Actor James Arness died 3 June 2011. Born James King Aurness 26 May 1923 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he will be remembered as Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke. He played the role from 1955 to 1975, and was nominated for three Emmys for it, in 1957, 1958, and 1959. The US Marshal’s Service named him an honorary marshal “in recognition of his unique contribution to the image and traditions of the US Marshal’s Service”.
Arness received the bronze star and purple heart for his service during World War II (that wound made mounting horses painful for the rest of his life), and after the war, he worked menial jobs and tried radio. He was collecting veterans’ benefits when he drifted to Hollywood, where he met and became friends with John Wayne. The two appeared in thirty movies together before Wayne rejected the Gunsmoke role and recommended Arness.
In addition to his career in westerns, he made several early genre appearances, including: Them! (1954), The Thing from Another World (1951), and Two Lost Worlds (1951).
His last appearances came in a series of Gunsmoke movies in the early 1990s.
Arness was married twice, first to Virginia Chapman from 1948 until their divorce in 1963; they had three children together. In 1978, he married Janet Surtrees.
His younger brother, actor Peter Graves, died last year (see this obituary).