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Background of the Show. The Gunsmoke TV series started out as a radio show in 1952 with the actor William Conrad doing the role of Matt Dillon, the town marshall. The show was on the radio for 9 years. John Wayne was the first choice to play Marshall Dillon when the show was added to the TV lineup in 1955.
Minneapolis-born 'Gunsmoke' star James Arness dies. The 6-foot-7 actor towered over the television landscape for two decades as righteous Old West lawman Marshal Matt Dillon. He was 88. James Arness played lawman Matt Dillon the long-running TV show 'Gunsmoke.' He's shown here with Amanda Blake who played Miss Kitty. James Arness, the Minnesota city boy who became television's strongest, most stoic symbol of the Old West, died Friday at age 88 of natural causes. Arness was best known for the role of straight-shooting straight-arrow U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon, the lead character in Gunsmoke, which ran on CBS from 1955 to 1975.