Bob Steele & Syd Saylor

In total, Bob Steele and Syd Saylor (sometimes spelled “Sid Saylor”) appeared in close to 600 feature-length films. Many of these films were westerns and many of them were so-called B-westerns, in which the two actors played cowboys, gunmen, outlaws, lawmen and/or, in four such films, sidekicks to one another:

Navajo Kid (1945)
Six Gun Man (1946)
Ambush Trail (1946)
Thunder Town (1946)

These four films are, in fact, the only films in which these two prolific performers shared the screen, but are notable for their teamwork. Mr. Steele played the good-guy lead, while Mr. Saylor assumed the role of bumbling, but loyal and reliable assistant.

These four films are also notable in that they come at the end of Bob Steele’s and Syd Saylor’s B-western film careers. Bob Steele went on to character-actor fame, perhaps his most endearing role being the hilariously petulant Trooper Duffy in TV’s F Troop (1965-67). Mr. Saylor’s waning career beyond B-westerns amounted to little more than bit player or extra in a host of movies and TV shows. Westerns remained his forte, as he, nonetheless, continued an active career right up until his death in 1962. Mr. Steele fared better for his prominence before the camera and continued performing in various character roles until 1973, whereupon he retired from the profession. He died at the age of 81 in 1988.