James Arness Almost Passed on ‘Gunsmoke’ … Until John Wayne Changed His Mind
Imagine a world where James Arness did not star in the iconic Western series Gunsmoke as Marshal Matt Dillon. Turns out, that’s almost what happened — until Arness got a push from none other than the Duke himself, John Wayne. At the time, Arness was focused on a film role and Gunsmoke wasn’t even on his radar until the phone rang.
“They started calling me,” Arness recalled in an interview with Emmy Legends. “I had heard that they were going to do this television show out of Gunsmoke. I had heard it on the radio many times … and I’d read about the fact that they were going to do this as a really big prestige type of show.”
Still, nobody had called him directly to audition, and he was already committed to a film project. The film director Eddie Ludwig was impressed with Arness’ performance and thought he had real momentum in movies.
Lee Green/TV Guide/Everett Collection
When the call finally came from Gunsmoke asking how quickly he could appear for a screen test, Arness wasn’t sure what to do. Ludwig warned him, saying, “You’re doing pretty well right now in the movies … if you get stuck in a television series like this western thing and if it goes a couple of seasons and then dies, you’ll be in bad trouble in the movies.” Arness respected Ludwig’s experience, so he turned the offer down.
Everett Collection
That could have been the end of it, but Wayne had other ideas. Arness was under contract to him, and Wayne personally called him in. “He said, look, you’d be crazy not to take this thing,” Arness remembered. Wayne explained that the situation reminded him of his own early days, acting in Saturday afternoon serials. “You will really learn your craft if you get in there,” the Duke told him, and added, “You’ll learn a whole lot about acting in front of a camera and doing stunt work.”
Wayne’s encouragement changed everything. Arness trusted him, and that trust led him to take on the role of Marshal Matt Dillon. What started as a hesitant maybe turned into a 20-year run on one of the most iconic TV westerns of all time. Watch the entire interview below:
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TV Westerns of the 50's & 60's
September 2021
’50s and ’60s TV Westerns roundup, celebrating the shows and stars of their golden age.
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