E is for... Earp, Wyatt

Marshal of the town of Tombstone in Arizona. He discovered the Doctor and his companions acting suspiciously in a livery stable. They pretended to be travelling entertainers. Earp was friends with Doc Holliday, who had just opened a dentist practice in the town. He discovered that the Clanton family were planning to kill Holliday, but had mistaken the Doctor for the gunslinger. To help protect his friend, Earp went along with this case of mistaken identity - putting the Doctor and his friends in danger. When the Clantons captured Steven and threatened to lynch him, Earp and his friend Bat Masterson saved him, arresting Phineas Clanton and throwing him in jail. Earp was then joined by his brothers Virgil and Warren. The latter was killed when the other Clanton brothers arrived to free Phineas. Earp then joined Virgil and Holliday to confront the Clantons and their ally Johnny Ringo, killing them all at the gunfight at the town's OK Corral.

Played by: John Alderson. Appearances: The Gunfighters (1966).

• Alderson was already a veteran of TV westerns when he came to this, having appeared in series such as Gunsmoke, Maverick and Bonanza. His final film role, before his death in 2006 at the age of 90, was in a western - Young Guns II.
• The real Wyatt Earp was only Deputy Marshal of Tombstone. He died in 1929. As well as a number of law enforcement roles (some of which he obtained through bribery) he also ran a saloon and a brothel, and worked as a miner. He also became a boxing referee, but his reputation as a gambler led to allegations of match fixing.