Darrell Winfield, cowboy who played a Marlboro Man, dies at 85

(Image credit: Twitter.com/FBRetro)

published 15 January 2015

Darrell Winfield, one of the Marlboro Men who appeared in dozens of ads over several decades, died Monday at his home in Wyoming. He was 85.

Iframe Code

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Born in Oklahoma, Winfield moved to California as a child, and married his wife, Lennie Spring, in 1948. In 1968, Winfield, his wife, and six children moved to Pinedale, Wyoming, where he was spotted by a photographer working for Philip Morris while working as a ranch hand. He ended up being the inspiration behind most of the company's advertising until 1998, when the use of humans or cartoon in tobacco advertisements was banned. During his time as the Marlboro Man, Winfield wore his own clothes to every shoot, and many of the cattle and horses in the photos belonged to him as well.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox