15 Most Iconic Western Sidekicks

Saddle Pals and Cowboy Sidekicks

In early Westerns, sidekicks were loyal companions who provided moral support and unwavering backup for the hero. Gabby Hayes, our number one sidekick, was the archetypal wisecracking comic foil who kept things light for Western stars like Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, John Wayne, and Randolph Scott.

The sidekick served as a mentor, teaching the hero new skills, or were used to explain things to the audience. Occasionally, a sidekick was a better fighter then the hero, but he always remained loyal and subordinate. Gone but not forgotten, here are the most beloved and iconic amigos of the Golden Age of the Western, with our Top 10 listed below.

Top 10 Sidekicks

1. George "Gabby" Hayes
2. Andy Devine
3. Pat Brady
4. Slim Pickens
5. John Wayne
6. Al "Fuzzy" St. John
7. Eddie "Nugget Clark" Waller
8. Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards
9. Pat Buttram
10. Smiley Burnett

1. George "Gabby" Hayes

Born: May 7, 1885

Died: February 9, 1969

George "Gabby" Hayes was the most famous of all the Western sidekicks, despite the fact he didn't appear in his first film until he was 44 years old! Two things I remember Hayes saying in every movie were, "You young whippersnapper!" and "Yer durn tootin'!" With his nasal voice and gray beard, he was very recognizable.

In real life, George Hayes was well-read, well-groomed, and a serious investor. However, Hollywood needed sidekicks, so Hayes rode "dadgummit" all the way to the bank. From 1935–39, he worked at Paramount Pictures, where he played Windy Halliday the old codger sidekick to Hopalong Cassidy.

After a salary dispute, Hayes signed with Republic Pictures in 1939. Because Paramount held the rights to the name Windy Halliday, Republic renamed his character Gabby Whitaker—and it stuck. "Gabby" became a Western institution, serving as sidekick to Roy Rogers, Wild Bill Elliott, Gene Autry, Randolph Scott, and John Wayne.

Hayes' last Western film was in 1950, but because of his continuing popularity, he moved to TV, hosting The Gabby Hayes Show on NBC from 1950–54, and in a brief revival on ABC in 1956. When the series ended, Hayes retired from show business. He passed away on February 9, 1969, due to natural causes. He was 83.

2. Andy Devine

Born: October 7, 1905

Died: February 18, 1977

Andy Devine had a childhood injury to his vocal cords, which gave him a raspy voice that became his trademark. He appeared in over 400 films and was Roy Rogers' sidekick as Cookie Bullfincher in nine of them in 1947–48 alone!

He became even more famous as Jingles, the sidekick to Guy Madison on television. He went from B movies to A movies, co-starring with the likes of John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart in John Ford's 1962 masterpiece, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. In fact, when Devine passed away from leukemia on February 18, 1977, both Wayne and Stewart attended his funeral.

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3. Pat Brady

Born: December 31, 1914

Died: February 27, 1972

Pat Brady appeared in over 70 films, but actually got his start in music. He was a member of The Sons of the Pioneers, the Western vocal group best known for songs like "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" and "Cool Water."

In 1937, Sons' lead singer, Leonard Slye, was offered a contract by Republic Pictures to replace Gene Autry as Hollywood's singing cowboy. He left the group to become one of the biggest Western stars ever, but not as Leonard Slye. He changed his name to Roy Rogers.

And Rogers needed a sidekick, so who better than Pat Brady. As goofy camp cook, Sparrow Biffle, Pat stuck by Roy in numerous films over the next ten years or so, and then when The Roy Rogers Show moved to television Brady played himself from 1951–57.

It was on The Roy Rogers Show that Brady popularized a catchphrase that has since become part of pop culture. One of the show's running jokes was that everyone rode horses except for Brady, who was stuck with a jeep named Nellybelle. The jeep had bad brakes, so when Brady tried stopping it, he'd yell out, "Whoa, Nelly!"

4. Slim Pickens

Born: June 29, 1919

Died: December 8, 1983

Slim Pickens was born Louis Burton Lindley, Jr. and got his start in the rodeo, which is also where he earned his nickname. When he was still in high school, Burt (as his family and friends knew him) wanted to compete in a rodeo. When the promoter saw the skinny teenager he laughed him off, saying there'd be "slim pickins" for him at this rodeo. To prevent his father from discovering that he competed—and also to stick it to the promoter—he entered as Slim Pickens. He also won $400.

Pickens' first film role was in the 1950 Western Rocky Mountain, which starred Errol Flynn. His presence was so familial, even in villain roles, that he spent the next thirty years in Hollywood essentially playing the same character. The '50s saw Pickens as sidekick to Rex Allen in multiple movies, including Old Oklahoma Plains (1952), Down Laredo Way (1953), and Tonka (1959).

Of course, when we think of Slim Pickens, it's hard not to think about the end of Stanley Kubrick's 1964 masterpiece, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, when Pickens (as Major Kong) straps himself to a nuclear bomb and rides it like a bronco all the way to oblivion.

5. John Wayne

Born: May 26, 1907

Died: June 11, 1979

I don't have to tell you about John Wayne. His film career was so legendary, for many people he IS the Western. However, most of you probably don't know that he was once a sidekick to Tim McCoy.

In the 1932 film, Two-Fisted Law, McCoy plays Tim Clark, a man who loses his ranch to a corrupt moneylender and starts mining silver to settle his accounts. Wayne plays his loyal sidekick whose name is too good to be true: Duke.

6. Al "Fuzzy" St. John

Born: September 10, 1893

Died: January 21, 1963

Al "Fuzzy" St. John made over 350 films and was a sidekick for Lash LaRue, Buster Crabbe, Tom Mix, and Bob Steele. He got his start in the silent era, working with the likes of Charlie Chaplin and his uncle Fatty Arbuckle. In the 1930s, he played a number of scruffy characters in comedies, which translated perfectly to being a comic sidekick in Westerns.

Around 1937, St. John signed on with Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC), a low budget Hollywood studio developing a Billy the Kid series. Another actor, Fuzzy Knight, was their original choice for sidekick. However, when they saw Al, they knew they had their Fuzzy Q. Jones. The series produced 42 films between 1940 and 1946, and for St. John, the name "Fuzzy" stuck.

7. Eddy "Nugget Clark" Waller

Born: June 14, 1889

Died: August 20, 1977

Eddy Waller got his start in vaudeville and theater, and didn't make his first film appearance until 1929, when he was already 40 years old. He appeared in 116 Westerns, including the 1955 film, Foxfire, starring Jane Russell and Jeff Chandler.

However, Waller is best known for playing Nugget Clark, Allan "Rocky" Lane's sidekick in several films between 1947–53. In 1955, Eddy joined the television series, Steve Donovan, Western Marshal, where he played Rusty Lee, sidekick to the titular Donovan (played by Douglas Kennedy).

From the mid-'50s on, most of Waller's work was on television, where Western programming lasted into the mid-'60s. For example, he had a recurring role on Laramie, the NBC Western series starring John Smith and Robert Fuller. Waller played Mose Shell the stagecoach driver in 19 episodes between 1959 and 1963.

8. Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards

Born: June 14, 1895

Died: July 17, 1971

Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards was a singer more than an actor. In the late 1910s and throughout the 1920s, he had several pop hits accompanying himself on ukelele. In fact, in 1929 he had a number one hit with "Singin' in the Rain," the first person to popularize that classic number.

Edwards began appearing in movies in 1929, typically in music revues. His heyday as a sidekick, however, was the 1940s, when he appeared in a number of low budget Westerns playing the funny, singing sidekick, seven times with Charles Starrett and six times with Tim Holt.

Sadly, Edwards died broke in 1971. His burial was paid for by the Actors' Fund of America and the Motion Picture and Television Relief Fund, while Disney Studios paid for his grave marker.