Which film star turned down the role of 'Matt Dillon' in 'Gunsmoke' but recommended his friend James Arness for the part?
"first episode was introduced by John Wayne in a brief film clip in which Wayne predicted that James Arness would become a major star. He went on to play the part for the next twenty years. A popular story holds that Wayne himself had been offered the part and had turned it down. Charles Marquis Warren, who produced the first year of the television version of ""Gunsmoke"" and made the major casting decisions, stated that he had jokingly asked Wayne whether he would be interested in the part in a casual social setting. He added that Wayne had indicated in"
"1996, ""TV Guide"" ranked him number 20 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list. Arness was nominated for the following Emmy Awards: James Arness James Arness (born James King Aurness, May 26, 1923 – June 3, 2011) was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon for 20 years in the CBS television series ""Gunsmoke"". Arness has the distinction of having played the role of Dillon in five separate decades: 1955 to 1975 in the weekly series, then in """" (1987) and four more made-for-television ""Gunsmoke"" films in the 1990s. In Europe, Arness reached cult"
"James Arness James Arness (born James King Aurness, May 26, 1923 – June 3, 2011) was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon for 20 years in the CBS television series ""Gunsmoke"". Arness has the distinction of having played the role of Dillon in five separate decades: 1955 to 1975 in the weekly series, then in """" (1987) and four more made-for-television ""Gunsmoke"" films in the 1990s. In Europe, Arness reached cult status for his role as Zeb Macahan in the western series ""How the West Was Won"". He was the older brother of actor Peter Graves."
"Gunsmoke: To the Last Man Gunsmoke: To the Last Man is a 1992 American made-for-television western film starring James Arness as retired Marshal Matt Dillon and featuring Pat Hingle. Hapless rustlers make the fatal mistake of stealing Matt Dillon's cattle and Dillon blunders into the gory Pleasant Valley War during the process of hunting them down and killing two of them. The film, set in the 1880s, was directed by Jerry Jameson and based upon the long-running American television series ""Gunsmoke"" (1955 to 1975). The supporting cast features Matt Mulhern as Will McCall, Joseph Bottoms as villainous Tommy Graham, and"
"Arvo Ojala Arvo Ojala (February 21, 1920 in Seattle, Washington – July 1, 2005 in Gresham, Oregon) was a Hollywood technical advisor on the subject of quick-draw with a revolver. He also worked as an actor; his most famous role was that of the unnamed man shot by Marshal Matt Dillon in the opening sequences of the long-running television series ""Gunsmoke"". As a joke on the producers, James Arness and Arvo actually did the opener once with Dillon falling to the ground. Born to Finnish immigrant parents as a young man, Ojala taught himself marksmanship and how to quick-draw a"
"to work odd jobs to support his family. It was while delivering flowers that he heard he had landed the role of Chester Goode, the limping, loyal assistant of Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) on the new television series ""Gunsmoke."" It was his big break; the show would go on to become the highest-rated and longest-running live action series in United States television history (1955 to 1975). He received an Emmy Award in 1959 for Best Supporting Actor (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series. According to the Archive of American Television interview with Weaver, the producer had him in mind"
"Morgan Woodward as Sheriff Abel Rose. Gunsmoke: To the Last Man Gunsmoke: To the Last Man is a 1992 American made-for-television western film starring James Arness as retired Marshal Matt Dillon and featuring Pat Hingle. Hapless rustlers make the fatal mistake of stealing Matt Dillon's cattle and Dillon blunders into the gory Pleasant Valley War during the process of hunting them down and killing two of them. The film, set in the 1880s, was directed by Jerry Jameson and based upon the long-running American television series ""Gunsmoke"" (1955 to 1975). The supporting cast features Matt Mulhern as Will McCall, Joseph"
"of his head."" Shooting on the ""Gunsmoke"" set was sometimes suspended because Arness got a case of the uncontrollable giggles. James Arness disdained publicity and banned reporters from the ""Gunsmoke"" set. He was said to be a shy and sensitive man who enjoyed poetry, sailboat racing, and surfing. ""TV Guide"" dubbed him ""The Greta Garbo of Dodge City."" Buck Taylor (Newly on ""Gunsmoke"") thought so highly of Arness that he named his second son, Matthew, after Arness' character. Arness died of natural causes at age 88 at his Brentwood home in Los Angeles on June 3, 2011. He is interred"
"Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge is the first made-for-television western film based on the 20-year (1955–1975) television version of ""Gunsmoke"" starring James Arness. Although it is supposed to be set in the wilds of Kansas, it was filmed in Alberta, Canada. Retired US Marshal Matt Dillon, now a fur trapper, is knifed by thieves, brought back to Dodge, and nursed by Kitty Russell, played by Amanda Blake. He is hunted by vengeful past nemesis; Will Mannon, who has sworn to kill Matt, and holds Kitty hostage in exchange for a final showdown. Ken Curtis (Festus Haggen) turned"
"Dub Taylor also guest-starred numerous times on the series. Before Taylor was cast as handsome young gunsmith ""Newly"", he had actually appeared in an earlier segment of the series as an outlaw. As Newly, however, he was clearly one of the ""good guys"" in the same tradition as James Arness as Matt Dillon. The Newly character superseded that of Clayton Thaddeus ""Thad"" Greenwood, played by Roger Ewing (born 1942). Taylor got along so well with the ""Gunsmoke"" cast that he named his second and third sons Matthew Taylor and Cooper Glenn Taylor for James Arness' (1923–2011) Marshal Matt Dillon character"
"Gunsmoke Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television. When aired in the UK, the television series was initially titled Gun Law, later reverting to ""Gunsmoke"". The radio series ran from 1952 to 1961. John Dunning wrote that among radio drama enthusiasts, """"Gunsmoke"" is routinely placed among the best shows of any kind"
"the first episode of ""Gunsmoke"", in 1955. The Norwegian-German Arness had to dye his naturally blond hair darker for the role. ""Gunsmoke"" made Arness and his co-stars, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Dennis Weaver, Ken Curtis, Burt Reynolds, and Buck Taylor, world-famous and would run for two decades, becoming the longest-running prime-time drama series in US television history by the end of its run in 1975. The series' season record was tied in 2010 with the final season of ""Law & Order"" and tied again in 2018 with season 20 of """". Unlike the latter show, ""Gunsmoke"" featured its lead character"
"figure in many European countries, where it became even more popular than in the United States, as the series has been rebroadcast many times across Europe. ""James Arness: An Autobiography"" was released in September 2001, with a foreword by Burt Reynolds (who had been a cast member of ""Gunsmoke"" for several years in the 1960s). Arness noted that he realized, ""[I]f I was going to write a book about my life, I better do it now ... 'cause I'm not getting any younger."" Arness was married twice, first to Virginia Chapman from 1948 until their divorce in 1960. He adopted"
"L&M cigarettes and Remington shaving products. When ""Gunsmoke"" was adapted for television in 1955, in spite of a campaign to persuade the network, the network was not interested in bringing either Conrad or his radio costars to the television medium. Conrad's weight was rumored to be a deciding factor. Denver Pyle was also considered for the leading role, as was Raymond Burr, who was ultimately also seen as too heavy for the part. Charles Warren, television ""Gunsmoke""'s first director, said ""His voice was fine, but he was too big. When he stood up, his chair stood with him."" According to"
"and with adapting episodes already broadcast on CBS Radio for replay in a visual format. The radio version of the series continued to be popular for several years after the debut of its televised counterpart with James Arness, Dennis Weaver, Milburn Stone, and Amanda Blake in their respective roles as Marshal Dillon, Chester (his surname changed from Proudfoot to Goode), Doc, and Kitty. By 1958, in fact, the two formats of the series were together drawing a weekly audience of 55 million listeners and viewers. Macdonnell by then was already serving too as producer of ""Gunsmoke"" on television, having been"
"him by legendary actor James Stewart: ""Jimmy said he was in the office with Charles Warren when Mr. Wayne came in. Mr. Warren asked Wayne if he knew James Arness, and Mr. Wayne said yes. Mr. Warren told Mr. Wayne about the transition of the show from radio to TV, and Mr. Wayne readily agreed that James Arness would be a terrific choice for the part of Matt Dillon. I have no reason to doubt the story, because Jimmy absolutely knew everybody."" In the end, the primary roles were all recast, with Arness taking the lead role of Marshal Matt"
"then offered to a variety of other actors, including Richard Gere, Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds, Sylvester Stallone, Harrison Ford, Don Johnson, Nick Nolte, Mel Gibson and Richard Dean Anderson, all of whom turned it down. Fast running out of options demographic data from CinemaScore helping persuade the studio, the producers and director John McTiernan to offer the role to Willis. At the time, Willis was largely known for his comedic role as detective David Addison on the television series ""Moonlighting"". Willis initially turned down the role due to his contractual commitments to ""Moonlighting"". However after his co-star Cybill Shepherd became"
"an anthology series they had done. Their boss at CBS, Harry Ackerman, and other network executives dismissed that title, preferring ""Gunsmoke"", a program heading that Ackerman himself was credited with conceiving. Once given permission to proceed with ""Gunsmoke"", Macdonnell began developing a detailed production schedule for the new series' 30-minute episodes and arranging auditions to cast its recurring characters. His and Meston’s ""Jeff Spain"" soon became United States Marshal Matt Dillon, and veteran voice actor William Conrad was chosen by Macdonnell, Meston, and two other CBS screeners to portray that lead character. Other seasoned actors soon filled the needed regular"
"refused to believe Neeson could pull off the action hero role due to him just completing ""Darkman"". Then Universal sent the ""Dragonheart"" script to actors such as Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as potential candidates to replace Neeson as Bowen, and even suggested that Whoopi Goldberg do the voice of Draco instead of Connery. With the castings of Dennis Quaid as Bowen and Dina Meyer as Kara, Johnson said Johnson also claimed that David Thewlis' performance as Einon was greatly hindered by how the scenes with Lee Oakes as young Einon were shot first, and Oakes spoke with"
"casting the lead role of Edward, several actors were considered; Fox was insistent on having Burton meet with Tom Cruise. ""He certainly wasn't my ideal, but I talked to him"", Burton remembered. ""He was interesting, but I think it worked out for the best. A lot of questions came up"". Cruise asked for a ""happier"" ending. Tom Hanks and Gary Oldman turned down the part, Hanks in favor of critical and commercial flop ""The Bonfire of the Vanities"". Oldman declined as he did not understand the story, but said of the finished film: ""Literally two minutes in, I went, 'Yeah,"
"Bounty Hunter"" and ""Battle Cry"". In 1954, he appeared as Grat Dalton in the Jim Davis syndicated Western anthology series ""Stories of the Century"" in the episode ""The Dalton Brothers"". According to Parker himself, when the Walt Disney Company was seeking an actor to play Davy Crockett, James Arness, later cast as Marshal Matt Dillon on CBS's ""Gunsmoke"", was first considered for the title role. Parker had recently graduated to being a contract weekly actor, but listened to his agent and appeared in a Warner Bros. science fiction film about giant ants called ""Them!"", which required only one day's work."
"casting difficulties. He wanted Alec Baldwin for the lead role, but Baldwin turned it down. Steve Martin and Kevin Kline were considered, though Kline turned it down for family reasons. Ramis did not agree with the casting of Tim Allen as Jason Nesmith, and Parisot took over as director within three weeks. After seeing the film, Ramis said he was ultimately impressed with Allen's performance. About his role, Allen stated that he based his performance on Yul Brynner instead of William Shatner. Linda DeScenna, production designer of the film, was interested in the project because it would not have the"
"Dundy in the NBC radio series ""The Adventures of Sam Spade"" (1949–50); boss to government special agent Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in ""The Silent Men"" (NBC 1951); and a New Orleans bartender in the NBC adventure drama ""Jason and the Golden Fleece"" (1952–53). Most prominently, Conrad's deep, resonant voice was heard in the role of Marshal Matt Dillon on CBS Radio's gritty Western series ""Gunsmoke"" (April 26, 1952 – June 18, 1961). The producers originally rejected him for the part because of his ubiquitous presence on so many radio dramas and the familiarity of his voice, but his impressive audition could"
"the project down in the wake of being offered far less compensation than Amanda Blake. Blake, meanwhile, returned to the role of Miss Kitty after having left ""Gunsmoke"" prior to the original series' 20th and final season. Subsequent TV-movies based on the series starring James Arness are """" (1990), """" (1992), """" (1993) and """" (1994). Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge is the first made-for-television western film based on the 20-year (1955–1975) television version of ""Gunsmoke"" starring James Arness. Although it is supposed to be set in the wilds of Kansas, it was filmed in Alberta, Canada."
"programs, i.e. produced outside the U.S., have been broadcast in the U.S. and contend for the position as the longest-running series. , ""Gunsmoke"" was rated fourth globally, after ""Doctor Who"" (1963–89, 2005–present), ""Taggart"" (1983–2010), and ""The Bill"" (1984–2010). James Arness and Milburn Stone portrayed their ""Gunsmoke"" characters for 20 consecutive years, a feat later matched by Kelsey Grammer as the character Frasier Crane, but over two half-hour sitcoms (""Cheers"" and ""Frasier""). George Walsh, the announcer for ""Gunsmoke"", began in 1952 on radio's ""Gunsmoke"" and continued until television's ""Gunsmoke"" was canceled in 1975. The first seven seasons were jointly sponsored by"
"Jimmy Noel Jimmy Noel (May 15, 1903–January 31, 1985) was a Massachusetts-born actor and stuntman who appeared in hundreds of largely uncredited roles in film and television between 1949 and 1975. He appeared 202 times on CBS's western series, ""Gunsmoke"", starring James Arness, and in 144 episodes of the ABC/Desilu production, ""The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp"", with Hugh O'Brian in the title role of deputy Marshal Wyatt Earp. Buddy Roosevelt made similar appearances in sixty-five ""Wyatt Earp"" episodes. On Gunsmoke, Noel also served as a stand-in and stuntman for Milburn Stone. His other multiple appearances, mainly in westerns,"
"William Conrad William Conrad (September 27, 1920 – February 11, 1994) was an American World War II fighter pilot, actor, producer, and director whose career spanned five decades in radio, film, and television, peaking in popularity when he starred in the detective series ""Cannon"" (1971–1976). A radio writer and actor, he moved to Hollywood after his World War II service and played a series of character roles in films beginning with the quintessential film noir ""The Killers"" (1946). He created the role of Marshal Matt Dillon for the popular radio series ""Gunsmoke"" (1952–1961) and narrated the television adventures of ""Rocky"
"musketeers not only protect King and country, but also each other. Gérard and his brothers are then chased off by the entire musketeer division. Charlie Sheen was originally sought for the role of Porthos before he was cast as Aramis. Kiefer Sutherland, Chris O'Donnell and Oliver Platt all endured six weeks of fencing and riding lessons. Sheen missed this training as he was still filming ""Hot Shots! Part Deux"". Brad Pitt and Stephen Dorff turned down the role of d'Artagnan, which ultimately went to O'Donnell. William Baldwin, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Cary Elwes and Gary Oldman were"
"such films as ""The Younger Brothers"" (1949, his first part), ""Ride the Man Down"" (1952), ""Pack Train"" and ""Jack McCall Desperado"" (both 1953), ""Masterson of Kansas"" and ""Battle of Rogue River"" (both 1954), and ""Quantrill's Raiders"" (1958) Jimmy Noel Jimmy Noel (May 15, 1903–January 31, 1985) was a Massachusetts-born actor and stuntman who appeared in hundreds of largely uncredited roles in film and television between 1949 and 1975. He appeared 202 times on CBS's western series, ""Gunsmoke"", starring James Arness, and in 144 episodes of the ABC/Desilu production, ""The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp"", with Hugh O'Brian in the"
"where it was greenlighted, with Jack Lemmon and James Garner to star. When Lemmon withdrew from the project, the film was shelved and has yet to be made. Subsequent novels include: ""Slow Dance in Autumn"" was translated into Japanese, and ""Final Heat"" into German and French. ""Perfect Timing"" was optioned for film by director Ron Howard and was a Literary Guild selection. Actress Meg Ryan optioned an unpublished novel of Williams's for her Prufrock Films Production Company as well. ""A Distant Flame"" is perhaps Williams’s most notable book to date and won the 2004 Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in"
"Reynolds was cast, beating over 300 other contenders. Reynolds announced he would stay on the show ""until it ends. I think it's a terrible mistake for an actor to leave a series in the middle of it"". Reynolds left ""Gunsmoke"" in 1965. He later said the show was ""the happiest period of my life. I hated to leave that show but I felt I had served my apprenticeship and there wasn't room for two leading men."" He was cast in his first lead role in a film, the low budget action film ""Operation CIA"" (1965). He guest starred on ""Flipper"","
"of Gunsmoke actor James Arness and nephew of Mission Impossible actor Peter Graves. In the decade following his World Surfing Championship win Aurness fell out of surfing as his wife, mother and sister all died. His wife died in 1978 from cancer, his mother Virginia (née Chapman) died in 1976,and his sister Jenny Lee Aurness committed suicide on May 12, 1975. His half-brother Craig founded the stock photography agency Westlight and also was a photographer for ""National Geographic"". His father, well known Western and Gunsmoke television show actor James Arness, died on June 3, 2011. Rolf Aurness Rolf Aurness was"
"turned into a major star, and pulled out of the project. Elliott Gould agreed to play the lead instead, but then Gosbard dropped out to make a film. Faye Dunaway agreed to co-star, and Mark Rydell expressed interest in directing. However Rydell wanted another writer to work on the project, which Goldman objected to and the film did not proceed. A year later Stanley Donen expressed enthusiasm for the script and succeeded in getting interest from Robert Evans at Paramount. Mia Farrow was signed to play the female lead, but Evans was not happy with the male lead, despite James"