Ross Hagen

With a grizzled visage and a gravelly growl, character actor Ross Hagen got his start playing cowboys on a handful of '60s TV Westerns. His intimidating persona soon led him to feature films and the bourgeoning B-movie market of the 1970s. Hagen was well known for his roles in exploitation fare like "Angels' Wild Women," a raucous biker flick in which he played head-honcho gang member Speed. Hagen also starred in "The Hellcats," "Five the Hard Way," and "The Mini-Skirt Mob," more than one of which was later lampooned on "Mystery Science Theater 3000," a comedy series that offered amusing commentary over some of America's cheapest cinema. In the mid '80s, Hagen memorably partnered with schlockmeister Fred Olen Ray for "Armed Response," starring opposite B-movie legend David Carradine as a private investigator. Over the course of his career, Hagen starred in over a dozen of Olen Ray's cheap actioners. Not content to simply star in such movies, however, Hagen went on to write and direct B-movies of his very own. In 1979, he unleashed "The Glove," the first of many of these low-budget endeavors. In 2010, Hagen had the opportunity to revisit the genre that gave him his start, as a retired gunslinger in the spaghetti Western-inspired video game "Red Dead Redemption."