James Arness

James King Arness (May 26, 1923 – June 3, 2011) was an American actor. He was best known for his role in Gunsmoke. He played the character Marshal Matt Dillon. His younger brother was actor Peter Graves.

James "Marshal Dillon" Arness
Born	James King Aurness (1923-05-26)May 26, 1923 Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Died	June 3, 2011(2011-06-03) (aged 88) Los Angeles, California, USA
Cause of death	Natural causes[1]
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery
Nationality	American
Education	Minneapolis Washburn High School Minneapolis West High School
Alma mater	Beloit College
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1947–94
Television	Gunsmoke, How the West Was Won
Height	201 cm (6 ft 7 in)
Spouse(s)	Virginia Chapman (m.1948–1960, divorced) Janet Surtees (m.1978–2011, his death)
Children	Rolf, Craig (deceased), Jim, Jenny Lee (deceased)
Relatives	Peter Graves (brother, deceased)
Website	jamesarness.com

Early life

Arness was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He dropped the "u" when he started acting. His mother was of German ancestry; his father was of Norwegian ancestry.^[2] The family name had been Aursnes, but when Rolf's father, Peter Aursnes, emigrated from Norway in 1887, he changed it to Aurness.^[3] Arness and his family were Methodists.^[4] He served in the army in Italy during World War II. He received the Bronze Star.

Death

Arness died in Los Angeles at age 88 of natural causes.^[5]

Filmography

Movies

The Farmer's Daughter (1947) Man From Texas (1947) Roses are Red (1947) - credited as "James Aurness" Battleground (1949) Wagon Master (1950) Sierra (1950) - credited as "Jim Arness" Two Lost Worlds (1950) Double Crossbones (1950) Stars In My Crown (1950) Wyoming Mail (1950) Cavalry Scout (1951) Belle le Grand (1951) Iron Man (1951) The Thing from Another World (1951) The People Against O'Hara (1951) Carbine Williams (1952) Hellgate (1952) The Girl in White (1952) Big Jim McLain (1952) Horizons West (1952) The Lone Hand (1953)

Gun the Man Down (1953) Island in the Sky (1953) Veils of Bagdad (1953) Them! (1954) Hondo (1954) Her Twelve Men (1954) Flame of the Islands (1955) Many Rivers to Cross (1955) The Sea Chase (1955) Gun the Man Down (1956) The First Traveling Saleslady (1956) Alias Jesse James (1956), as Marshal Matt Dillon The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory (1987 TV movie), as Jim Bowie[6] Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987 TV movie) Red River (1988 TV movie)[7] Gunsmoke II: The Last Apache (1990 TV movie) Gunsmoke III: To the Last Man (1992 TV movie) Gunsmoke IV: The Long Ride (1993 TV movie) Gunsmoke V: One Man's Justice (1993 TV movie)

Television

• The Lone Ranger (1950, 1 episode as Deputy Bud Titus^[8][9])
• Lux Video Theatre, "The Chase" (1954)
• Gunsmoke (1955–1975)
• Front Row Center (1956)
• The Red Skelton Chevy Special (1959)
• The Chevrolet Golden Anniversary Show (1961)
• A Salute to Television's 25th Anniversary (1972)
• The Macahans (1976)
• How The West Was Won (1977-1979 TV series)
• McClain's Law (1981-1982 TV series)