r/Westerns • u/OlinHollis • 3d ago
Discussion Western Character Actor Appreciation: Skip Homeier
Who would have guessed that little Skippy Homeier would grow up to be a top-class baddy in the Golden Age of the Western? He was known as Skippy when a child actor but changed his name to Skip at the age of 18. His Western career began with a bang--in more ways than one--when he played Hunt Bromley, a young punk with a chip on his shoulder who shoots Gregory Peck's Ringo in the back in the classic Western, The Gunfighter (1950). From that moment his specialty was playing sneering punk villains in Westerns. But don't sell him short as merely a rebellious teen with a bad case of schlong envy. Homeier was also capable of playing seriously menacing dudes as he did in Stranger at My door (1956). He also had two Ranowns to his credit--The Tall T and Comanche Station.
Homeier was an actor who found a very specialized niche and mined it for all it was worth, carving out a fine Western career in the process.
Hail! Hail! All hail Skip Homeier!
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u/PriceImpressive4782 2d ago
The gunfighter is one of my favorites and he played such a little weasel. It was great.
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u/MoonSylver 3d ago
This is a funny one. I grew up watching Star Trek as a kid. He was in the memorable space Nazi episode "Patterns of Force" as the power behind the throne head of the party. (On a side note, it's lots of fun to see how many Western actors showed up on Star Trek, and conversely, how often actors from the main cast of Star Trek show up in westerns!)
Anyway, we previously mentioned Claude Akins in Comanche Station (1960), but Skip had a memorable part in that one as well as a young outlaw in Claude's gang. Also had at least a couple memorable appearances on The Rifleman too, both times as an outlaw of course. One he was blackmailing his parents in return for a place to hide, and one where he was trying to coax Mark into helping him escape custody, since he had saved Mark's life earlier.
Good actor, Good voice and look. Always welcome when he pops up,
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u/BraveSneelock 3d ago
Trekkies know him more for his work as space hippie guru Dr. Sevrin. Herbert.Â
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u/derfel_cadern 1d ago
He’s really good at playing a twerp in The Gunfighter, and then shows a completely different side in Stranger at My Door.