After 1965, many of his roles were limited to television guest appearances. "Being small for his age and a bit too pretty ... in his favour as a child ... worked against him as an adult", wrote author Linda Ashcroft after talking with deWilde at a party. "He spoke of giving up movies until he could come back as a forty-year-old character actor". DeWilde's final western role was in Dino De Laurentiis' 1971 Spaghetti Western "The Deserter", one year before his death. He played adjutant Lieutenant Ferguson who meets with an untimely end. He made his last screen appearance in "Wild In The Sky" (1972).