James Arness, RIP
Another icon from my youth gone.
I’m not so sure I understood the plots of “Gunsmoke,” but I’m quite sure I enjoyed them, as well as characters Mr. Dillon, Chester, Miss Kitty, and Doc; the saloon, and all those storefronts. I was actually a little bit in love with Arness, or maybe with Matt Dillon (hey, I was a little bit in love with Chester).
But I had no idea at the time that Arness was 6’6″ tall. Nor did I know that Miss Kitty started out in the series as somewhat of a loose woman; all of the following was completely lost on me:
Miss Kitty, who in the radio series clearly engaged in prostitution, began in that role in the television series but transitioned to saloon proprietor in later years. Although early film episodes showed her descending from her second-floor rooms in the saloon with Matt, or showed her or one of her girls leading a cowboy up to those same rooms, these scenes disappeared later on, and viewers were guided to see Miss Kitty just as a kindhearted businesswoman.
Here they are, looking pretty good:
I can not imagine my childhood without Matt Dillon. This is so sad.
Another Anzio vet marches home…
I have had so much fun, as a writer — going back to the time before the western legends were made — and writing about the places and the characters that formed the basis for what we have as common cultural knowege. But the legends themselves are grand — no getting around that.
Just coincidentally, my daughter (who loves cats and has made friends with them all over the neighborhood — we have to stop at various places in our daily exercise walks to pet her various feline friends — one of them is a lovely little female that we have started calling “Miss Kitty.” Yesterday, when we walked away from the house where she lives, I said we should start calling Miss Kitty’s friends Dillon and Chester … and she looked at me strangely and said, “I suppose you’re going to explain that to me, Mom.” Sigh.
I don’t recall watching Gunsmoke much if at all, though as I could mimic Chester, I must have watched it at least a couple of times- or did I get that from Mad Magazine?
I was never a fan of Westerns, which explains why I didn’t watch Gunsmoke much.
I watched all 3 videos of the Daddy-O episode. I can see why the show lasted 20 seasons.
I listened to Gunsmoke on the radio before it went to TV. Matt Dillon was played by a much older man with a gruff voice. With radio as with a good novel, the listener forms a picture of the characters. When James Arness appeared as the marshal I was disappointed. He wasn’t the guy I heard on radio. I think he was 26 at the time.
I just checked the radio show on Google. The Marshall was played by William Conrad, a portly man with a low voice. He appeard as the lead in TV shows “Highway Patrol” and “Cannon,” a popular detective show.
Watched Gunsmoke for many years, was a great time. Many people do not know that James Arness’ brother was Peter Graves. Both seemed to be real gentlemen. Rest in Peace to both.
I had the biggest crush on Marshall Dillon and was very happy that he and Miss Kitty never got married.
LOL!
Google or search in iTunes for “buck benny podcast” and you can find episodes of the Gunsmoke radio show. And this podcast is by far the best presentation of old time radio to be found anywhere. Shows like Jack Benny, Fred Allen and more are offered in order on their anniversaries so they correspond to the present time of year. Newly started is the entire run of Cary Grant’s radio series based on Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House. Bing Crosby’s show is played weekly. Judy Garland’s appearances on many different shows regularly appear. Well, you get the idea… two or three shows every day… commercial free
Until I read the obituary, I didn’t know he and Peter Graves were brothers.
I grew up watching Gunsmoke, Bonanza & Have Gun Will Travel. They filled many Saturday nights for my brother and I.
Ah yes, William Conrad. I remember him well as Cannon. He also did commercials back then.
However, “Highway Patrol” starred a different man with a low voice – Broderick Crawford. I loved that show.
The radio show began with the deep-voiced marshal say:
“First man they look for — and the last they want to meet. It’s a chancy job . . . and a little bit lonely.”
Twenty years or so ago, I picked up a set of those tapes they put out for traveling that was the Gunsmoke radio show, uncut, with all the very dirty ad libs that didn’t make the air. Very funny and it made me see the show with James Arness in a whole new light, imagining what was unseen. I guess it was a way to break free of my kid vision for the show. Kind of like when you start to see the adult humor in Rocky and Bullwinkle.
I remember Arness as the Thing in The Thing from Another World. Not much of a part for him but if you looked his features are so distinctive as to be recognizable in a monster costume. Couldn’t find the scene where you can recognize him but here’s the death scene.
Feeling more and more like poor old limping Chester these days, as the time of my inevitable hip replacement approaches.
And he had to dye his hair so people wouldn’t be expecting him to show up in the movie Airplane!.