James Arness as Marshal Matt Dillon
Gunsmoke
James Arness as Marshal Matt Dillon
"Good evening. My name's Wayne. Some of you may have seen me before. I hope so. I've been kicking around Hollywood a long time. I've made a lot of pictures out here. All kinds. Some of them have been westerns and that's what I'm here to tell you about tonight. A western. A new television show called Gunsmoke. When I first heard about the show Gunsmoke, I knew there was only one man to play in it. James Arness. He's a young fellow, and maybe new to some of you. But I've worked with him and I predict he'll be a big star. And now I'm proud to present Gunsmoke."
Thus, John Wayne introduced the premiere episode of GUNSMOKE.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
JAMES ARNESS........................Matt
Dillon
MILBURN STONE.....................Galen "Doc" Adams
AMANDA BLAKE....................."Miss" Kitty Russell (1955-1974)
DENNIS WEAVER....................Chester Goode (1955-1964)
KEN CURTIS.............................Festus Haggen (1964-1975)
BURT REYNOLDS....................Quint Asper (1962-1965)
ROGER EWING.........................Clayton Thaddeus "Thad" Greenwood
(1965-1967)
BUCK TAYLOR.........................Newly O'Brien (1967-1975)
Gunsmoke was broadcast on the
CBS Television Network
Premiere Episode: Sept. 10, 1955 [Matt Gets It]
Last First Run Broadcast: March 31, 1975 [The Sharecroppers]
Last CBS Broadcast: Sept. 1, 1975 [The Busters (rerun)]
Gunsmoke Cast Left - Right
Buck Taylor: Newly O-Brien
Milburn Stone: "Doc" Adams
Glen Strange: Sam, the bartender
Amanda Blake: Miss Kitty
James Arness: Matt Dillon
Ken Curtis: Festus Hagen
Gunsmoke was on TV for 20 seasons,
from 1955 to 1975.
There were 633 total television episodes: 233 half-hour episodes (1955-1960) and
400 hour long episodes (1961-1975). The first 11 seasons were filmed in
black and white, the last 9 seasons were filmed in color. Gunsmoke was
actually canceled at the end of the 15th season. People were so outraged (it was
even mentioned in Congress) that CBS brought it back.
The only spin-off from Gunsmoke was Dirty Sally, based on the character Sally
Fergus from the two-part Gunsmoke episode "Pike." The TV show
Dirty Sally ran from January 11, 1974 to July 19, 1974. Jeanette Nolan played
the role of Sally all three times.
Sally's mule was named
"Worthless."
The name of Festus' mule was Ruth.
(Text and photos by Sandy Sturdivant)