Actor Leo Gordon, 78, who specialized in playing tough guys for the past half century in some 70 movies and a dozen TV shows, died Tuesday at his Los Angeles home after a brief illness, his daughter, Tara Gordon, told the Associated Press. The Brooklyn-born Gordon was best known for his villain roles in Westerns, from 1953's "Hondo" (with John Wayne) to 1994's "Maverick" (with Mel Gibson). During the '50s and '60s, his was a ubiquitous presence on virtually every Western TV show, from "Bonanza" to "Rin-Tin-Tin."