Less than a full year after his brother and fellow TV icon, Peter Graves, had passed away, comes word that James Arness has passed on as a result of heart failure at 88.
Arness is best known, of course, as Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke (1955-75), perhaps the most definitive role in a long film & television career. Arness was recommended to CBS by no less than John Wayne, who had turned down the role of Dillon. Wayne & Arness had worked together on some movies, including "Hondo". To most fans, Arness' best known movie roles were in the sci-fi thrillers, "Them!" & the original "The Thing".
Following Gunsmoke, Arness stepped into another western character, this time as Zeb Macahan, starting with a 1976 ABC TV-movie, "The Macahans", which led to the series version of How The West Was Won. Arness' final series gig saw him wearing a badge again, this time in modern times, in 1981's McClain's Law for NBC. Arness returned to Dodge City in a series of Gunsmoke TV-movies during the 90's.
Following is the intro clip from the first episode of Gunsmoke, in which "The Duke" gives his endorsement to his good friend, James Arness:
Now, they're reunited in Heaven. Rest in peace, James.
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