Grit" and the neo-western "Hell or High Water." But he won his first, and so far only, Oscar playing a country singer in emotional music drama "Crazy Heart." The Californian has also starred alongside his brother Beau Bridges in "The Fabulous Baker Boys," fronted the sci-fi cult classic "Tron" and its 2010 sequel, and graced the small screen in HBO TV movie "A Dog Year" and action thriller "The Old Man."

Further proving his versatility, Bridges' latest role was as the voices of twin brother film studio bosses Frank and Elwood Bright in "Minions and Monsters." "You're over at the cool kids house and getting all the cool toys and playing," the 76-year-old told Variety on the red carpet premiere about why he joined the capsule-shaped creatures' universe.

Tom Berenger regularly drew comparisons to Paul Newman as he climbed up the Hollywood ladder. So who better to assume the role that the latter played in the classic 1969 western "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"? Yes, in his first starring Hollywood role, the Chicagoan portrayed Cassidy in the 1979 prequel "Butch and Sundance: The Early Days."

Berenger, now in his late 70s, occasionally returned to the genre in the 1985 comedy "Rustlers' Rhapsody," 1995's "Last of the Dogmen," and the 2012 mini-series "Hatfield and McCoys," for which he won an Emmy. But he also achieved success elsewhere, whether the ensemble dramedy "The Big Chill," neo-noir "Someone to Watch Over Me," or the sports comedy "Major League."

Berenger has also enjoyed supporting roles in "Inception," "Training Day," and "Faster," walked down the aisle on no fewer than four occasions, and was most recently seen playing a vampire hunter in "Vampires of the Velvet Lounge." He will next reprise the character of MGySgt. Thomas J. "Tom" Beckett in another instalment of the "Sniper" franchise, "No Nation."

Like Sam Waterston, the oft-tragic Martin Sheen also rounded out the 1970s by showcasing his talents in the western "Eagle's Wing." And the pair also reunited playing long-time secret lovers in "Grace and Frankie." In between, the actor graced multiple genres, including "The Dead Zone", "Gettysburg", "The American President," and "The Amazing Spider-Man."

Sheen also took the director's chair for historical prison tale "Cadence," starred in his eldest son Emilio Estevez's films "Bobby" and "The Way," and shared the screen with his youngest son Charlie Sheen in "Wall Street." He also received six Emmy nominations for his leading performance as President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet in box set favorite "The West Wing."

Remarkably, Sheen walked away each time empty-handed, and perhaps even more remarkably, he's never been nominated for an Oscar, either. Still an active actor, the Ohio native still has time to change that. But currently, he's more interested in the world of podcasting, having launched his own with daughter Renée in 2025. Now in its fourth season, "The Martin Sheen Podcast" promises (via Spotify) to share "never before heard stories of his life, personal reflections, and poetry that inspires."

The western isn't necessarily the first genre you'd associate with the oft-tragic Jack Nicholson. But the former hellraiser played gunslingers on several occasions throughout the '70s, including in "The Missouri Breaks" and "Goin' South."

In 1983, Nicholson picked up his second Oscar for "Terms of Endearment," and landed nominations for "Prizzi's Honor," "Ironweed," "A Few Good Men," and "About Schmidt." He also delivered one of the most iconic performances in horror history in "The Shining," depicted The Joker on the big screen in 1989's "Batman," and enjoyed later-in-life success in "Something's Gotta Give," "The Departed," and "The Bucket List."

Following 2010 rom-com "How Do You Know," the once-prolific Nicholson decided to step away from the limelight. He did, however, attend the 40th and 50th anniversaries of "Saturday Night Live" and was regularly spotted watching his beloved Los Angeles Lakers, often with his son Ray Nicholson. In 2013, he told The Sun that contrary to rumors, he wasn't retiring because of memory issues. He simply didn't have the same drive he had back in his heyday. "The movie business is the greatest business but I only want to do films that move people, films about emotions and people," he explained (via Vanity Fair).

Long before he donned those famous pastel-colored suits in "Miami Vice," Don Johnson appeared in "Zachariah," a 1971 'acid western' in which he played a blacksmith who leaves his boring life behind to reinvent himself as a gunfighter. The future heartthrob also returned to the more traditional form of the genre in 1979 with the adaptation of John Jakes' novel "The Rebels."

Johnson would later win a Golden Globe for playing James 'Sonny' Crockett, still his most iconic role. But he also enjoyed success in the '80s as a pop star, reaching number five on the Hot 100 with the single "Heartbeat," and also took center stage in the movies "Cease Fire" and "Dead Bang."

The Missouri native, whose daughter Dakota Johnson has followed in his acting footsteps, starred in another hit TV show in the '90s, the crime procedural "Nash Bridges." And he enjoyed a career revival in the '00s, working with Robert Rodriguez on "Machete," Quentin Tarantino on "Django Unchained," and Rian Johnson on "Knives Out." Now in his mid-70s, the star is still going strong, having recently appeared as Captain Robert Massey in "Doctor Odyssey" and portrayed real-life gunslinger Doc Holliday in Larry David's "Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness."

Stacy Keach appeared in multiple westerns during the early '70s, including "The Traveling Executioner," "Doc," and "The Life and Times of Roy Judge Bean." And one of his first, and few, films of the following decade, "The Long Riders," was also rooted in the genre.

However, Keach achieved his biggest success in the '80s on the small screen as private detective Mike Hammer and a number of spinoff films. The Georgia native also won a Golden Globe for playing the lead role in the 1988 mini-series, "Hemingway," and later bagged recurring parts in sitcoms "Man with a Plan" and "Two and a Half Men," the watercooler drama "Prison Break," and the police procedural "Blue Bloods."

Keach, now in his mid-80s, continued to maintain a film career, too, appearing in "American History X," "W.," and "The Bourne Legacy," and recently portraying George Clooney's father in Netflix original "Jay Kelly." His private life has been just as eventful after having walked down the aisle four times and spent six months in jail for importing cocaine. And as he later told Smashing Interviews, two very famous friends, Frank Sinatra and Nancy Reagan, helped him get back on track.