James Arness, the towering actor who played rugged lawman Matt Dillon in long-running US television series Gunsmoke, died on Friday at the age of 88, his family said.
One of US television’s most enduring stars during the show’s 20-year run from 1955 to 1975, he returned in a number of Gunsmoke TV movies in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Like John Wayne on the silver screen, the 2m tall actor was an imposing presence on the small screen and was nominated for Emmy awards three times during the series’ early years. The show won praise for bringing psychologically complex characters into the TV format.
Photo: Reuters
“Matt is very human and has all the failings and drives common to anyone who is trying to do a difficult job the best he knows how,” Arness said.
Born in Minnesota, Arness was chosen when producers were looking for an actor to play Dodge City Marshal Dillon on television, after Gunsmoke had been a hit radio show for years.
He was already a well-known film actor, including in the sci-fi classics The Thing From Another World in 1951 and Them! in 1954, and was initially reluctant to give up his fledgling movie career.
However, Wayne urged him to take the role and provided an on-camera introduction in which he praised the new TV Western series for being honest, adult and realistic.
“I knew there was only one man to play in it, James Arness,” Wayne told viewers. “He’s a young fella and may be new to some of you. But I’ve worked with him, and I predict he’ll be a big star.”
Arness died of natural causes in his home in Los Angeles, family spokesperson Ginny Fazer said.
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