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List of Gunsmoke cast members

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Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television.

The radio series ran from 1952 to 1961. John Dunning wrote that, among radio drama enthusiasts, "Gunsmoke is routinely placed among the best shows of any kind and any time."[1] It ran unsponsored for its first few years, with CBS funding its production.

In 1955, the series was adapted for television and ran for 20 seasons. It ran for half-hour episodes from 1955 to 1961, and one-hour episodes from 1961 to 1975.[2] A total of 635 episodes were aired over its 20 year run.

Radio cast

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Regulars

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Recurring

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While the radio series had relatively few recurring supporting characters, and those roles were often shared, the following actors played recurring roles with comparative consistency, in addition to a variety of one-time roles

Guest stars

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Many actors appeared regularly on Gunsmoke, in the majority of episodes, but in a variety of one-shot roles; others were only heard once or twice[1]

TV cast

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Main cast

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Character Actress / Actor[4] Seasons
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Matt Dillon James Arness Main
Kitty Russell Amanda Blake Main
Doc Galen Adams Milburn Stone[5] Main
Chester Goode Dennis Weaver Main
Sam Noonan Glenn Strange[6] Main
Quint Asper Burt Reynolds Main
Festus Haggen Ken Curtis Main
Thaddeus Greenwood Roger Ewing[7] Main
Newly O'Brien Buck Taylor[8] Main

Recurring characters

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Character Actress / Actor Seasons
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Howie (hotel clerk) Howard Culver[4] Recurring Recurring
Mr. Jonas Dabbs Greer Recurring Recurring Guest Guest
Moss Grimmick (livery owner) George Selk Recurring
Jim Buck (townsman) Robert Brubaker[9] Recurring
Rudy (townsman) Rudy Sooter[10] Recurring
Louie Pheeters (town drunk) James Nusser[11] Recurring Guest
Hank Miller (livery manager) Hank Patterson[4] Recurring Recurring
Ma Smalley (boarding house owner) Sarah Selby[4] Recurring Recurring Recurring
Mr. Bodkin (bank manager) Roy Roberts[12] Recurring Recurring Recurring
Nathan Burke (freight office manager) Ted Jordan[4] Recurring Recurring Recurring Recurring
Mr. Lathrop Woodrow Chambliss[4] Recurring
Barney (telegrapher) Charles Seel[4] Recurring
Ed Halligan (townsman) Charles Wagenheim[4] Recurring Recurring
Percy Crump (undertaker) Kelton Garwood[11] Recurring Recurring
Ed O'Connor Tom Brown[4] Recurring Recurring
Bull (bartender) Victor Izay[11] Recurring
Judge Brooker Herb Vigran[11] Recurring
Dr. John Chapman Pat Hingle[13] Recurring
Floyd (bartender) Robert Brubaker[9] Recurring
Hannah Fran Ryan[4] Recurring

Guest stars

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Award winners and nominees

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During its twenty year run, Gunsmoke's guest stars included numerous established award winning actors. Among them were several Academy Award winners, including Jack Albertson, Ed Begley, Ellen Burstyn, Bette Davis, Eileen Heckart, Kim Hunter, Ben Johnson, George Kennedy, Cloris Leachman, and Mercedes McCambridge.[14]

Other guest stars were Academy Award nominees, including Jean Arthur, Lew Ayres, Ralph Bellamy, Theodore Bikel, Beulah Bondi, Dyan Cannon, Lynn Carlin, Jack Cassidy, Stanley Clements, Lee J. Cobb, Ellen Corby, Nina Foch, Vincent Gardenia, Thomas Gomez, Arthur Hunnicutt, John Ireland, Richard Jaeckel, John Kerr, John Marley, Ron Moody, J. Carroll Naish, Nancy Olson, Katharine Ross, Alfred Ryder, Cicely Tyson, Jon Voight, James Whitmore, and Chill Wills.[15]

Emmy award winning guest stars included Jack Albertson, Ed Asner, Ellen Corby, James Daly, Cloris Leachman, Michael Learned, Kathleen Nolan,[16] Caroll O'Connor, Milburn Stone, and Frank Sutton. Tony award winning guest stars included Ed Begley, Ralph Bellamy, Ellen Burstyn, Vincent Gardenia, Richard Kiley,[17] David Wayne, and Fritz Weaver.[18]

Other series stars

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Several guest stars on Gunsmoke went on later to star in their own Westerns.[19]

Badmen

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Gunsmoke's guest stars often included actors known for playing Western badmen, or "heavies".[21] Some of these were actors from A or B Westerns, others were aging stuntmen.[21] Some of the heavies that guest starred on Gunsmoke were among the following:[22]

Other guest stars[a]

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References

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  1. ^ Unless noted otherwise, all listed guest cast is verified by Lentz (1996): Western and Frontier Film and Television Credits 1903-1995, pp 1601-1623.[28]
  1. ^ a b c Dunning 1998, p. 302.
  2. ^ Brooks & Marsh 1988, pp. 316–317.
  3. ^ Dunning 1998, pp. 302, 305.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Brooks & Marsh 1988, p. 316.
  5. ^ Yoggy 1995, p. 103.
  6. ^ Magers, Nareau & Copeland 2005, pp. 280–282.
  7. ^ a b Yoggy 1995, p. 121.
  8. ^ a b Yoggy 1995, p. 122.
  9. ^ a b Aaker 2017, p. 1846.
  10. ^ Lentz 1997, pp. 181, 183–184.
  11. ^ a b c d Schuster 1989, p. 25.
  12. ^ Brooks & Marsh 1988, p. 316; Magers, Nareau & Copeland 2005, p. 337.
  13. ^ Yoggy 1995, p. 107.
  14. ^ Schuster 1989, p. 23.
  15. ^ Schuster 1989, p. 32.
  16. ^ Marill 2011, p. 87.
  17. ^ Yoggy 1995, p. 112.
  18. ^ Schuster 1989, p. 3.
  19. ^ a b Yoggy 1995, p. 125.
  20. ^ Magers, Nareau & Copeland 2005, pp. 110–111; Yoggy 1995, p. 125.
  21. ^ a b Magers, Nareau & Copeland 2005, p. 18.
  22. ^ Magers, Nareau & Copeland 2005, pp. 26–317.
  23. ^ a b c d Hampes 2019, p. 132.
  24. ^ a b c d e Hampes 2019, p. 31.
  25. ^ a b c d Hampes 2019, p. 89.
  26. ^ a b c Hampes 2019, p. 32.
  27. ^ Hampes 2019, pp. 30, 80, 132.
  28. ^ Lentz 1996, pp. 1601–1623.
  29. ^ a b c d Hampes 2019, p. 74.
  30. ^ Lentz 1997, p. 186.
  31. ^ a b c Hampes 2019, p. 80.
  32. ^ Fitzgerald & Magers 2006, p. 35.
  33. ^ Hampes 2019, p. 36.
  34. ^ Freese 2014, p. 55.
  35. ^ Hampes 2019, pp. 80, 105.
  36. ^ Fitzgerald & Magers 2006, p. 64.
  37. ^ Lentz 1997, p. 190.
  38. ^ Hampes 2019, p. 30.
  39. ^ a b c Hampes 2019, p. 105.
  40. ^ Ward 1993, p. 267.
  41. ^ Hampes 2019, p. 183.
  42. ^ Fitzgerald & Magers 2006, p. 140.
  43. ^ a b Hampes 2019, p. 94.
  44. ^ Fitzgerald & Magers 2006, p. 185.
  45. ^ Lentz 1997, p. 180.
  46. ^ Marill 2011, p. 50; Hampes 2019, p. 105.
  47. ^ Fitzgerald & Magers 2006, pp. 203–204.
  48. ^ Fitzgerald & Magers 2006, pp. 213, 217.
  49. ^ Lentz 1997, p. 185.
  50. ^ Fitzgerald & Magers 2006, p. 258.
  51. ^ Hampes 2019, pp. 35, 118, 132.
  52. ^ Lentz 1997, p. 178.
  53. ^ Lentz 1997, p. 193.
  54. ^ Lentz 1997, p. 166.
  55. ^ Fitzgerald & Magers 2006, p. 311.

Sources

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Gunsmoke at epguides.com

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