'Gunsmoke': How Did James Arness Die? (2024)

FAQs

What was the cause of death for James Arness? ›

Arness died from natural causes at the age of 88 years at his Brentwood home in Los Angeles on June 3, 2011.

The cast of Gunsmoke was able to get pretty chummy with each other during the show's twenty-season run, to the point where they felt like a family. Leading this cast of Western stars was James Arness, a man who was— apparently— as tall as he was kind.

I've got to know him real good, later, and a great friendship." The last thing he was asked if Jim had a great memory; "That's true, he had a photographic memory and he wouldn't read a script, to come in - on the 1st Day of filming for Matt Dillon; and the director would say, 'Tell 'em the story, you know, bad guys ...

In this role, as in others, James Arness is shown with his natural colored hair, blonde. Later, he had to dye his natural blond hair since dark hair was considered more masculine, especially for the role of Matt Dillon in Gunsmoke.

Amanda Blake, who played Miss Kitty, grew tired of commuting from her Phoenix home to Hollywood and quit the show in 1974. –that`s a nasty thing for me to say, but it`s true,” she said, grinning. Blake went on to live through her own personal drama.

Gunsmoke made Ken Curtis' Festus Haggen a series regular to replace Dennis Weaver's beloved Chester Goode after he left to pursue other acting opportunities. However, Curtis refused to return for the first made-for-tv Gunsmoke movie after its 20-season run because of a couple of serious disagreements with a producer.

' ” Arness, who remained close to Weaver after he left the series, praised him as a “really fine actor.” “We really liked each other a whole lot,” Arness said.

The cast of Gunsmoke grew so close to one another that at times, they seemed more family than friends. However, two actors on set, Milburn Stone and James Arness, unfortunately, got off on the wrong foot when they first met.

James Arness was the quiet type while he was away from his character, Marshal Matt Dillon. His Gunsmoke character was known for his strong moral code, sense of justice, and fairness, but off-screen Arness was known to limit personal appearances and interviews.

Did James Arness ever get married in real life? ›

Following the aforementioned "Gunsmoke" TV movies (the last in 1994, when Arness was 71), Arness basically retired. His marriage to Virginia Chapman ended in divorce in 1960. They had three children, one of whom, Jenny Lee, committed suicide in 1975. Arness subsequently married Janet Surtrees in 1978.

Unlike many television stars, Arness never took on too many characteristics of his most famous role, nor did Dillon become more like the actor. "As for the issue of the onscreen personality and the real person, there's no comparison, no way. I couldn't hold down the job of a U.S. Marshal for a week.

According to an article on television westerns in "Time" magazine (3/30/59), Arness stood 6' 7", weighed 235 lbs, and had chest-waist-hips measurements of 48-36-36.

His elder brother was actor James Arness. Graves also played airline pilot Captain Clarence Oveur in the 1980 comedy film Airplane! and its 1982 sequel Airplane II: The Sequel.

A: Matt Dillon (James Arness) and Kitty (Amanda Blake) never married during the series 1955-75 run, although close watchers of the show were convinced they had connected at some time. But in a 1973 episode, Matt had a brief affair with another woman, Mike Yardner (Michael Learned), while he had amnesia.

Anzio would later be called one of the longest protracted battles of the war. During a moonless night on February 1, 1944, Arness was creeping through a vineyard toward the enemy, when he heard voices and a scream. Soon a devastating battle began and he took on repeated machine gun fire, that splintered his lower leg.