Over the course of his long Hollywood career, the Hollywood actor appeared in a whopping total of 26 John Wayne movies. Between the 1920s and 1970s, legendary movie star John Wayne starred in well over 100 movies, the vast majority being either Westerns or war movies. Based on that, it’s no surprise that he would wind up reuniting with some of his former co-stars in another project at some point or another. However, there were some actors in Hollywood that became recurring co-stars and collaborators of Wayne’s.

Easily the most high-profile of Wayne’s partners in making movies were John Ford and Maureen O’Hara. A celebrated Western icon in his own right, Ford directed several of John Wayne’s movies, including Stagecoach, The Quiet Man, and Rio Grande. As for Maureen O’Hara, she was the female lead in five John Wayne movies, each being a standout entry in the actor’s filmography. But neither was anywhere close to being the Western legend’s most frequent co-star. Instead, that title belongs to a lesser-known actor in the industry.

Paul Fix Appeared In 26 John Wayne Movies

Most, But Not All, Were Westerns

No actor has been in more of Wayne’s movies than Paul Fix, a prominent character actor in both film and TV. Active in the industry since the mid-1920s (much like Wayne himself), Fix appeared in more than 300 movies, with 26 of them involving John Wayne. Fix and Wayne’s first movie together was 1931’s Three Girls Lost, one of Wayne’s first starring roles and a project that held a small but uncredited role for Fix. Fix was later cast in Somewhere in Sonora and The Desert Trail, two low-budget 1930s Westerns made during the period when John Wayne was still trying to make a name for himself in Hollywood.

Wayne and Fix’s working relationship persisted into the 1940s after the Western icon’s breakthrough performance in Stagecoach. It was during the ’40s and the ’50s that Fix made the bulk of his John Wayne movie appearances, including in two that are commonly regarded as among Wayne’s best Westerns, Tall in the Saddle and Red River. In just the 1940s alone, Fix had parts in 13 Wayne films, sometimes making more than one movie a year with Wayne at that time. A few of these appearances were in John Wayne’s non-Westerns, such as The Fighting Seabees and Wake of the Red Witch.

Their collaborations slowed down after the 1950s, but Fix remained associated with Wayne’s career, albeit to a lesser extent. Though the pace at which the two actors delivered new movies didn’t budge in the 1960s, the pair only shared three movies during that decade. However, Fix did manage an appearance in one of John Wayne’s last movies, Cahill U.S. Marshal. Wayne’s final movie, The Shootist, released just three years after Cahill U.S. Marshal.

Why Paul Fix Was In So Many John Wayne Movies

Paul Fix Was One Of The Western Genre’s Most Common Character Actors

It was fitting that Fix and Wayne’s last movie together was a Western, considering that this was the genre that both were best known for, as well as the one where most of their collaborations occurred. Because Paul Fix had found a niche for himself as a Western character actor, he was a favorite among studios and directors. Fix could convincingly play a variety of roles in Westerns, with his repertoire evolving along with his career. In his youth, he would often play bandits and gunslingers, but as he grew older, he slipped into less action-oriented roles, playing judges, bankers, ranchers, and sometimes the father of the protagonist’s love interest.

While it’s only logical that a prominent Western character actor and the genre’s biggest star would cross paths on occasion, it’s worth noting that their connection was both personal and professional. Fix was a longtime friend of Wayne’s, having become close with the actor during their work on their 1930s films. According to Three Bad Men: John Ford, John Wayne, Ward Bond by Scott Allen Nollen, Fix even had a hand in the development of Wayne’s image via the advice he would provide during the early years of John Wayne’s acting career.

Paul Fix’s Biggest Roles Outside John Wayne’s Movies

His Biggest Movies & Shows Had Nothing To Do With John Wayne

While Wayne’s movies make up a key part of Paul Fix’s legacy, they don’t account for all or even half of the success that Fix found in Hollywood. After all, 26 films only comprise a small fraction of his acting credits. In fact, the biggest role in Fix’s career wasn’t even in a John Wayne movie; rather, it was a character in The Rifleman. For all five seasons of the beloved ABC Western series starring Chuck Connors, Fix played Micah Torrence, the marshal of the town where the story took place. The Rifleman’s status as a now-iconic Western TV show makes it Fix’s most notable contribution to the genre.

In addition to his work in The Rifleman, guest appearances in Western TV shows like Gunsmoke and Bonanza, and John Wayne’s movies, Fix kept busy as a character actor in numerous other projects. Easily one of the most famous movies he was ever involved with was the critically acclaimed 1962 drama To Kill A Mockingbird. In the Gregory Peck-led movie, Fix played the judge who oversaw the case at the center of the film’s plot.

Interestingly, he also appeared in a pilot episode of Star Trek as Dr. Mark Piper, a character considered for the series regular role of the U.S.S. Enterprise’s ship doctor. But of course, Star Trek ultimately gave that job to Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy and cast DeForest Kelley in the role. As for Paul Fix’s Piper, he still has a small place in Star Trek history, as the pilot episode he filmed did air, but just as the third episode in the series. With Kelley getting a permanent role on the show, there was no need for Fix to return as Piper.

Fix’s roles in Star Trek and To Kill a Mockingbird aside, Westerns continued to be his focus, as the actor appeared in movies like Night Passage, Nevada Smith, Ride Beyond Vengeance, and Shenandoah. In taking on these roles, Fix received opportunities to work with other leading Western actors, namely James Stewart and Randolph Scott. But of course, his collaborations with them never exceeded the staggering amount of films he made with John Wayne.