The real Marlboro man passed away in Wyoming a few years ago. Darrell Winfield, who modeled for the brand from 1968 to 1989, was the ideal poster boy. He was so perfect that when Draper Daniels (the real-life inspiration for “Mad Men’s” Don Draper), then creative director of Leo Burnett Worldwide — the ad agency contracted to create the campaign — found Winfield in the Quarter Circle 5 Ranch, he said, “I’d seen cowboys, but I’d never seen one that I really liked – that one kind of scared me.”

Born in eastern Oklahoma just before the Great Crash of 1929, Winfield soon immigrated to the West with his family. Although there have been dozens of Marlboro men over the years, campaign recruits who preceded Winfield were usually screen actors and professional models.

The Marlboro Man is the most powerful American tobacco marketing mascot in history. Since 1972, Marlboro has been the most purchased cigarette brand in the US, with sales today exceeding $23 billion worldwide.