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