# Lee Horsley

Lee Arthur Horsley (born May 15, 1955) is an American film, television, and theater actor known for starring roles in the television series Nero Wolfe (1981), Matt Houston (1982–1985), and Paradise (1988–1991). He starred in the 1982 film The Sword and the Sorcerer and recorded the audiobook edition of Lonesome Dove.

## Career

Horsley began his acting career touring in stage productions of West Side Story, Damn Yankees, and Oklahoma!. In 1981, he portrayed TV detective Archie Goodwin in the short-lived NBC drama series Nero Wolfe. He played the title character in the 1982–1985 ABC detective series Matt Houston, and starred as Ethan Allen Cord in the 1988–1991 Western Heritage Award-winning series Paradise. This was followed by a lead role on the CBS police drama Bodies of Evidence (1992–1993). He also starred opposite Lynda Carter in a series set in the French and Indian War era, Hawkeye. Horsley also starred as Rafe Beaudeen in North and South: Book II and as Nick Burnham in the Danielle Steel miniseries, Crossings (TV miniseries) opposite Jane Seymour and Christopher Plummer.
He appeared in the feature-length cult film The Sword and the Sorcerer in 1982, and he appeared in its sequel Tales of an Ancient Empire in 2010. He recorded the audiobook edition of Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove. In 2006, Horsley and Marshall R. Teague traveled the world in search of exotic game on the Outdoor Life Network for the reality show, Benelli's Dream Hunts. Horsley appeared in the 2012 Quentin Tarantino film Django Unchained as Sheriff Gus and then in Tarantino's 2015 western The Hateful Eight as a stagecoach driver.
In 1987-1988 season, Horsley acted in the Jerry Herman musical, Mack and Mabel, at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey with Janet Metz, Scott Ellis, Ed Evanko, and Ruth Williamson in the cast. Robert Johanson was director.

## Personal life

Horsley was born in Muleshoe, Texas, the seat of Bailey County. He grew up in the Denver, Colorado area, sang in a church choir and graduated from Englewood High School in 1973. Horsley married Stephanie Downer in 1980 and fathered a daughter, Amber, in 1981 and a son, Logan, in 1983. Horsley is an outdoorsman, horseman, rodeo participant, and western novelist.

## Filmography

Film :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1982 | The Sword and the Sorcerer | Prince Talon | Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Actor |
| 1994 | Unlawful Passage | Peter Browning | |
| 1999 | Nightmare Man | Ed Cody | |
| 2003 | Dismembered | Joe Kenny | |
| 2005 | Jasper: The Story of a Mule | Narrator | Voice role |
| 2007 | Showdown at Area 51 | Diamond Joe Carson | |
| 2010 | Tales of an Ancient Empire | Talon | Sequel to The Sword and the Sorcerer |
| 2012 | Django Unchained | Sheriff Gus | |
| 2015 | The Hateful Eight | Ed | |

## Television

Television :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1981 | Nero Wolfe | Archie Goodwin | 14 episodes |
| 1982 | The Wild Women of Chastity Gulch | Captain John Cain | TV movie |
| 1983 | The Love Boat | Greg Munford | Episode: "China Cruise" |
| 1985 | Thirteen at Dinner | Bryan Martin | TV movie |
| 1985 | When Dreams Come True | Alex Kazloff | TV movie |
| 1982–85 | Matt Houston | Matlock 'Matt' Houston | 67 episodes |
| 1986 | North and South, Book II | Rafe Beaudeen | Miniseries |
| 1986 | Crossings | Nick Burnham | Miniseries |
| 1987 | Infidelity | Nick Denato | TV movie |
| 1988 | Dolly | Jim Miller | Season 1, episode 15 |
| 1989 | Single Women Married Men | Ross Marino | TV movie |
| 1990 | The Face of Fear | Graham Harris | TV movie |
| 1991 | Palomino | Tate Jordan | TV movie |
| 1988–91 | Paradise | Ethan Allen Cord | Western Heritage Award (won) |
| 1992–93 | Bodies of Evidence | Lt. Ben Carroll | 16 episodes |
| 1994 | The Corpse Had a Familiar Face | Ben Nicholson | TV movie |
| 1994 | French Silk | Detective Cassidy | TV movie |
| 1994–95 | Hawkeye | Natty 'Hawkeye' Bumppo | 22 episodes |
| 1995 | Snowy River: The McGregor Saga | Seamus O'Neil | Episodes: "Rough Passage", "The Prodigal Father (1)" and "The Prodigal Father (2)" |
| 1996 | The Care and the Handling of Roses | Tom Doster | TV movie |
| 1996 | Home Song | Tom Gardner | TV movie |
| 1998 | Wind on Water | Gardner Poole | |
| 2001 | Touched by an Angel | Guy Garfield | Episode: "I Am an Angel" |