James Arness’ ‘Gunsmoke’ Costars Reveal the Pranks He Pulled on Set

Lauren Novak October 1, 12:00 pm

GUNSMOKE, James Arness, c. 1950s — Everett Collection

James Arness had a sense of humor that Gunsmoke fans didn’t always get to see. He played Marshal Matt Dillon on the CBS Western from 1955 to 1975, and his fellow actors remembered how much he liked to joke around at work.

One prank involved the show’s opening gunfight. Reportedly, they had rehearsed the scene with Dillon winning the duel and the other gunman falling. However, when the cameras rolled, Arness changed it. After the two men fired, he threw himself backward and landed in the dust, pretending he had been killed.

He had an ice cream trick

GUNSMOKE, (from left): James Arness, Amanda Blake, Ken Curtis, Milburn Stone, 1955-75.

Everett Collection

Buck Taylor, who joined Gunsmoke as Newly O’Brien in 1967, also struggled to keep a straight face around Arness. In a 2023 interview with Mark Randall for the DeSoto Times-Tribune, Taylor recalled a trick his costar would pull while the camera was pointed at him.

“He played tricks on me,” Taylor said to the outlet. “The camera would be on me for a close-up. The director would say ‘Action.’ And Jim would, from behind his back, take an ice cream bar and start eating it in front of me. I’d have to be serious and say something like, ‘Marshal, there’s a fight in the Long Branch!’ And he’s there eating an ice cream. He made me laugh so much.”

Taylor had initially been intimidated by Arness. He remembered walking onto the Long Branch set and seeing the cast in character, but said Arness helped make it a good place for actors to work. Taylor also said he learned a lot from him.

Milburn Stone, who played Doc Adams, hadn’t always appreciated Arness’s behavior. He recalled being frustrated early on with Arness showing up late, not knowing his lines, and making funny noises with his guns. Stone described giving Arness a 15-minute dressing-down. He expected his co-star to lose his temper, but Arness looked him in the eye and said, “You’re absolutely right.” Then he walked away.

His co-stars were very fond of him

Everett Collection

Guest star Tommy Kirk, best remembered from Old Yeller, remembered that side of Arness, too. Kirk appeared in the 1956 episode “Cow Doctor,” and spoke about the experience in an interview published by Ticklish Business in 2022. He recalled that people on set had to tell Arness to settle down. “He was always kidding, always joking,” Kirk said. “He was like a big kid. He made me laugh. I liked him a lot.”

Another guest star, Joe Don Baker, was struck by how quickly Arness could get serious when it was time to work. In a 2011 interview with writer Henry C. Parke, Baker explained that he came from New York, where he was used to actors taking time to prepare before a scene.

Arness would still be talking and telling jokes as the crew got ready to film. As soon as someone called action, he was ready. “In a fraction of a second, he’d be from telling jokes to doing Matt Dillon,” Baker said. Baker also remembered Arness’s routine with the prop man. After a scene, Arness would unbuckle his gun belt and let it drop, and the prop man would be right behind him to reach over and catch it.