An amiable, curly-haired, boyishly handsome character player and occasional leading man, Carey followed in his father's wake as a co-star in countless Westerns. He made his debut in "Rolling Home' (1946) and went on to work with several top directors. Among his credits are Howard Hawks' "Red River" (1948) and "Rio Bravo" (1959), John Ford's "Wagonmaster" (1950) and "The Searchers" (1956), Andrew V McLaglen's "The Way West" (1967) and "Cahill, United States Marshall" (1973), Peter Bogdanovich's "Nickelodeon" (1976) and "Mask" (1985) and Walter Hill's "The Long Riders" (1980) and "Crossroads" (1986). Carey later offered support to screen veterans Lillian Gish, Bette Davis, Ann Sothern and Vincent Price in "The Whales of August" (1987) and was a marshall in "Tombstone" (1993).