Darrell H. Winfield, was a rancher and model

Model (person)

A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....

 (best known as "The Marlboro Man

Marlboro Man

The Marlboro Man is a figure used in tobacco advertising campaign for Marlboro cigarettes. In the United States, where the campaign originated, it was used from 1954 to 1999. The Marlboro Man was first conceived by Leo Burnett in 1954. The image involves a rugged cowboy or cowboys, in nature with...

" in television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 commercials and magazine

Magazine

Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

 advertisement

Advertising

Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...

s for Marlboro cigarettes), was born in Oklahoma on July 30, 1929. His family relocated to California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

's San Joaquin Valley

San Joaquin Valley

The San Joaquin Valley is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton...

 when he was 6 years old. This move was inspired by the "Okie

Okie

Okie is a term dating from as early as 1907, originally denoting a resident or native of Oklahoma. It is derived from the name of the state, similar to Texan or Tex for someone from Texas, or Arkie or Arkansawyer for a native of Arkansas....

 migration" that was prominent in the 1930s where many mid-west farmers, devastated by the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

, headed west to California to start over. He was the Marlboro man from 1968 until 1989. He is also credited with being the most portrayed man in the world by some. Philip Morris

Philip Morris

- Philip/Phillip Morris :*Altria Group, conglomerate company previously known as Philip Morris Companies Inc., named after the 19th century tobacconist**Philip Morris USA, tobacco company wholly owned by Altria Group...

 has used many cowboys for their ads but has declared that Winfield was "really the Marlboro man."

As an adult, Winfield moved to Wyoming and began ranching. Executives from Leo Burnett Worldwide

Leo Burnett Worldwide

Leo Burnett Worldwide is an American advertising company, created in 1935 by Leo Burnett. The company was opened in Chicago in 1935. In 1950 the company started its two first major advertising projects, for Kellogg’s and P&G....

, an advertising agency, visited the ranch where Winfield was working in June 1968 to take photographs for a new Phillip Morris sales campaign. They liked Winfield's looks and asked him if he would be interested in working for Marlboro.

The first Marlboro advertisement that Winfield appeared in was "The Sheriff".

In a 1986 interview, Winfield stated that he thinks that his "life would have basically been the same" if he had not been given the chance to work for Marlboro.