**Joel McCrea (1905-1990)** was an American actor whose career spanned over five decades. He began his career with roles in romantic comedies and light dramas, but established himself through his understated acting and virile presence.

McCrea shone in films such as *Sullivan's Travels* (Preston Sturges), a comedy classic, and *Foreign Correspondent* (Alfred Hitchcock), a war thriller. However, he is best remembered for his roles in Westerns. Specializing in the honest, taciturn, and upright hero, he often played the common man of sound principles.

His most celebrated Westerns include *The Virginian*, *Four Faces West*, and Sam Peckinpah's twilight Western *Ride the High Country*, which marked a late-career high point.