James Arness
Marshal Matt Dillion
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Cast
Episode Guide
- 1. Matt Gets It Sep 10, 1955
- A ruthless gunman, out to defy law and order, comes up against Matt Dillon.
- 2. Hot Spell Sep 17, 1955
- Matt Dillon tries to protect a notorious gunman who is just out of prison and trying to go straight.
- 3. Word of Honor Oct 1, 1955
- Matt tries to protect the sole witness to a murder from the outlaws who intend to silence the man.
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television.
Gunsmoke, American television western that aired on CBS for 20 seasons (1955–75), becoming the longest-running TV western in history. Set in Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1890s, it centered on the character of Matt Dillon, a U.S. marshal charged with maintaining law and order in a frontier town.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Gunsmoke: Created by Charles Marquis Warren, Clyde Ware. With James Arness, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Ken Curtis. Marshal Matt Dillon keeps the peace in rough-and-tumble Dodge City.
- (8.9K)
- 1955-09-10
- Western
- 60
- There were multiple famous guest stars. Kirk, Spock, Bones, and Scotty from Star Trek all appeared on the show. You also get to see Peter, Jan, and Cindy from The Brady Bunch.
- James Arness is the only actor to appear in every episode. Milburn Stone was almost there with him in his role as Doc but suffered a heart attack that led him to miss six episodes.
- Amanda Blake was not the first choice for Miss Kitty Russell. The role was initially offered to Polly Bond. After she declined, it was all Blake.
- The show was a number one hit. From 1957-61 this was the number one show on television. Quite the run.
- John Wayne helped James Arness get the role of Marshal Matt Dillon. By the early 1950s, Westerns were the biggest movies on the big screen, and the biggest actor in them was the Duke, John Wayne.
- Dillon was the hardest role to cast. Long before Batman became the role every actor in Hollywood wanted to play, it was Matt Dillon that practically every actor in town was fighting over.
- Polly Bond turned down the role of Miss Kitty. John Wayne wasn't the only actor to turn down a leading role in "Gunsmoke." And if fate had turned another way, starring opposite James Arness would have been someone very different than Amanda Blake — who played saloon owner Miss Kitty Russell.
- The series featured a number of actors before they were famous. Debuting in the fall of 1955, and closing out its two decades on the air in 1975, "Gunsmoke" aired more than 600 episodes.
Gunsmoke began dealing with race, religion, and other social conflicts, and evolved into a sort of dramatic anthology series with the interaction between the regular characters taking a back seat to conflicts faced by characters (often played by guest stars) who were passing through Dodge.
Gunsmoke was a popular TV series of 20 seasons that ran from September 10, 1955 to March 31, 1975. It was the second Western television series written for adults, [1] premiering on September 10, 1955, four days after The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.
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