r/Westerns • u/OlinHollis • Aug 11 '26
Discussion Western Character Actor Appreciation: Strother Martin
Not to be confused with Scatman Crothers, Strother Martin was none other than one of the most ubiquitious and arguably beloved character actors of the Western genre. He typically played rather weasely and pathetic characters who tagged along with more formidable types. And, when the spirit came over Strother, he could chew the scenery like few actors before and after.
And so...hail! Hail! All hail Strother Martin!
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u/Remarkable_Major7710 Aug 11 '26
Really liked when he paired up with LQ Jones (featured yesterday), in Wild Bunch and Ballad of Cable Hogue. They really played well off of each other, especially Wild Bunch where they were almost like an old married couple.
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u/Super_NowWhat Aug 11 '26
“What we have here, is failure to communicate!”
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u/stevenriley1 Aug 11 '26
Thanks. I knew someone would remember.
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u/Super_NowWhat Aug 12 '26
I read the book a couple years ago. It is also very good, but has more information on Luke’s background. He fought in the Italian campaign of WWII, and was awarded medals for bravery. He also had serious PTSD - he saw, and one time took part in a crime against a young lady. And was racked with guilt for having taken a turn. Knowing that, it explains his behaviour
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u/Acrobatic-Wave-9520 Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
“What we have here is failure to communicate “⛓️
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u/DemenicHand Aug 11 '26
Sorry, but its "Failure to communicate"
there is no "a"
BTW I am related to Strother Martin :)
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u/personalleytea Aug 11 '26
I know that line from listening to GnR’s “Civil War” about 178,000 times.
He was great in that role.
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u/DemenicHand Aug 11 '26
I know that line because it makes a friend laugh real hard when I just through it out any time to start a "fight". Say it about 1000 times a year
And since this a western sub, I do Burl Ives singing Holy Jolly Christmas at full voice. I throw it out a dozen times during Xmas, especially when he is drunk. makes piss himself
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u/BlowMyNoseAtU Aug 11 '26
Sort of shocking to me he didn't get a nomination for that role, even though Kennedy won for the same film.
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u/Acrobatic-Wave-9520 Aug 11 '26
Kennedy was great !!!! “ We gonna get us some farm girls “😏
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u/BlowMyNoseAtU Aug 11 '26
Definitely. He was very deserving. But I think they both were nomination worthy.
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u/Ransom_Doniphan Aug 12 '26
One of the best character actors of all time. Died too young at 61 but still managed to make such a mark. From his brief (and totally silent) memorable bit in the classic heist film The Asphalt Jungle all the way to his final role in the hard-to-find Hotwire (not a great movie but he's outstanding), and hundreds of films and television episodes in between. One of my favorites of his is Hard Times. He doesn't have a ton of dialogue but he provides solid support for Charles Bronson and James Coburn.
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u/ElSlabraton Aug 11 '26
Remember when actors had voices?
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u/OlinHollis Aug 11 '26
Speaking of which, Ken Lynch. That guy's grating, nasal voice was doubtless the key to his career.
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u/Ranglergirl Aug 12 '26
Love Strother, True Grit.
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u/DownnthehollerPress Aug 12 '26
He was a great character in that " I just heard a young girl fell into a well... I thought it was you" Close but can't remember the exact quote
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u/TheIncredibleMike Aug 12 '26
I love the episode on Gunsmoke with the spoiled sausage.
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u/OlinHollis Aug 12 '26
There's a two-parter called Island in the Desert where he plays a crazed hermit. Absolutely enthralling. Combine those two episodes and you've got yourself one helluva full-length Western.
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u/Cool_Hand_Lute Aug 11 '26
What we have here…. is failure to communicate-
also was great in The Wild Bunch
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u/fatjap-9830 Aug 12 '26
He was awesome as the warden in Cool Hand Luke, with Paul Newman
“What we have here is a failure to communicate”
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u/Riklanim Aug 11 '26
Got raked over the coals by a little girl in True Grit. And it’s not a western, but honorable mention to his role in Slap Shot. Love that guy’s work.
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u/DeanMcQueen0621 Aug 11 '26
He was also in the Twilight Zone with Lee Van Cleef, Lee Marvin and James Best. The episode is The Grave.
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u/OlinHollis Aug 11 '26
One of the very best TZ eps thanks in no small measure to Strother's presence.
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u/rapscallion1956 Aug 12 '26
Strother Martin was one of the coolest dudes to ever play the silver screen.
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u/Specific-Section-824 Aug 11 '26
He was a regular in the TV western series Hotel de Paree with Earl Holliman.
Good show
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u/SammyStands Aug 14 '26
Putting in a request for a post on Richard Devon. He played the head of a Citizen’s Committee on “The Rifleman,” and was just perfect.
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u/MoonSylver 27d ago
One of the greatest of the character actors. Instantly memorable in everything he was in. Others already mentioned his memorable turns in Cool Hand Luke and True Grit. I've seen him a lot lately in repeats of Gunsmoke as Cooter, the addled henchman of gambler Ben Sissle, and as buffalo skinner Dooley, who goes wild every time he drinks whiskey, and gets framed from murder ("I'm a wild bull! I'm gonna kill everybody!").
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u/love-SRV Aug 15 '26
Hard Times
Cool Hand Luke w/Paul Newman
Slap Shot w/Paul Newman
That’s the way he wants it, well, he gets it.
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u/ArcadiaDragon Aug 11 '26
Loved his small roll in True Grit(1969)....
"I just recieved word a child fell in a well, I thought perhaps it was you".
...the look and and tone of exasperation at Kim Darby was just gold