Will Kane popular imagination: the gaunt, chiseled stone face, a stoic deadpan that rendered Cooper the leading-man, romantic-actor equivalent of Buster Keaton...By contrast, Skerritt saunters through the new "Noon" as if he were still the easygoing, ironic lawman of "Picket Fences"." Will Kane William "Will" Kane is the protagonist of the film "High Noon" (1952). He was first played by Gary Cooper, then by Lee Majors in "" (1980), and by Tom Skerritt in "High Noon" (2000), a remake for cable television. Gary Cooper originated the character in "High Noon" in 1952. Cooper briefly reprised his "High Noon" role in an uncredited
High Noon probably intensified by pain from recent surgery to remove a bleeding ulcer. The running time of the story almost precisely parallels the running time of the film itself—an effect heightened by frequent shots of clocks, to remind the characters (and the audience) that the villain will be arriving on the noon train. The movie's theme song, "Do Not Forsake Me, My Darling", became a major hit on the Country-Western charts for Tex Ritter, and later, a pop hit for Frankie Laine as well. Its popularity set a precedent for theme songs that were featured in many subsequent Western films. Composer