Buck Taylor

Buck Taylor is an American actor and artist, best known for his roles as gunsmith-turned-deputy Newly O'Brien in the CBS television series Gunsmoke, and as Emmett Walsh on Yellowstone.

Early life and career

Taylor is the son of character actor Dub Taylor, from whom Buck reportedly acquired his nickname simply because, having clocked in at a hefty nine pounds at birth, he "looked like a big buck." Taylor graduated from North Hollywood High School, where he became a talented gymnast. Actor Guinn "Big Boy" Williams sponsored him to go to the U.S. Olympic Trials as a gymnast, but he failed to qualify for the 1960 Summer Olympics. He served two years in the United States Navy.
His first important acting role was as Trooper Shattuck in the 1961 Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre episode "Image of a Drawn Sword". His other early roles were in a 1964 episode of The Outer Limits entitled "Don't Open Till Doomsday", and as John Bradford in four episodes of the 1966 ABC Western series The Monroes.

''Gunsmoke''

From 1967 to 1975, Taylor played Newly O'Brien in the television series Gunsmoke. He replaced deputy marshal Clayton Thaddeus Greenwood, played by Roger Ewing, after Ewing left the show. The character came to Dodge City as a gunsmith, and later became a deputy marshal. He reprised his role in the 1987 television movie Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge, where he played the city's marshal. With the death of Roger Ewing, who played Deputy Marshal Clayton Thaddeus Greenwood at 83, Buck Taylor is the last survivor of the main cast of Gunsmoke.
In 1981, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum inducted Taylor into the Cowboy Hall of Fame, and awarded him the Trustee Award for his performance on Gunsmoke.

Artwork

Taylor attended the Chouinard Art Institute, and has been selling his watercolor and acrylic paintings of cowboys, Native Americans, and horses since 1993. Many of his paintings are of characters and scenes from movies and television series in which he has appeared. These images are made into prints, which are sold in various sizes. He is the official artist for many rodeos and state fairs, and creates their promotional posters.

Filmography

Film

1966 - The Wild Angels as Dear John
1976 - Pony Express Rider as Bovey Kingman
1978 - Beartooth
1981 - The Legend of the Lone Ranger as Robert Edward Gattlin
1981 - Cattle Annie and Little Britches as Dyamite Dick
1983 - Triumphs of a Man Called Horse as Sgt. Bridger
1984 - No Man's Land as Feeny
1990 - Big Bad John as Bob Simmons
1991 - Conagher as Tile Coker
1993 - Gettysburg as Colonel William Gamble
1993 - Tombstone as John "Turkey Creek Jack" Johnson
1998 - Hard Time as Capt. Adam Gunther
2003 - Gods and Generals as General Maxcy Gregg
2005 - Truce as Harry Dodds
2006 - Flicka as Wagner
2007 - The Mist as Ambrose Cornell
2011 - Cowboys & Aliens as Wes Claibourne
2017 - The Road to Valhalla as Union Veteran
2016 - Indiscretion as Abe
2016 - Hell or High Water as Old Man
2019 - Trading Paint as Ben
2025 - Sod & Stubble as John C. Haag
Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1962	The Alfred Hitchcock Hour	Officer Frazier	Season 1 Episode 10: "Day of Reckoning"
1963	Going My Way	Mickey	Episode 15: "My Son The Social Worker"
1963	Johnny Shiloh	Josh	TV movie
1963	The Fugitive	Jamie	episode "Terror At High Point"
1964	The Outer Limits	Gard Hayde	episode "Do Not Open 'Til Doomsday"
1964	My Favorite Martian	Bruce Baker	Season 1 episode 34 "The DisastroUjjain-Nauts"
1964	My Three Sons	Howard Sears	Season 5 episode 16 "Divorce, Bryant Park Style"
1964	My Favorite Martian	Bruce Baker	Season 1 episode 34 "The Disastro-Nauts"
1965	The Alfred Hitchcock Hour	Dancer Smith	Season 3 Episode 20: "Death Scene"
1965	Wagon Train	Skeeter Ames	Episode 15: "The Chottsie Gubenheimer Story"
1965	The Big Valley	Turk	episode "The Young Marauders"
1966	The Virginian	Lem Bliss
1966	The Monroes	John "Brad" Bradford	4 episodes
1967	Gunsmoke	Leonard Parker	episode “Vengeance!, part 1 and Part 2”
1967-1975	Gunsmoke	Newly O'Brien	103 episodes
1977	Barnaby Jones	Foster	episode "Shadow of Fear"
1979	The Sacketts	Reed Carney	TV movie
1985	General Hospital	Ralph Russell
1985	Crazy Like a Fox	Blake
1987	The Alamo: 13 Days to Glory	"Colorado" Smith	miniseries
1987	Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge	Newly O'Brien	TV movie
1995	Walker, Texas Ranger	Logan Reno	Season 3, Episode 16 “War Zone”
1997	Rough Riders	George Neville	miniseries
1999	The Soul Collector	Charlie	TV movie
2018-2022	Yellowstone	Emmett Walsh