I did not know that! Hard to picture Matt Dillon looking like him. I was born too late for the radio version, but thought Marshal Dillon was so cool when I was in kindergarten. I kept asking my parents why he didn’t marry Miss Kitty, which must have been kind of awkward.
He was considered for the TV role of Matt Dillon, but the producers didn’t think he had the right look either. Raymond Burr was considered too. I think they made the right choice will James Arness. Conrad and Burr wound up where they should be, too.
The TV executives agreed with you. When ‘Gunsmoke’ was made into a TV show, William Conrad was considered to be too bulky to continue on as Matt Dillon. So James Arness got the role.
And here’s something else you might find interesting. The actor who played Doc on the radio show didn't get the Doc role on TV show. He ended up playing Floyd the Barber on ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ instead.
My name is Chester
I work for Matt Dillon
I make two dollars a day
I go see Miss Kitty
I play with her titty
She takes my two dollars away
#10 I kept asking my parents why he didn’t marry Miss Kitty, which must have been kind of awkward.
Parents: Miss Kitty ran a cathouse.