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Authenticity is Everything
GUNSMOKE AUTOGRAPHS
GUNSMOKE ran from 1955-1975 the first episode was introduced by none other than John Wayne. The actor chosen to play the title role was James Arness who had appeared in many movies including some with John Wayne. Arness was not yet a star though, but the show would soon make him one. Gunsmoke was already a hit radio show with William Conrad voicing the lead character "Matt Dillon." This was still early for television and the radio would continue to air until June 11, 1961. The original three main characters of the television show were James Arness as Matt Dillon, Amanda Blake as Miss Kitty, Milburn Stone as Doctor "Doc" Adams and Dennis Weaver as Chester. Later Chester was replaced by Ken Curtis as Festus. Those five were the major stars of the show. Major supporting roles included Bert Rumsey as the first bartender Sam Noonan, Glenn Strange replaced Rumsey, Roger Ewing as Thad, Buck Taylor as Newly and Bert Reynolds as Quint the blacksmith. Other supporting roles included Ted Jordan as Burke, James Nusser as Louie the town drunk, Dabbs Greer as Mr. Jonas, George Selk as Moss Grimmick plus too many more to mention. Jordan is the man who gets shot in every color episode opening. He also wrote a tell all book about his romance with Marilyn Monroe.
Gunsmoke is one of those shows that is impossible to collect everyone since so many are hard to find. I have myself settled for the top five plus Glenn Strange all of those did over 230 episodes no others matched that. I have scores of others that were in Gunsmoke but long ago gave up on concentrating on it. Without doubt it is my favorite television western and I watch it over and over. As a boy watching every Saturday I was sure that Matt was a goner since the bullet was also next to the spine! The real Matt Dillon I have always assumed died of lead poisoning while Festus and Newly likely of fractured skulls from being knocked out so many times. My favorite episode of all time was "The Snow Train" a two part episode. If there was a western star that did not appear on Gunsmoke it is probably because they were on Bonanza or Big Valley. A sad fact that so few young people today know about those shows let alone ever watch them.
James Arness in talking about the show stated his character "Matt Dillon" hated violence of any kind. This may be a surprising statement for the star of a western but it is absolutely true. Dillon never shot a man unless forced into and as Arness said there was always a reaction shot of him with a look of being repulsed by the fact he had to kill a man. Matt Dillon was not a "Dirty Harry" he did not want any one to make his day by drawing on him. He was a honest peace officer in the strictest sense of the word. Gunsmoke was called the first "adult" western and watching it today there are so many things I missed as boy. I will add that the best villain that ever appeared in an episode was Bette Davis! She is absolutely frightening in it.
The number of episodes a person appears is not always a good indication of what to collect but in the case of Gunsmoke it is a good start. The numbers are from internet movie database and include a few episodes that the person is credited but did not appear in. Buck Taylor with 174 and Ted Jordan with 131 were the only ones to reach 100 episodes other than bit players. Honorable mention needs to be made to Pat Hingle who took over the major role as "Dr. John Chapman" who filled in for "Doc" for six episodes in 1971 when Milburn Stone had surgery. For my own personal collection, I consider the must have autographs to be the following:
James Arness (635)
Milburn Stone (605)
Amanda Blake (569)
Ken Curtis (306)
Dennis Weaver (290)
Glenn Strange (238)
Buck Taylor (173)
Roger Ewing (52)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on
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Milburn Stone. I'm always looking for Milburn Stone photos.
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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on
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Those are very cool, Steve.
I love watching the westerns on Encore.
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My DVR has over 100 episodes waiting for me. LOL I'll catch up some over the holidays. :-)
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Amanda Blake as Ms. Kitty. I obtained this not too long ago.
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You can still get Buck Taylor through his online store on his website. One of the few surviving main cast members. To my knowledge, only Buck Taylor, Burt Reynold and Roger Ewing are still alive.
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Buck Taylor was awesome as "Turkey Creek Johnson" in Tombstone.
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Yep. He no longer acts to my knowledge, but is a prolific western artist. He often appears at rodeos and other sorts of western themed events.
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And here's Roger Ewing as Thad.
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Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on
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ROGER EWING from the Harvey Kuflik Collection obtained in 1986. Ewing and Buck Taylor are the last surviving major cast members of GUNSMOKE.
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Here is a Glenn Strange signature comparison for discussion. I'm not settled 100%... I'd sure like to have more exemplars, but they are hard to come by. There are some formation differences that I have not identified in the graphic, but wanted to see if anyone else picked up on them. :-)
Thoughts?
(The "To John" example sold on ebay a year or two ago, and now is being offered as a "reprint" by a reprint seller. The irony is, the reprint seller placed "do not copy" on an image he does not own. I had a better image of the "To John" without the watermark, but can't locate it at this time.)
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I had talked to Bob Burns about Glenn Strange they were very close especially in his later years he was an honorary pallbearer along with James Arness. He told me Glenn was signing autographs right up to the end. He also said he had huge hands. Dr. Brucato's CEAD site also bears out what you are saying as well. The only "To" in his examples not a simple one is a 1940s album page but that is very simple compared to the two on the right here.
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Permalink Reply by James on
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I have to say, it makes me very proud that the longest-running American non-animated television show, Gunsmoke, was set in my home state, Kansas. That may not be a big deal for someone in California or New York since lots of shows are set in those states. I may be five hours away from Dodge City, but it’s still Kansas. One of the most iconic American phrases is, “Better get the hell out of Dodge!” There are young people all over the country who’ve said that phrase at one time or another, and yet they probably don’t even know where the hell Dodge (City) is! I’ve lived in Kansas all my life, right next to the Missouri border, except for having lived one year in Seville, Spain during undergrad, and two months in London during graduate school. But just like Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home,” although Spain and London were pretty awesome.
Oh one other thing since I’m talking about Kansas and Westerns. In elementary school, I went to school with a girl named Debra Earp. She was a cousin of some degree of the famous Kansas lawman, Wyatt Earp. As kids, we were like...”Wow!” We thought she was like royalty! Lol.
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