(Courtesy of Larry Welch) Above - Ken Maynard doing a dual role as brothers Clem and Ken Bellamy in a lobby card from HONOR OF THE RANGE (Universal, 1934). (Courtesy of Minard Coons) In OUTLAWS OF SONORA (Republic, 1938), Bob Livingston had dual roles as both his normal Three Mesquiteers character 'Stony Brooke' as well as baddie 'Dude Brannen'. Above - Ray 'Crash' Corrigan (as 'Tucson') has Merrill McCormick subdued, Max Terhune (as 'Alibi') is taking care of George Chesebro, and Bob Livingston (as 'Stony') is taking care of the duplicate Stony in the barroom brawl finale in OUTLAWS OF SONORA. (From Old Corral collection) Above is the title lobby card from THE LONE RIDER AMBUSHED (PRC, 1941). In this yarn, George Houston has a dual role --- as Tom Cameron (The Lone Rider) and the outlaw Keno Harris. From L-to-R are George Chesebro, Jack Ingram, Frank Hagney (kneeling) and an unidentified performer. In the inset on the lower left, Houston is about to launch a right hand at an unidentified player, while Jack Ingram and barkeep Ralph Peters look on. (From Old Corral collection) Above are Roy Rogers and Gabby Hayes in a lobby card from JESSE JAMES AT BAY (Republic, 1941). This was the last of Roy's "historical westerns" and in this film, he had a dual role as Gabby's pal Jesse James and Clint Burns. (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above is the title lobby card for TRAIL OF TERROR (PRC, 1943), one of the best of the Texas Rangers series. In the above lobby card, the masked Dave O'Brien is having a disagreement with Dan White. In this film, O'Brien plays his lawman self as well as his evil twin brother. (From Old Corral collection) Above from L-to-R are John Merton, Dave 'Tex' O'Brien, Buster Crabbe (seated), Lynton Brent and Curley Dresden in a lobby card from Crabbe's SHERIFF OF SAGE VALLEY (PRC, 1942). Buster had a dual role in this oater, and "the other Crabbe" is facing him on the far left.

Bob Livingston had dual roles as Stony Brooke and 'The Laredo Kid' in ROCKY MOUNTAIN RANGERS (Republic, 1940), one of the Three Mesquiteers series. In the photo on the right, the scar-faced Livingston has Pascale Perry collared.

(From Old Corral collection) In the above photo, Al 'Fuzzy' St. John tightens up the last knot on the well-tied Buster Crabbe In THE DRIFTER (PRC, 1944).  This is another of those 'hero plays dual role' oaters, with Crabbe in his normal job as 'Billy Carson' as well as baddie 'Drifter Davis'.  Naturally, poor ol' Fuzzy gets confused and tries to restrain the evil 'Drifter' from mixing it up with his pal Billy ... but the 'Drifter' convinces Fuzz that he's really Billy Carson ... got the plot???

Right is a pressbook ad for TWO GUN SHERIFF (Republic, 1941) in which Don Barry portrayed Sheriff Bruce McKinnon and Jim 'Sundown' McKinnon.

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

It's Buster Crabbe versus Buster Crabbe in photo from the pressbook for PRAIRIE RUSTLERS (PRC, 1945). This was his fourth (and last) dual role during his 36 film Billy the Kid / Billy Carson series at PRC.

There were various westerns and serials where the hero (and occasionally the heroine or sidekick) had a dual role, and there were a bunch of films where a familiar face essayed multiple roles:

• A dual role is the star playing his hero self plus a lookalike outlaw, a brother on the wrong side of the law, etc.  This dual role was integral to the plot of the movie.  And both the good and bad versions wound up on the screen together, starin' at each other, talkin' to each other, shootin' at each other.  An example is Bob Steele as good and bad twins in TOMBSTONE TERROR (Supreme, 1935).  Buster Crabbe did this several times in his Billy the Kid/Billy Carson series at PRC in the mid 1940s.
  
  Dual roles were also used in some films that had a 'time warp' or 'flashback'.  Allan Lane's CORPUS CHRISTI BANDITS (Republic, 1945) time warped to the past --- it opens with Lane as a World War II soldier, and he tells the story of his grandfather, 'Corpus Christi Jim' (played by Lane) to his sister, Twinkle Watts.  Another example is THE FRONTIER PHANTOM (1952) with Lash LaRue chatting about himself and outlaw lookalike (with lots of stock footage from the earlier OUTLAW COUNTRY (1949) which had Lash in his regular job as well as portraying the Phantom).  'Time warp' and 'flashback' films are shown in red in the list below.

• There were a few westerns and serials where a supporting player essayed dual roles (which were integral to the plot).  An example is George Hayes in Rex Bell's CRASHIN' BROADWAY (Monogram, 1932).  In this film, Hayes is John Griswold (the owner of the local theater) and he dons a gosh awful page boy wig as J. Talbot Thorndyke (a Shakespearean actor).  At the end, ham actor Throrndyke disguises himself as Griswold to help flush out Charlie King and his gang.

• There were B-westerns where a supporting/bit player wound up doing multiple roles --- basically, change the hat and the costume, add a moustache, and the Saturday matinee kiddies won't even recognize that whats-his-face is an entirely different character.  For example, in Bob Steele's CAVALRY (A. W. Hackel/Republic, 1936), Budd Buster played the wagon train boss as well as Abraham Lincoln. Another example is the early sound oater RED FORK RANGE (Big 4, 1931) in which kindly ol' Lafe McKee is the heroine's father as well as a bearded wagon train leader.
  
  This multiple role situation was quite commonplace in serials --- a face would appear in a saloon scene in chapter 1, as a posse member in chapter 5, and one of the gang in chapter 10.  This happened often in Republic serials since many people were under contracts (such as Jack Kirk).  The Republic chapterplays had members of their 'stunt brigade' do work in front of the camera as henchies, drivers, etc.  This occurred because they were available and already being paid for the day or week.  You'll find examples below.

What you won't find on this list are heroes who did the 'imposter bit' by wearing a disguise or putting on a ruse in order to go undercover or infiltrate the gang.  Nor will you find heroes who donned a cape and covered their faces and became a 'masked avenger'.

For example, we haven't included the bunch of Tim McCoy oaters where he changed clothes, put on a moustache and disguised himself as a Mexican.  You also won't find Bob Livingston and Lee Powell (from the Lone Ranger serials) or John Carroll and Reed Hadley (from their Zorro cliffhangers).  Nor do we include a couple films with George Hayes.  In John Wayne's THE STAR PACKER (Lone Star/Monogram, 1934), Hayes was the sweet Uncle Matt Matlock but he also wore black as the mysterious outlaw, 'The Shadow'.  Hayes did it again in Wayne's RANDY RIDES ALONE (Lone Star/Monogram, 1934) when he was both Marvin Black and 'Matt the Mute'.  Neither of these Hayes portrayals were dual roles --- he simply masqueraded as a member of the community to cover his villainous activities.

Thanks to Les Adams for running his trusty database and coming up with the film and details below.

Which western film hero did the dual role thing most often? Don Barry, Roy Rogers, Tim McCoy and Ken Maynard did three each. But the "winner" is Buster Crabbe. He played dual roles in four of his 36 Billy the Kid/Billy Carson oaters for PRC (Producers Releasing Corporation). Continuing the trivia, it appears that PRC producer Sig Neufeld and his director/brother Sam Newfield liked the dual role gimmick. And it occurred a total of five times in those 36 Crabbe/Al St. John Billy the Kid/Billy Carson adventures. As mentioned, Crabbe played dual roles on four occasions. Add one more PRC Crabbe oater when Al St. John played brothers in HIS BROTHER'S GHOST (PRC, 1945).