Fully retired to his ranch in 1975 after the show's cancellation, he was eventually awarded an honorary doctorate from St. Mary of the Plains College in (of course) Dodge City, Kansas. Married to Jane Garrison, the 75-year-old veteran died of a heart attack on June 12, 1980 in La Jolla, California.
Stone continued playing the Doc Adams character until the show was canceled after season 20. Stone passed away in 1980 after another heart attack. Of course, Stone did not participate in any of the Gunsmoke reunion movies, because they were filmed long after Stone's death.
Doc asked Dr. Chapman (played by Pat Hingle) to replace him in Dodge while he (Doc) was away. The real reason Milburn Stone was absent was that he had heart bypass surgery during the offseason and was still recovering. Stone fell ill shortly after shooting was complete for season 16 of Gunsmoke.
Stone was a “Gunsmoke” cast member from 1955 through 1972 and retired from the show because of poor health. In 1968, Stone received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Drama for his work on “Gunsmoke.”
Gunsmoke made Ken Curtis' Festus Haggen a series regular to replace Dennis Weaver's beloved Chester Goode after he left to pursue other acting opportunities. However, Curtis refused to return for the first made-for-tv Gunsmoke movie after its 20-season run because of a couple of serious disagreements with a producer.
GUNSMOKE (1955–1975) Cast THEN AND NOW 2023 Who Else Survives After 68 Years?
Did the cast of Gunsmoke get along in real life?
The cast of Gunsmoke was able to get pretty chummy with each other during the show's twenty-season run, to the point where they felt like a family. Leading this cast of Western stars was James Arness, a man who was— apparently— as tall as he was kind.
A list of Gunsmoke cast members in order of how many episodes they appeared in would start predictably enough. James Arness, who lead the series as Marshall Matt Dillon, was in all 635 episodes.
Longtime Gunsmoke viewers know that Doc killed a few people during the twenty-year history of the series. While Doc's reaction to Myles Brandell shooting his horse is surprising, it is justified under the circumstances. It does not make sense that anyone would think Doc should be prosecuted.
Between 1963 and 1967, the ratings for Gunsmoke had declined to the point where the show fell outside the Top 30 in the Nielsen ratings. The decision to cancel Gunsmoke was initiated by a younger core of CBS executives, who felt that Gunsmoke was outdated and should be replaced with a more contemporary show.
Some Gunsmoke actors still living and working today include Roger Ewing, Buck Taylor, Kim Darby, and William Shatner. William Shatner, known for Star Trek, made a memorable appearance on Gunsmoke as Fred Bateman in a single episode.
Amanda Blake chose to leave Gunsmoke voluntarily. She was a heavy smoker and had surgery for cancer in 1977. She also lived in Phoenix and commuted those 19 years to Los Angeles for the production. With her declining health, the commute became difficult.
The television series of Gunsmoke ran from 1955 to 1975 and is said to be one of the longest running prime-time shows on television. There were 635 episodes and many of the outdoor scenes for this show were shot in Johnson Canyon near Kanab, Utah.
Although he was only in 50 episodes and joined mid-season, Reynolds didn't feel like an outsider. In fact, while he was there, he and the cast became great friends. "He was a wonderful guy to work with, and we all became friends," Arness said. "He just fit right in with the family group, and we had a wonderful time.
' ” Arness, who remained close to Weaver after he left the series, praised him as a “really fine actor.” “We really liked each other a whole lot,” Arness said.
But the changing of the guard really happened in the Season 9 episode titled "The Prairie Wolfer," where Chester and Festus actually appear together. In fact, this particular episode had appearances from Matt, Kitty, Doc, Chester, Festus, Sam and Quint.
Who turned down the role of Miss Kitty on Gunsmoke?
But that was the reasoning behind Polly Bond's decision to refuse the part of Miss Kitty on Gunsmoke. The former Polly Ellis had recently married Tommy Bond, a former child actor most famous for playing "Butch" on The Little Rascals.
A: Matt Dillon (James Arness) and Kitty (Amanda Blake) never married during the series 1955-75 run, although close watchers of the show were convinced they had connected at some time. But in a 1973 episode, Matt had a brief affair with another woman, Mike Yardner (Michael Learned), while he had amnesia.
What was the relationship between James Arness and Peter Graves?
James Arness and his family were Methodists. Arness' younger brother was actor Peter Graves. Peter used the stage name "Graves", a maternal family name. Arness attended John Burroughs Grade School, Washburn High School, and West High School in Minneapolis.
