![]() His brother visited him there and suggested that he might look into radio announcing as a post-military career choice. However, the injuries he suffered to his leg and foot would plague him for the rest of his life, and at times, require him to shoot any scenes that required him to walk for extended periods at the beginning of the day.Īfter several surgeries, he was honorably discharged and sent to recuperate in a stateside hospital in Iowa. There, he participated in the invasion of Anzio, and was severely wounded in action, which earned him the Purple Heart and Bronze Star, among other medals. Training at Georgia's Camp Wheeler preceded his deployment to North Africa as part of the 3rd Infantry Division. He labored at various jobs before trying his hand at college, but made it through through only one semester at Beloit College before receiving his draft notice. Arness took little interest in formal education, having set his sights on a career at sea, thereby not surprisingly struggling through high school before graduating in 1942. His younger brother would later assume a family name from his mother's side and find fame as Peter Graves, the star of "Mission: Impossible" (CBS, 1967-1973) and numerous films like "Airplane" (1980). The enduring popularity of "Gunsmoke" in reruns assured Arness that he would continue to ride the range in viewers' imaginations forever.īorn James King Aurness in Minneapolis, MN on May 26, 1923, he was the eldest son of medical supply salesman Rolf Aurness (whose original surname, Aursnes, was changed after immigrating to the United States from Norway) and Ruth Duesler, a newspaper columnist. After its cancellation, the actor appeared in several subsequent Western-themed series, but returned to Dodge City as Dillon for a string of reunion TV movies in the early 1990s. John Wayne took an interest in Arness and helped him to land the role on "Gunsmoke," which would dominate the majority of his career for 20 years. Prior to the show's launch, Arness was a World War II hero-turned-actor who struggled to find substantive roles, largely due to his towering height the best of these was as the title monster in "The Thing from Another World" (1951). Arguably one of the most famous television performers of the 1950s through the 1970s, James Arness played the law-abiding Marshal Matt Dillon on "Gunsmoke" (CBS, 1955-1975), the longest-running drama in television history.
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