A character actor who appeared in over 100 films and TV shows between the early 60s and late 80s, Robert Sorrells made a living playing bit parts in big productions: classics like Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Twilight Zone. No matter the plot, the roles typically ended the same for Sorrells―with his character either firing a bullet, or taking one himself. His early filmography reads like an advertisement for the NRA: Gunfight in Abilene, Mosby’s Marauders, Death of a Gunfighter, The Ride to Hangman’s Tree. In a disturbing case of life imitating art, Sorrells, at the age of 74, gunned down two men at a bar near his home in Simi Valley, California, killing one and badly wounding the other. His victim: A 45-year-old painting contractor and father of one. The shocking July 2004 murder shined a spotlight on the psychology of aging actors, and begged the question: did a lifetime of being around fake movie violence make Sorrells more inclined to commit the real-life kind? Or, were the characters he portrayed all those years on film closer to reality than those around him realized?

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Research & Writing: K. Brant.

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