Here are mine in order:
Val Kilmer
Clint Eastwood
Sam Elliot
Robert Duvall
Robert Redford.

John Wayne did some great westerns but I had the opportunity to meet him when I was younger and his real life persona wasn't very "cowboy". He was nice and a defenite presence but he didn't have a dusty bandana around his neck and no hat on,. Thats how I remeber him.

This is a list of the ones I like, however it's not all of them just the ones I can think of:
John Wayne
Clint Eastwood
Jack Kelly
Jimmy Stewart
Sam Elliott
Tom Selleck
Ben Johnson
Gary Cooper
Walter Brennan
Robert Fuller
Randolph Scott
Roy Rogers
Gene Autry
Clint Walker
Tommy Lee Jones
Robert Duvall
Kevin Costner
Slim Pickens
Val Kilmer
Burt Lancaster
Keith Carradine
David Carradine
John Carradine
James Drury
Doug McClure
Lorne Greene
Dan Blocker
Michael Landon
Pernell Roberts
Richard Boone
James Arness
Dennis Weaver
Ken Curtis
Buck Taylor
Dub Taylor
Gregory Peck
Royal Dano
Viggo Mortensen
Lee Van Cleef
Lee Marvin
James Coburn
Steve McQueen
Charlton Heston
Lee Majors
Peter Breck
Richard Long
Gary Clarke
Bruce Dern
Henry Fonda
Charles Bronson
Morgan Woodward
Karl Malden
Many More..........

Robert Duvall

They were all very good and provided entertainment in their own peculiar way.If I had to narrow it down to say three it would be as follows.

1. George ''Gabby'' Hayes with his rough largely unintelligible speech, that nowdaze is refered to as ''authentic frontier gibberish.''

2.Ben Johnson

3. Val Kilmer as Doc he without a doubt stole the show, so to speak.

I have posted my list previously but I have to say that Charlton Heston as Steve Leech in the western The Big Country (one of the best westerns of all time) looked every inch of what a cowboy should be. (rugged, handsone, tall, and in charge)

If you looked up western cowboy on Google, his picture (as the foreman Steve Leach) should be next to it.

If I had a past life, I could do worse than to wish it to be as Steve Leech.

For television

1.Sam Elloit
2.Robert Duvall

Movies

1. John Wayne
2. Randolph Scott
3. Gary Cooper
4. Joel McCrae
5. Jimmy Stewart

Marion Mitchell Morrison was born to pharmacist Clyde Wayne and his wife, Mary, in a small town in Iowa May 26th in 1907. 103 years ago. What an impact this man made to the American Culture with the many Cowboy movies he performed in. The Many war movies, and a few detectives shows but mostly remember as the DUKE. He is more than just a legacy. He received the congressional gold metal in 1979 and the Presidential Metal of Freedom in 1980, besides being America's best Cowboy we know as John Wayne

Bob Steele
Wm S. Hart
James Arness
Clint Eastwood
Clint Walker
Robert Redford
Tom Selleck
Sam Eliot
Robert Duval
Tommy Lee Jones
Don Berry
Randolf Scott
James Stewart

To me it oughta be Sam Elliot. The guy's pretty much the same in all those movies, sometimes I feel he's just playing himself.

Tom Selleck is great too, but a different kind. Get Sam Elliot to play a Louis L'Amour character and you're in for a treat.

Without fail, Robert Duvall's characters show exactly the best qualities in a cowboy (excepting his role in Joe KIdd). Gus McCrae, Prentice Ritter, and good old Mr Blue Bonnet of open range, were all men of absolutely incorruptible moral standards. That's the image I want people to have of our kind. Sam Elliot in turn, was a heck of a guy in his roles too. He was a close second in my eyes. No disrespect to the Duke, but the pastel pink shirts always drove me nuts.

John Wayne
Clint Eastwood
Richard Boone
Steve McQueen
James Stewart
Randolph Scott
Joel McCrea
Audie Murphy
Lee Van Cleef
Sam Elliott
Yul Brynner
Clayton Moore
Tommy Lee Jones
Tom Selleck

and on and on and on....

Of course there are all the greats, from Gene and Roy, to Clint Eastwood. but there are a lot of younger guys coming up that are doing a bang up job in western movies.
The first one that comes to mind in Kevin Costner. to me he seemed to have an absolute ball in Silverado, and just kept on making (im my opinion) great western movies. The other (i'm sure i'm gonna get it for saying this) is Viggo Mortensen. Maybe you didn't like Hidalgo, but i KNOW you thought Everett Hitch was great, come on admit it!
G

Jess Harper was the best cowboy with Cooper Smith a close second.

I think everyone is correct. I going to go with everyone that was named. They all are exceptional actors and have played a important role in the persona of the "American on screen Cowboy". With out them the image may have been lost. I will also agree some of these guys were not just acting they were the real deal and they were very fortunate to end up on the big screen.

John Wayne is the image of the American Cowboy. Im also a fan of Sam Elliot. Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall also did great when it came to Lonesome Dove. One of my other personal favorites would be Bruce Campbell when he did The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. Did anyone else ever watch this?

Ok so john wayne is still the number one, but for number two i have to say Sam Elliot. He just personifies true cowboy grit and guts. I love Robert Duvall and Tom Selleck for sure but Sam Elliot just stands out as number two

john wayne but if not him then gene autry

I would have to say that is is Tommy Lee Jones. He reminds me so much of my own grandpa who grew up in rural Arkansas, hitch hiked his way to Washington State were he found a job working as a ranch hand. Fell in love with the ranchers daughter and the rest is history. Tommy Lee Jones just captures that western ideal with a mind full of wisdom. My grandpa was all cowboy, even down to his line of bucking bulls he contracted to rodoes and the similarities in Tommy Lee Jones' characters make him a true screen cowboy.

I really like to say that both John Wayne and Ben Johnson are the best cowboy actors! I've grown up watching both of them and I really like them both!

To me the top of the list is Ben Johnson. He was the real deal. He played the second in alot of movies but he made the lead actor look good.

Clint Eastwood from Rowdy Yates in 'Rawhide' to William "Bill" Munny in 'Unforgiven'. As John Wayne is an icon for the movies, he did not quite get past developing a character that was never John Wayne. On the other hand, Clint Eastwood broght the 'A' game in acting and character development always had Eastwood believable in his role.

Gotta go with Clint Eastwood and James Arness

im pretty sure yea john wayne is the all time on screen cowboy but for number two i would have to say robert duvale i mean just think about one of the greatest cowboy movies of all time, lonesome dove and open range wasnt bad at all either

I agree with all the above posts.

It is hard to find a bad western.

another guy that has not been mentioned is Tom Selleck.

i hate him for being so purty but he plays a pretty good cowboy. He did some Sackett movies with Sam Elliott that were pretty good way before he was Quigley.

I am agreeing with everyone though i am partial to Clint Eastwood, i would like to add one more that being Keifer Sutherland for his roles in Young Guns 1 and 2 and the Cowboy Way, and the fact that he won a buckle for team roping.

My number 1 would have to be The Duke (The Angel and the Badman, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Red River & The Searchers). I also love Gary Cooper (The Plainsman, Along Came Jones, The Westerner), Jimmy Stewart (Broken Arrow, Winchester 73) and Steve McQueen (Junior Bonner). Loved Randolph Scott, as well, though his films were all too often B movies and Alan Ladd as Shane was superb. On TV I loved James Drury as The Virginian, who was a rodeo cowboy before becoming an actor. Though she didn't play a cowboy, I must mention Jane Alexander as Calamity Jane--simply brilliant!

First, I have to agree with John Wayne being the greatest.
Robert Duvall was PERFECTLY casted as Gus in Lonesome Dove and is plays a great cowboy.
Clint Eastwood is a natural.
Sam Elliot is one of my personal favorites. It may have to do with the fact that I'm named after one of his characters, but he is a natural!

Roy Rogers gets my vote. His priorities were God, Family and country. That is the correct order.

Well John Wayne is obvious, but I really have to agree with Clint. I also like some of the others like Robert Duval and Kevin Costner and I enjoyed several other movies with actors I can't name. I ain't to good on recalling names.

Hi all. Now iv read all the comments from other members up to now and I most agree most are very good picks but I must add one more to the list and my pick is Randoff Scott. If anyone is wondering who that is just check out some of his many movies. Thanks all!

I'd have to say my all time favorite screen cowboy was Roy Rogers and still is. I've started collecting his movies and t.v. episodes and so far there's not a bad one in the bunch. They don't make role models like that anymore.

Here is my top five: 1. John Wayne, 2. Clint Eastwood, 3. Yul Brynner, 4. Robert Duvall, 5. Kevin Costner. Number 4 and 5 for "Open Range".

It has to be John Wayne he is an american icon. I do agree that Clint is next in line ans that Ben Johnson is the best rodeo cowboy it is my understanding that he was a real rodeo cowboy.

Ben Johnson is my pick, but if you're talking about real rodeo cowboys who played cowboys off and on in the movies, Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan also need to be on the list somewhere!

I have to think in terms of authenticity. So in that vein consider, Ben Johnson, Slim Pickens, Roger Farnsworth, and Joel McCrey.

All time: Clint Eastwood - hands down.

One time: Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday in Tombstone - "I'm your huckleberry"

I would have to agree on the Clint Eastwood choice. I actually was very hooked on early Clint - "High Plains Drifter", "For a Few Dollars More" and I agree he does age well in those jeans:))

Clint, especially as he's aged.