QuoteJames Arness of 'Gunsmoke' fame dies at 88
By LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer – 4 hours ago
James Arness, who towered over the television landscape for two decades as righteous Dodge City lawman Matt Dillon in the long-running western "Gunsmoke," died Friday. He was 88.
The actor died in his sleep at his home in Los Angeles, according to his business manager, Ginny Fazer.
Arness' official website posted a letter from Arness on Friday that he wrote with the intention that it be posted posthumously: "I had a wonderful life and was blessed with some many loving people and great friends," he said.
The last television hero is gone. :-\
He and John Wayne are talking old times already, I bet.
RIP ole buddy!
He was cool, but, sorry to say I thought he was gone a long time ago......
I guess he retired from show-biz about 30 years ago, and was a very private person, preferring the outdoors to Hollywood glitz and glamor. I read that John Wayne turned down the Gunsmoke role, and advised him to take it, saying that he was 'too tall' for the movies.
Arness was 6'7"