John Wesley Hardin in popular culture

Hardin has also been the subject or supporting character of various works about the Old West, such as:

• Streets of Laredo by Larry McMurtry features Hardin. He is depicted as a cold and brutal killer.[2]
• James Carlos Blake wrote The Pistoleer, a novelized version of Hardin published in 1995.[3]
• L. B. McGinnis wrote Reflections in Dark Glass, a historical fiction novel that was published in 1996 and reflected on the life of John Wesley Hardin.[4]
• Four Sixes To Beat: The Tale of a Killer by Bruce N. Croft is a novel first published in 2004, a fictional tour of Hardin's life in the West.[5]

Hardin has been portrayed on film by:

• John Dehner in the 1951 film The Texas Rangers[6]
• Rock Hudson in the 1953 film, The Lawless Breed[7]
• Jack Elam in the 1970 film, Dirty Dingus Magee[8]
• Max Perlich in the 1994 film, Maverick[9]
• John Wayne's character in The Shootist is loosely based on Hardin.[10]

• Actor Richard Webb played Hardin in a 1954 episode of Jim Davis' syndicated western television series, Stories of the Century. The segment shows Hardin shooting two Indians in the back; gunning down a sheriff in a saloon in Abilene, Kansas; and finally being outgunned himself by an El Paso officer attempting to arrest him.[11]
• Phillip Pine played Hardin in 1955 in the ninth episode "John Wesley Hardin" of the ABC/Desilu western television series, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, starring Hugh O"Brian in the title role as frontier marshal Wyatt Earp. In the story line, Hardin arrives in Wichita, Kansas, to avenge Earp for having run out of a town a friend of Hardin's. The Hardin character also unveils tricks he has learned with his revolvers. Barbara Bestar plays Jane Hardin in the episode.[12]
• Actor Lyle Bettger, who played villains in many films and TV shows, portrayed Hardin in two episodes of the Western series "Tales of Wells Fargo" in the late 1950s. On the show, Hardin had a complicated relationship with fictional Wells Fargo agent Jim Hardie (Dale Robertson), the series' main character. The two men were sometimes at odds but respected each other's courage and resourcefulness.
• A 1959 episode of Maverick, "Duel at Sundown," has the character of Bret Maverick posing as John Wesley Hardin in order to stage a fake gunfight against his brother, Bart, so that Bart can avoid a real gunfight with a local tough, played by Clint Eastwood. As Bret and Bart ride out of town, they meet a stranger who wants directions to find this "fake" John Wesley Hardin. The stranger is none other than the "real" John Wesley Hardin.[13]
• In an episode called "Turning Point'" of the Bronco series, Scott Marlowe played John Wesley Hardin. Bronco befriends Hardin after stumbling upon him after Hardin has been bitten by a rattlesnake, saves his life, and then agrees to be partners in a land acquisition deal.[14]
• Randy Quaid played Hardin in the 1995 TV mini-series, Streets of Laredo.[15]
• In a 1998 episode of Antiques Roadshow, a previously unknown and rare photograph of John Wesley Hardin was appraised at $30,000 - $50,000.[16]
• In the 2001 Family Guy episode "One If by Clam, Two If by Sea", Peter and Quagmire quote from decades-old advertisements for a Time-Life book series about the American West, which mentioned Hardin as a "man who was so mean, he once shot a man just for snoring."
• In the (November 28, 2011) episode ["Mile High Club"] of the History channel show Pawn Stars, one of Hardin's business cards was featured.[17]
• In 2014 in documentary series Gunslingers was portrayed by Eric C. Schneider in episode 6 John Wesley Hardin, The Dark Heart of Texas.[18]

Country music singer, Johnny Cash, wrote and recorded a song about Hardin entitled "Hardin Wouldn't Run,"[19] released on his 1965 album Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West. It relates some of the true events of Hardin's life, including his death at the Acme Saloon. Prior to this, Cash portrayed Hardin in the spoken-word introduction to "Slow Rider", a track on his 1960 theme album Ride This Train.

Folk rocker, Bob Dylan, named his 1967 album John Wesley Harding after the outlaw, although the name was spelled differently. The title track depicts Hardin as "a friend to the poor" who "was never known to hurt an honest man."[20]

Singer-songwriter Wesley Stace uses the stage name, John Wesley Harding.[21]

Hardin is among the outlaws mentioned in the song, "Rhymes of the Renegades," by western singer-songwriter, Michael Martin Murphey.[22]

Avant-garde composer Moondog (real name Louis Hardin) created an ode to the outlaw on his album H'art Songs with the song "Here's To John Wesley Hardin." In the song, Moondog claims to be a relative.