'Gunsmoke' characters: fun facts

GUNSMOKE ran on CBS for 20 years from 1955-1975 with 635 episodes. It is still the longest running prime-time television series to date and is now on the Saturday Morning lineup of westerns on MeTV. Let's take a look at the actors or portrayed the characters we watched on Sunday nights for so many years.

James Arness

The actor who portrayed Marshall Matt Dillion was born James King Aurness, on May 26, 1923. He died June 3, 2011, at age 88 of natural causes. Arness was the older brother of Peter Graves who was on MISSION IMPOSSIBLE. Although he was all law and order while the camera was rolling, James Arness was known to burst into random fits of giggle. He did not like publicity and banned reporters from the GUNSMOKE set. Arness was Norwegian-German with naturally blond hair but had to dye his mane a darker shade for his role.

Amanda Blake

Miss Kitty joined GUNSMOKE in season 2 and stayed with the western for the remaining 19 years. Amanda Blake was born Beverly Louise Neill, on February 20, 1929. She passed away on August 16, 1989 from cancer. Blake and her third husband successfully ran one of the first Cheetah farms for breeding the animals in captivity. In 1974 she brought a lion named Kemo to the GUNSMOKE set.

Ken Curtis

The portrayor of Festus Haggen was born Curtis Wain Gates on July 2, 1916, and died in his sleep of a heart attack on April 28, 1991. Curtis was a singer prior to acting and joined the Tommy Dorsey band in 1941. It was Dorsey who suggested that Gates change his name to Ken Curtis. The singer then joined Shep Fields and His New Music, which was an all-reeds band that dispensed with a brass section. In 1948 he was a featured singer and host on the country music radio show WWVA JAMBOREE.

Ken Curtis became lead singer for the Sons of the Pioneers from 1949 to 1952. The group had two major hits with "Room Full of Roses" and "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky". Curtis initially appeared on GUNSMOKE in different roles. His first appearance as Festus was in season 8 episode 13, on December 8, 1962. He appeared again in Season 9, on October 5, 1963 as Kyle Kelly. He became a permanent member of the Gunsmoke cast as Festus on January 18, 1964.

Milburn Stone

Doc Adams was gruff but lovable and viewers loved his banter with Festus. Milburn Stone was born on July 5, 1904 and died of a heart attack on June 12, 1980. Stone's brother, Joe, was a writer who penned 3 scripts for GUNSMOKE the siblings had a cousin Madge Blake who was a character actress. Milburn Stone turned down a congressional appointment to the United States Naval Academy and instead became an actor with stock theater.

Buck Taylor

The actor who portrayed Newly Obrien from 1967-1975 was born on May 13, 1938, and is 83 years old. Newly was a blacksmith but eventually became a deputy sheriff. Taylor is also an artist who attended the Chouinard Art Institute. He has been selling watercolor and acrylic paintings of Native Americans, cowboys, and horses since 1993. Many of his paintings are of characters and scenes from television series and movies in which he has appeared. These images are made into prints and sold in various sizes. Taylor is the official artist for many state fairs and rodeos and creates promotional posters for them.

Dennis Weaver

From 1955-1964 Dennis Weaver portrayed deputy Chester Goode/proudfoot on GUNSMOKE. The actor was born June 4, 1924 and died of prostate cancer on February 24, 2006. Weaver was a recording artist with spoken-word recordings with musical accompaniment. He released several singles and albums between 1959 and 1984, and was president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1973-1974.

Burt Reynolds

When Dennis Weaver left GUNSMOKE in 1962 this opened the door for a new character, Quint Asper who was a half-Comanche blacksmith portrayed by Reynolds. Asper had been with a group of Comanches who were killing white people to avenge his father's death. Matt Dillion saw the good in him and gave him a chance to prove himself. Reynolds was a part of the western until 1965 and went on to bigger roles at the box office. Reynolds was born February 11, 1936 and died of a heart attack on September 6, 2018.