Barry Corbin

The veteran actor has defined the art of bringing bad news to good Westerns.

- Henry C. Parke

There are a certain very few actors whose presence lends the Westerns they appear in an instant credibility and gravitas. Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Jr. are the classic examples. Now that mantle rests on the shoulders of Barry Corbin. "That's a huge compliment to me because I was a fan of both of 'em. Matter of fact, my wife's sort of adopted father was Dobe (Harry Jr.) Carey. Dobe was a great guy, and Ben was one of my heroes growing up.

"We were doing one of Ben's rodeos one time; my horse fell on me, so I was in a cast. So, we were sitting up in the bleachers, watching some of the Hollywood folks practicing team penning.

I said, 'Look at them riding around; they don't know there's a cow within a hundred miles. All they want to do is wave at the audience. And Ben said, 'Ain't nobody in Hollywood knows how to ride anymore, except you and me. And I said, 'Well, man, we don't live in Hollywood." Corbin was interested in acting early on. "I didn't tell anybody at that time, but when I was seven, watching B-westerns at The Majestic in La Mesa, Texas, I thought, I can do that. First, I was looking at guys like Wild Bill Elliot and Allan Rocky Lane, [but] the other guys, sidekicks, seemed to work more and have more fun. I always liked Al "Fuzzy" St. John, Gabby Hayes.

"My dad, who was a lawyer and a politician said, Acting's a fine hobby, but nobody makes a living doing that. He finally came around when I started doing movies and television.

But when Barry was in Henry Von Broadway, "He thought I was doing something illicit, like holding up banks." After the New York blackout in 1977, "I thought, I've had enough of this, so we loaded up our Ford Pinto and took off for California.