SIDEKICKS

What would our heroes have done without a trusty sidekick? There were many different ones with many different personalities. Some actually helped our heroes, some got in their way and fouled things up, and some were just comedians! But no matter what function they performed, they were all an integral part of the western movies! Probably the two most famous were George "Gabby" Hayes and Smiley Burnette

Theses two are probably most remembered for being the sidekicks of Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. However, both had many other parts as well. Gabby, for instance, played in several movies with John Wayne and a few with Randolph Scott. He was also a former Shakespearean actor!  Smiley also played with the Durango Kid.

1. Andy Devine played in several of Roy Rogers' movies as well as his television series, but is also well remembered for his part as Jingles, the sidekick of Wild Bill Hickok (Guy Madison); 2. Andy Clyde played in several westerns but is probably best remembered as one of Hoppy's sidekicks; 3. Al "Fuzzy" St. John is probably best remembered as the comical sidekick of Lash LaRue but I have seen him play in some early westerns wherein he played the part of a buffoon!; 

1. "Fuzzy" Knight also played the sidekick of several different heroes but I mainly remember him in The Trail of the Lonesome Pine and he was walking down the road singing the song at the end of the movie. He didn't have a bad voice either. 2. Raymond Hatton - Raymond is probably best know for his "sidekick" part in the Johnny Mack Brown movies, but he also played in several of  The Three Mesquiteers and The Range Riders series of movies. 

And, who can forget Richard "Chito" Martin, Tim Holt's sidekick who was a "lover boy", or at least he thought he was!; and then there was Yakima Canut, a multi talented individual who played as the sidekick of John Wayne (in his early years), and also played as the villain in many movies, and then went on to become a movie director; Ward Bond was not necessarily a sidekick but he played in many of John Wayne's movies, both as a good guy and a bad guy; Hank Worden wasn't a sidekick either but he also played in many of John Wayne's movies; I remember him for his part as Mose in The Searchers and he was always wanting his rocking chair that John had promised him. Another memorable part was as Pore Devil, an indian in the Big Sky, with Kirk Douglas, Dewey Martin, and Arthur Hunnicutt.

And, we couldn't list sidekicks without mentioning the great Walter Brennan; talking about a talented actor! Walter played sidekick to many a star, not only western but others as well, even Humphrey Bogart. He also went on to star in the Television series, The Real McCoys, and then The Guns of Will Sonnett. One of my favorite movies with Walter was Rio Bravo and this shouldn't surprise anyone because the star was John Wayne! The second picture below is from Rio Bravo wherein Walter played Stumpy.

Then there was Arthur Hunnicutt whose parts were very similar to Walter Brennan's; He also was in the movie, The Big Sky, with Kirk, Dewey, and Hank Worden. Another memorable part was once again a John Wayne movie titled El Dorado where he was the trumpet blowing deputy named Bull.

And, who can forget this next duo who played in so many of John Wayne's movies - the super-great Ben Johnson and Harry Carey, Jr.?

Background music, Side by Side