Withers moved into sound films, establishing himself with a list of headlined features as a young and handsome male lead.

Historian Terry Rowan writes, "As his career progressed ... his importance diminished, but he did manage a 10-year contract with Republic.

"Born in Pueblo, Colorado, Withers worked as an oil company salesman and newspaper reporter before breaking into films near the end of the silent era.

[2] Withers's early work had him opposite actors such as W.C. Fields, Buster Keaton, Boris Karloff, Mae West, and Shirley Temple.

Notable exceptions included two starring roles in serials for Universal, Jungle Jim and Radio Patrol (both 1937); and the recurring role of the brash police captain Bill Street in Monogram Pictures' five-film Mr. Wong series, starring Boris Karloff, beginning in 1938.

He was cast as Gus Andrews and Miles Breck, respectively, in two episodes, titled "The time for All Good Men" (1957) and "King of the Frontier" (1958), on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, starring Hugh O'Brian.

In 1956, he played “Jed Lardner” (a callous cowboy who left his injured partner to die) in S2E15, “Pucket’s New Year”, on the TV Western Gunsmoke.

In 1959, shortly before his death, Withers was cast in the episode "Feeling His Oats" on the children's Western series Fury, starring Peter Graves and Bobby Diamond.

He also appeared that year as Sheriff Charlie Clayton in the episode "A Matter of Friendship" in John Bromfield's crime drama U.S.