True Grit (novel) was considered a needless reworking of the plot of "True Grit" combined with elements of "The African Queen". A made-for-television sequel aired in 1978 entitled "" and starring Warren Oates and Lisa Pelikan. The TV-movie featured more adventures of Rooster Cogburn and Mattie Ross. In 2010, Joel and Ethan Coen released another film adaptation of the novel, also entitled "True Grit", with thirteen-year-old actress Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross, veteran actor Jeff Bridges playing Rooster Cogburn, Matt Damon as LaBoeuf, Barry Pepper as Lucky Ned, and Josh Brolin as Tom Chaney. Their version, focusing on Mattie's point of view, follows
Rooster Cogburn (character) after bearing Cogburn a single, extremely clumsy son, Horace, (of whom Cogburn says, "He never liked me anyway"). Cogburn is described as a "fearless, one-eyed U.S. marshal who never knew a dry day in his life." He was "the toughest marshal" working the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) on behalf of Judge Isaac Parker, the real-life judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas (having criminal jurisdiction in the Indian Territory, as the bailiff repeatedly announces in both films). Cogburn shot a total of 64 men in eight years, killing 60 (not counting the men he