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Saddle Pals & Sidekicks + The Kids


An ingredient which was prevalent in the B western was a helper - or several helpers - to the hero.

That person was often a bumbling comic like Smiley Burnette, Fuzzy St. John, Dub 'Cannonball' Taylor, Roscoe Ates, or the whiskered Emmett 'Pappy' Lynn ... or sometimes a more serious, gun-totin' assistant like Raymond Hatton, Dennis Moore, Jimmy Ellison or Russell Hayden.  Max Terhune enhanced the Three Mesquiteers, Range Busters, and Johnny Mack Brown westerns with his card tricks and escapades with his dummy Elmer.  Andy Clyde rode the trail in many of the Hopalong Cassidy and Whip Wilson westerns.  There were even some 'singing sidekicks' such as Ray Whitley, Bob Nolan and Johnny Bond.  And, of course, there was everyone's favorite, whiskered George Hayes.

Juvenile helpers were also common, and the first that comes to mind is Bobby Blake as Little Beaver in the Red Ryder films.

As to the term "sidekick", it was used infrequently in the ol' B western. While watching SHADOW VALLEY (PRC, 1947), singing cowboy Eddie Dean compliments his pal Roscoe 'Soapy' Ates when he says: "Even though you're a tenth rate shot, you're a first-rate sidekick!"

You'll find expanded coverage on many of the performers listed below.  On some, there's an image or two along with a brief profile/biography.  I'll add more information and photos as time permits.

I hope this section on the Old Corral brings back some great silver screen memories.




Bobby Clark / Bobby Clack


Jay Kirby


Al 'Fuzzy' St. John


Paul Hurst


Frank Rice


Andy Devine


'Smiley' Burnette


Richard 'Chito' Martin


Milt/Milburn Morante


Tex Harding


Andy Clyde


George 'Gabby' Hayes
 
Dick Jones


Guy Wilkerson


Syd/Sid Saylor


Frankie Darro


Frank Yaconelli


'Fuzzy' Knight


Bobby Nelson


Si 'Rawhide' Jenks


Rand Brooks


Robert B. 'Buzzy' 'Buzz' Henry


Chris-Pin Martin
Sidekicks ... and many added comedy hijinks
Click below:

Syd/Sid Saylor

Al 'Fuzzy' St. John

Emmett 'Pappy' Lynn

Frank Rice

Gordon Jones

Frank Yaconelli

George 'Windy' 'Gabby' Hayes

Lester Alvin 'Smiley' Burnette

Max 'Lullaby' 'Alibi' Terhune

Cyrus Whitfield 'Johnny' Bond

Cliff 'Ukelele Ike' Edwards

Raymond Hatton

Dub 'Cannonball' Taylor

Andy Devine


Andy Clyde

Harry Harvey

Pat Buttram

Vince Barnett

Si 'Rawhide' Jenks

Milburn Morante


Richard 'Chito' Martin

Sterling Holloway

Tommy Farrell


Eddy Waller

Fuzzy Knight

Lee 'Lasses' White

Guy Wilkerson


Chris-Pin Martin

Lloyd 'Arkansas Slim' Andrews

Slim Summerville

Slim Pickens

Buddy Ebsen

Pat Brady


Paul Hurst

Horace Murphy

Snub Pollard


Leo Carrillo

Roscoe Ates

Wally Vernon


Benny Corbett

Hank Worden



More serious helpers ... second leads
Click below:

Dick Jones / Dickie Jones 

Jay Kirby

Rand Brooks

Tex Harding

John James

Bob Nolan

Russell Hayden

James Ellison

Dennis Moore

Jim Bannon

Ray Whitley



The Kids ... the Juvenile Helpers
Click below:

Buzz Barton (in the Heroes section)

Buzz (Buzzy) Henry

Bobby Nelson

Frankie Darro

Teddy Infuhr

Bobby Clark - Bobby Clack 

Don Kay 'Little Brown Jug' Reynolds

Tommy and Sonny Bupp

Robert 'Bobby' Blake

Tommy Cook

Sugar Dawn

Twinkle Watts


Joe 'Tadpole' Strauch, Jr.

Andy Shufford

Bill Cody, Jr.



There are several websites which include info on actors, actresses and kid stars that appeared in westerns and other films:

Aveleyman / The Actor's Compendium - the website was no longer working when I checked in February, 2024: http://www.aveleyman.com
Drina Mohacsi's Young Hollywood Hall of Fame: http://www.younghollywoodhof.com/index.html
The Files of Jerry Blake serial website: http://filesofjerryblake.com
Boyd Magers' Western Clippings website: http://www.westernclippings.com/
A lot of these players worked with the Three Stooges at Columbia Pictures: http://www.threestooges.net/cast



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