JAMES ARNESS

[7thson]

Did anyone catch BOR last night? He has a new weekly segment highlighting a TV icon. Last night he had James Arness - Matt Dillon from Gunsmoke. Mr. Arness is 83 years old. He is a very humble man, from what I saw of the mini-interview. I also found out that he was in WW II, wounded at Anzio, and spent 18 months in recuperation.

That was one of my favorite westerns growing up. When I was a little kid, it would confuse the hell out of me when Bruce Dern kept on showing up in different episodes. I was always thinking - didn't Matt kill this guy already.

Here are two trivia items concerning him from IMDB -

Very, very often during his career, this huge actor was surrounded by co-stars standing on apple boxes or had to perform standing in a ditch just so he could be in a shot.

His status as a Republican disappointed Lady Bird Johnson, who was a fan of "Gunsmoke" (1955).

[Anti-Bubba182]

I saw him. It was good to see him again. There were a lot
of great episodes on the old series.

[Coldwater Creek]

I do not watch BOR, but stopped when I realized to he was talking to. I would have never recognized James Arness if I had not seen his name on the screen.

[LIConFem]

He was great in The Thing, an excellent early '50s sci-fi flick.

[mewzilla]

No lines, but what a presence :)

[LIConFem]

The Thing (from Another World)

Arness played the title role, btw...

[johnny7]

When I was a little kid, it would confuse the hell out of me when Bruce Dern kept on showing up in different episodes.

Dern and his big, snarling teeth were a fixture on TV westerns.

[LIConFem]

He gave a few good grunts, growls and groans. ;o)

[exit82]

I caught the interview. Mr. Arness was very well spoken. When they panned to a wide shot of the set, I chuckled when I saw he was wearing sneakers. Hey, when you're 83, you wear whatever is comfortable.

His brother is Peter Graves(Mission Impossible). They both have aged very well-must come from good stock.

[mathluv]

I had forgotten he was in that. I am like some others - I wuld not have recognized him - because in my mind he will always be Matt Dillon.

I usually at least start to listen to bor - until he starts bashing W, then I turn him off.

[mewzilla]

Mr. Arness was also very good in Them!

[muawiyah]

The Aurness folks come from Sykkylven in West Norway originally. This is near where Rollo, who founded the Norman dynasty in what is now called Normandy, came from in the 10th century.

Kaiser Wilhelm actually sent materials to fix up the town when it burned to the ground in the middle of Winter.

I'd just guess a lot of people from that town left for America about that time.

[LIConFem]

Yes, he was. That was another good sci-fi flick. Good effects for that period, too.

[Non-Sequitur]

His status as a Republican disappointed Lady Bird Johnson, who was a fan of "Gunsmoke" (1955).

If that's all that disappointed her during the Johnson Administration then I feel sorry for her.

[Peter W. Kessler]

He also co-starred in "Big Jim McLain" with John Wayne.

It's not one of Wayne's best, but it's one of my favorites.

[mewzilla]

Mr. Arness has his own website.

www.jamesarness.com

It's pretty cool :)

[7thson]

BOR was showing old scenes from Gunsmoke during the interview - from the 50's. In one scene, Matt is breaking up some type of confrontation around a table in the bar. The guy he is talking to is a young Charles Bronson. It's great when you watch the old television programs and see young versions of Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Jack Warden, et al.

[metesky]

His status as a Republican disappointed Lady Bird Johnson, who was a fan of "Gunsmoke" (1955).

What would she expect from a John Wayne protege?

[steelyourfaith]

It was GREAT seeing James Arness again. A real class gentleman.

[Jay Howard Smith]

James Arness also starred in the Mini-Series 'How the West was Won' as Zeb Macahon. Good series..~!

[dawn53]

I saw Peter Graves on a Geico commercial the other day (Graves is Arness' brother.)

My hubby and I were remarking how well Graves looked, and I was wondering how Arness was fairing. Glad to hear he's
doing so well.

[7thson]

I remember in the 70's, for awhile, they stopped showing the opening gunfight scene because it was too violent. After a couple seasons of showing him racing in a wagon, they went back to the street gunfight scene. It was also fun to see some of the goofs. I remember two different episodes. One - they showed a pan shot of the street and in the middle of the street are tire tracks. Another episode, Doc is talking to someone inside and behind them you can clearly see the lightbulb in what was supposed to be an oil lamp.

Those aside, it was a great, great western and it taught a lot of people about good and evil, standing up for truth and justice, and that - yes - you had to use violence to stomp on evil. As BOR said - Arness and John Wayne played the same type of character - big, strong, silent types who kicked the snot out of bad guys!

[Peter W. Kessler]

Thanks! What a nice website!

Makes me wish for the good ol' days of just three networks with quality content.

[7thson]

LOL!

[mewzilla]

Yeah, me too. Thanks goodness for nostalgia TV and DVDs.

[zeebee]

Interview from April, 2006 here.

[LIConFem]

Kewl beans! Thanks!

[Egon]

He was in one of our family's favorite horror flicks: Them.

[MaryFromMichigan]

Thanks for the link!

[Rider on the Rain]

what's a BOR?

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

They wanted John Wayne to play the lead but he turned it down and recommended James Arness.

This was based on the bit part James did in Hondo (The best western).

[Vaquero]

I googled BOR???

I got:

Board of Registry

Burnt Orange Report

Bureau of Reclamation

etc...etc.

Someone please help this unsavy TV watcher....what the hell it means....PS I was watching the World Series last nite and not one BOR showed up.

[7thson]

I just went to the website and while there I remembered the bartender - an actor by the name of Glenn Strange, I believe. A little trivia - he once played the Frankenstien monster in a couple movies.

Here is his bio from IMDB -

At various times in his life a rancher, deputy sheriff and rodeo performer, this huge, towering (6' 5") beast of a man was born George Glenn Strange in Weed, New Mexico, on August 16, 1899, but grew up a real-life cowboy in Cross Cut, Texas. Of Irish and Cherokee Indian descent, he taught himself (by ear) the fiddle and guitar at a young age and started performing at local functions as a teen. In the late 1920s, Glenn and his cousin, Taylor McPeters, better known later as the western character actor Cactus Mack, joined a radio singing group known as the "Arizona Wranglers" that toured throughout the country. They both started providing singing fillers in film westerns in the early 1930s. Glenn would play extra or bit roles for a number of years -- whether a cowhand, rustler, henchman, sidekick, or harmonica-blowing warbler. Eventually in the late 30s his billing improved and he evolved into a full-time bad guy in hundreds of "B" westerns. He was seen (or glimpsed) in many of the popular western serials of the day, including The Hurricane Express (1932), Law of the Wild (1934), The Lone Ranger Rides Again (1939), and Riders of Death Valley (1941). It was his massive build that helped him break into the Universal horror picture genre of the 1940s. Boris Karloff had grown weary and fearful of his Frankenstein Creature typecast and abandoned the role. Glenn was the perfect man for the job and made his monstrous debut with House of Frankenstein (1944), quickly followed by House of Dracula (1945). It was he who played the Creature in the cult horror/comedy classic Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) as part of the monstrous trio alongside Bela Lugosi's Dracula and 'Lon Chaney, Jr.' 's Wolf Man. As the B western faded off into the sunset in the 1950s, Strange moseyed on over to TV work, capping off his career with a steady, albeit minor, role as Sam the bartender on the classic "Gunsmoke" (1955) series from 1962 until shortly before his death from lung cancer in 1973.

[7thson]

Bill O'Reilly

[BallyBill]

O'Reilly has someone worthwhile on and I miss it. Gunsmoke is on TV Land right now as I'm typing. Arness was also in "Them!" which was on over the weekend.
Arness' limp is very visible on Gunsmoke. I never really noticed it as a kid though.

[Vaquero]

Oh do you mean Bill O Reilly? Really does is this person high enough on the food chain to be easily recognized by this acronym. Though BORE would be more appropriate

cant stand the guy....I only watch fox news before the evening anchors come on...late afternoon for about a half hour. till they get too repetitive.....

FOX NEWS ALERT: REPORTS SHOW THAT STUFFING FIBERGLASS IN ONES TIGHTY WHITES MAY CAUSE CHAFFING.

[BallyBill]

Another Gunsmoke character "Newly" played by Buck Taylor, I just found out the other day that Buck is the son of the great character actor Dub Taylor.

The Internet is a trivia lovers dream!!

[LIConFem]

"....PS I was watching the World Series last nite and not one BOR showed up. "

They're out of season...

[7thson]

I use BOR because people on FR use it. I thought it was recognizalbe but I guess I was wrong.

[7thson]

I never did either. Maybe, when we watched it, we just absorbed it as the Matt Dillon character.

[Drawsing]

Trivia question:

Bad guy reaches for his gun...what does Matt Dillon always say?

[sushiman]

The longest running dramatic series ever produced - 20 years !

[River_Wrangler]

It's great when you watch the old television programs and see young versions of Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Jack Warden, et al.

It is great untill I remember that I was a much younger version of ME at that time. ;]

[Smittie]

What is BOR?

The headline scared me for a moment, I thought something had happened to him. You can order his autobiography on his website. The biography channel has also has showcased him. He's one of the few good ones still around.

[7thson]

Man, you got me. I have not watched the program in years. After watching the interview last night, I am interested in getting box sets, if they have them.

[MaryFromMichigan]

Bill O'Reilly.

[ClubCaved]

Speaking of Arness and his role in "The Thing", I once read an interview with Ken Tobey in which he described playing a part in a "Gunsmoke" episode. Arness, according to Tobey, didn't speak to Tobey about their working together in "The Thing" BUT a half hour before Tobey's part in the episode would have finished, Arness declared he was too tired to work any more. The scene had to be completed the next day which meant Tobey got an extra's day pay.

[Lee'sGhost]

"He was great in The Thing, an excellent early '50s sci-fi flick."

Yeah, he looked like a giant carrot.

[tutstar]

ping...

[auto power]

Saw a segment a few weeks back on BIO on his brother....very close family and very well respected.....