Wyatt Erp - in Movies and Television - First Depiction in Film

First Depiction in Film

Earp's good friend William Hart produced and wrote the first movie to depict Wyatt Earp, the seven-reel epic Wild Bill Hickok released by Paramount in 1923. Hart played Wild Bill Hickok and Bert Lindley played Earp. Earp has been depicted dozens of times in film and television, but this was the first movie that depicted Wyatt Earp, and the only movie that included his character before he died in 1929. Earp's part in the movie was small. Bert Lindley is not listed on some descriptions of the movie and this portrayal of Earp is often overlooked. Alan Barra, author of Inventing Wyatt Earp: His Life and Many Legends, overlooked this movie in his biography. In the film, Earp joined Calamity Jane, Bat Masterson, Doc Holliday, Charlie Bassett, Luke Short and Bill Tilghman in cleaning up a wild cowtown. Promotional copy for the film prominently mentioned Earp: "Back in the days when the West was young and wild, 'Wild Bill' fought and loved and adventured with such famous frontiersmen as Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp." Earp was described in the promotional copy as "deputy sheriff to Bat Masterson of Dodge City, known as one of the three greatest gun-men that ever lived, along with Bat Masterson and 'Wild Bill' Hickok". In reality, Earp was a virtually unknown assistant marshal in Dodge City when Wild Bill Hickok was murdered in 1875.