Gunsmoke Tv Series Wiki (2024)

FAQs

Why did Festus quit Gunsmoke? ›

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.

Between 1963 and 1967, the ratings for Gunsmoke had declined to the point where the show fell outside the Top 30 in the Nielsen ratings. The decision to cancel Gunsmoke was initiated by a younger core of CBS executives, who felt that Gunsmoke was outdated and should be replaced with a more contemporary show.

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.

Nineteen years of encouraging the good works of Marshal Matt Dillon on the TV show ”Gunsmoke,” and never even a kiss from the hero. Amanda Blake, who played Miss Kitty, grew tired of commuting from her Phoenix home to Hollywood and quit the show in 1974.

Reynolds left Gunsmoke to pursue a career in movies, which ultimately led him to become an iconic movie star.

Fully retired to his ranch in 1975 after the show's cancellation, he was eventually awarded an honorary doctorate from St. Mary of the Plains College in (of course) Dodge City, Kansas. Married to Jane Garrison, the 75-year-old veteran died of a heart attack on June 12, 1980 in La Jolla, California.

Ken Curtis, a singer and actor who played the scruffy deputy Festus on the television series "Gunsmoke," died in his sleep on Sunday at his home. He was 74 years old. His death was attributed to natural causes, said A. C. Lyle, a producer at Paramount Studios.

He stayed with Gunsmoke through its entire television run, with the exception of 7 episodes in 1971, when Stone required heart surgery and Pat Hingle replaced him as Dr. Chapman.

Matt Dillon resigned his position at least three times over the course of the series. Once because he was upset that he mistakenly killed a man he thought was trying to shoot him. The second was when he was angry and wanted the freedom to kill a man that had brutally attacked Kitty Russell. This is the third.

Greenland, Stone explained that when he first began working with Arness, he was annoyed by him. Stone, best known for his role as Doc Adams, recalled, "I felt he did not belong in the business at all." He remembered one specific instance in which he snapped at the actor.

Did the cast of Gunsmoke get along in real life? ›

The Gunsmoke cast was just as close off-screen as they were on, to the point that when one of them got into an argument, the others immediately took their side, forming a united front.

After Gunsmoke ended, Arness performed in Western-themed movies and television series, including How the West Was Won, and in five made-for-television Gunsmoke movies between 1987 and 1994. An exception was as a big-city police officer in a short-lived 1981–1982 series, McClain's Law, starring with Marshall Colt.

Final episode and last screen role for Glenn Strange (Sam), who died shortly after filming of lung cancer.

For nearly 20 years, Blake played Miss Kitty Russell on the popular Western TV series Gunsmoke. Although when she died in August 1989, the media initially reported that she died of cancer, the cause of death was later confirmed to be AIDS-related complications. It is not known how she contracted the virus.

' ” 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.

In an interview with the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Weaver confessed that he had decided to leave the series because he felt that the character had run its course. Specifically, he said, "After almost ten years, I want to walk without a limp."

But the changing of the guard really happened in the Season 9 episode titled "The Prairie Wolfer," where Chester and Festus actually appear together. In fact, this particular episode had appearances from Matt, Kitty, Doc, Chester, Festus, Sam and Quint.