Posted on 06/03/2011 3:04:27 PM PDT by STARWISE
The 6-foot-7 actor, who also starred in the 1950s sci-fi classics "Them!" and "The Thing From Another World," thanks fans for their support with a posthumous letter on his website.
James Arness, the tall man who towered over TV screens for 20 seasons as the iconic Marshal Matt Dillon on CBS’ Gunsmoke, has died. He was 88.
The 6-foot-7 actor, who also starred in the 1950s sci-fi classics Them! and The Thing From Another World, passed away of natural causes Friday in his home in Brentwood, according to his business manager, Ginny Fazer. His death comes 14 months after his brother, Mission: Impossible actor Peter Graves, died of a heart attack at age 83.
Arness’ official website posted a letter from the actor on Friday that he wrote with the intention that it be posted posthumously.
“I had a wonderful life and was blessed with some many loving people and great friends,” he said. “I wanted to take this time to thank all of you for the many years of being a fan of Gunsmoke, The Thing, How the West Was Won and all the other fun projects I was lucky enough to have been allowed to be a part of. I had the privilege of working with so many great actors over the years.”
As the stoic Marshal Dillon, Arness kept the peace in rough and tumble Dodge City, Kan., on Gunsmoke, which aired on CBS from September 1955 to March 1975 for a total of 635 episodes. It set a record for the longest-running, live-action primetime series by seasons, since tied by NBC’s Law & Order.
Arness’ 20-year primetime stint is another record, since tied by Kelsey Grammer’s two decades years as the character Frasier Crane on two shows, Cheers and then Frasier.
Said a statement from CBS on Friday, “Our network headquarters at CBS Studio Center in Studio City looks out at Stage 3, which was home to Gunsmoke’s “Dodge City.” All of us here today tip our hat in that direction for everything Mr. Arness contributed to Gunsmoke, to CBS and to the medium we all love.”
Arness was born James King Aurness in Minneapolis on May 26, 1923. He served in the army during World War II, was wounded in his right leg and received the Purple Heart.
On the advice of Graves, Arness applied for and earned a job as an announcer for a radio station in the Twin Cities, then moved to Los Angeles and landed a role as Loretta Young’s brother in the 1947 film The Farmer's Daughter.
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I read that John Wayne was the Gunsmoke producer’s first choice but Wayne said he didn’t want to do a TV show and recommended his friend James Arness.
Yes, that was Elisha Cook, who was also noted for playing the short, blustery guy in Shane who gets tricked into a gunfight by Jack Palance and is shot dead by him in the mud street of the local town.
He was the last of the TV western icons.We’ll not see their like again.
Yes, I knew that, Blood. What a nice friend! When Encore Western channel started airing Gunsmoke about five years ago, I became hooked all over again. It was around that time when I found out that his younger brother was Peter Graves! Which made me watch the Gunsmoke reruns in a whole new light, as I was a big Mission Impossible fan. You can probably tell from my tagline that I love Westerns, too!
I just found out yesterday that Peter Graves was his brother, but when I think about it, they do look similar.
RIP “Matthew”.
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