dagblog - Comments for "James Arness is dead!"

Both were in and out of TV

Beetlejuice — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 08:58:53 +0000

Both were in and out of TV series and movies since the late 40's and early 50's. No way to miss either of them. Both are pretty much TV and cinema icons for us baby boomers.

Captain Over - what ? Roger -

cmaukonen — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 02:00:36 +0000

In reply to Interesting to note, his

Captain Over - what ? Roger - what ? What's a vector Vector.

I used to watch him on Fury,

Donal — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 01:58:37 +0000

In reply to Interesting to note, his

I used to watch him on Fury, a boy-meets-horse show.

Interesting to note, his

Beetlejuice — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 01:54:47 +0000

In reply to James Arness is dead!

Interesting to note, his brother Peter Graves [TV series - Mission Impossible] died in March 2010.

I often catch Gunsmoke on the

Donal — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 01:16:53 +0000

In reply to I remember my parents

I often catch Gunsmoke on the radio during my Sunday evening drives back to Baltimore. Also Johnny Dollar and Dragnet.

I remember my parents

cmaukonen — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 01:00:07 +0000

In reply to James Arness is dead!

I remember my parents listening to Gunsmoke on the radio. Marshal Matt Dillon was played by William Conrad on the radio series.

The radio series aired from April 26, 1952 ("Billy the Kid," written by Walter Newman) until June 18, 1961 on CBS. It starred William Conrad as Marshal Matt Dillon; Howard McNear as Doc Charles Adams; Georgia Ellis as Kitty Russell; and Parley Baer as Dillon's assistant Chester Proudfoot.

Conrad was one of the last actors who auditioned for the role of Marshal Dillon. With a powerful, distinctive voice, Conrad was already one of radio's busiest actors. Though Meston championed him, MacDonnell thought Conrad might be overexposed. During his audition, however, Conrad won over MacDonnell after reading only a few lines. Dillon as portrayed by Conrad was a lonely, isolated man, toughened by a hard life. MacDonnell later claimed "Much of Matt Dillon's character grew out of Bill Conrad." ^[4]

Meston relished the upending of cherished Western fiction clichés and felt that few Westerns gave any inkling of how brutal the Old West was in reality. Dunning writes that Meston was especially disgusted by the archetypal Western hero and set out "to destroy [that type of] character he loathed." In Meston's view, "Dillon was almost as scarred as the homicidal psychopaths who drifted into Dodge from all directions."^[5]

Chester's character had no surname until Baer ad libbed "Proudfoot" during an early rehearsal. The amiable character was usually described as Dillon's "assistant," but the December 13, 1952 episode "Post Martin," Dillon described Chester as Dillon's deputy. The TV series changed Chester's last name to Goode.

I wrote about the Killer with

Richard Day — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 00:30:48 +0000

In reply to I wondered about that. Just

I wrote about the Killer with Barth I think!

My hero.

Great swingers were from other places but I got to see the Killer compete with Maris and Mantle. I was there!

fifty cents admission for youngins as I recall and I would lead two of my brothers through this abondoned plane and we would have to stop to remove the stickers.

And for a quarter we could buy an ice cream!

we lost to the Yankees of course, which is kind of a ritual in this state anyway. hahahahah

But James Arness...my hero.

Of course it ends up that one of his best friends was Wayne and he was religious in terms of Minnesota religious.

But he was my hero and like most of my heroes, he is gone!

Alas!

I wondered about that. Just

quinn esq — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 00:21:24 +0000

In reply to James Arness is dead!

I wondered about that. Just yesterday.

A sad day. First Killebrew, not Arness.