Actor Hugh O'Brian, TV's 'Wyatt Earp,' Dies At 91

LOS ANGELES (AP/CBS) — Actor Hugh O'Brian, who starred as Sheriff Wyatt Earp in one of television's earliest Westerns, has died at age 91.

O'Brian's death was reported Monday by the Los Angeles Times and confirmed by Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership, the organization the actor founded in 1958. It continues to bring together promising high school students for leadership seminars.

Until "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" debuted in 1955, most TV Westerns were aimed at preteen boys. "Wyatt Earp" was based on a real-life Western hero, and some of its stories were authentic. It made O'Brian a star.

After that show left the air in 1961, O'Brian continued to work in movies, television and theater through the 1990s. He was notably the last villain killed onscreen by film icon John Wayne, in the 1976 western "The Shootist," according to imdb.com.

(Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS Radio and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)