James Arness, the 6-foot-6 actor who towered over the television landscape for two decades as righteous Dodge City lawman Matt Dillon in "Gunsmoke," died Friday. He was 88.
The actor died in his sleep at his home in Brentwood, Calif., according to his business manager, Ginny Fazer.
Arness' official website posted a letter from Arness 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."
The actor was 32 when friend John Wayne declined the lead role in "Gunsmoke" and recommended Arness instead. Afraid of being typecast, Arness initially rejected it.
"Go ahead and take it, Jim," Wayne urged him. "You're too big for pictures. Guys like Gregory Peck and I don't want a big lug like you towering over us. Make your mark in television."
"Gunsmoke" went on to become the longest-running dramatic series in network history until NBC's "Law & Order" tied in 2010. Arness' 20-year prime-time run as the marshal was tied only in recent times, by Kelsey Grammer's 20 years as Frasier Crane from 1984 to 2004 on "Cheers" and then on "Frasier."
I grew up with Gunsmoke running forever.
For more about his life click here.
Wow. Sad news. I spent several weeks with Jim Arness on the RED RIVER remake I produced and acted in for NBC in 1988. A sweet man and a wonderful actor. He was a surfer, too, which we really connected on. Surfed the west side of Oahu (Makaha) with Buffalo Keaulana and lots of the early "west-side crew" in the 40's, 50's and 60's. We talked about it all the time on the set in Arizona. He loved the ocean...had a home on Hollister Ranch up near Santa Barbara. And his son Rolf was the world surfing champ in 1970, which Jim was very proud of. Jim had been seriously wounded in WW2 (the Anzio invasion, awarded lots of medals) and his leg injuries were beginning to haunt him. By the time we did our western in '88, his legs were so bad he couldn't even get on or off a horse anymore, or do any physically demanding stuff other than walk tall and draw a mean gun (which he did with great panache). But man, what a pro and a gentleman. I was so lucky to have the opportunity to get to know him a bit.
ReplyDeleteWow Greg. How great to have that experience. And who knew he was a surfer? Very cool to know. It is easy to imagine that he would have a lot of professionalism in his work ethic. Thanks for sharing.
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