In 2019, Martin Kove got a call from Quentin Tarantino to make a unique appearance in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," a revisionist, Tinseltown-themed crime drama set around the same time period as the murders of several high-profile LA residents by Charles Manson and his followers. The film largely follows the fading career of TV actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stuntman, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), and in Tarantino's inventive style, Dalton appears in a promotional spot for his Western series "Bounty Law." Tarantino needed a sheriff to appear in "Bounty Law," and Kove plays the lawman who encounters DiCaprio-slash-Dalton's bounty hunter character.
Appearing in the film came with some bonuses for Kove. Like Tarantino, who collects pop culture memorabilia (via Digital Spy), Kove is a collector himself. In an exclusive interview, Kove told Looper that he's "a Western freak" and collects everything from his favorite TV and movie Westerns he can find. His collection includes a Matt Dillon doll from "Gunsmoke" as well as items from "Have Gun, Will Travel" and "Zorro." Thanks to Tarantino, Kove also has some action figures connected to the filmmaker's two Westerns.
"The only things I collect are my favorites from when I was a kid. It's terrific," Kove enthused. "I even have action figures from 'Django Unchained' and '[The] Hateful Eight.' When I did 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' with Quentin Tarantino, I had to get them, so they sent me a couple of action figures."
Ironically, the action figures from Tarantino's movies were created by toy and collectibles company NECA, who made retro-style figures of Daniel LaRusso, Johnny Lawrence, and Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), as well as a convention exclusive of John Kreese — which, naturally, is also part of Kove's memorabilia collection.
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