June 4, 201115 yr Active Members For all of the TV watchers here, sad news indeed. James Arness, gunslinger and sheriff, has died. Arness, who never was able to ride a horse, was the sheriff of Dodge City, along with his sidekick, Chester (Dennis Weaver.) In addition to playing the sheriff for 20 ears, Arness made some 50 films, mostly westerns. Why there was hardly a day when a western wasn't popular on TV back in the day. Arness was the older brother of Peter Graves, who starred for years on the TV show Mission Impossible and appeared in many movies himself,including the Airplane movies. The younger brother died in March, 2010, so it shows that the mission was impossible- you had to be a sheriff!
June 4, 201115 yr Active Members Very sorry to see Mr. Arness go but I have to think he did very well for himself. DDC aka Dodge City, KS is still a very small town and not likely to be very lawless; it also is not likely to have the many "dramatic" episodes now or even then that the series portrayed. Never mind, I enjoyed them all. Don't forget Mr. Arness was "The Thing" in a movie of the same name. Best regards, RA1
June 4, 201115 yr Active Members I was surprised to hear he had died on Friday. I thought he had passed quite some time ago. I did enjoy the Gunsmoke series and thought he did a fantastic job. Just an FYI, his co-star Amanda Blake (Miss Kitty) died of AIDS in the late '80s or early '90s. I understand Arness was very supportive and kind to her during the illness.
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