James Arness

James Arness

Born: May 26, 1923
Died: June 3, 2011
in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
The star of one of the longest-running shows in U.S. television history, Gunsmoke (1955). Born of Norwegian heritage (the family name, Aurness (formerly had been Aursness) in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Rolf and Ruth Duesler Aurness. His father was a traveling salesman of medical supplies and his mother later became a newspaper columnist. James attended West High School in Minneapolis. Although he appeared in school plays, he had no interest in performing, and dreamed instead of going to sea. After high school, he attended one semester at Beloit College before receiving his draft notice in 1943. He entered the army and trained at Camp Wheeler, Georgia, before shipping out for North Africa. After landing at Casablanca, Arness joined the 3rd Infantry Division in time for the invasion of Anzio. Ten days after the invasion, Arness was severely wounded in the leg and foot by German machine-gun fire. His wounds, which plagued him the rest of his life, resulted in his medical discharge from the army. While recuperating in a Clinton, Iowa hospital, he was visited by his younger brother Peter (later to gain fame as actor Peter Graves), who suggested he take a radio course at the University of Minnesota. James did so, and a teacher recommended him for a job as an announcer at a Minneapolis radio station. Though seemingly headed for success in radio, he followed a boyhood friend's suggestion and went with the friend to Hollywood in hopes of getting work as film extras. He studied at the Bliss-Hayden Theatre School under actor Harry Hayden, and while appearing in a play there was spotted by agent Leon Lance. Lance got the actor a role as Loretta Young's brother in The Farmer's Daughter (1947). The director of that film, H.C. Potter, recommended that he drop the "u" from his last name and soon thereafter the actor was officially known as James Arness. Little work followed this break,  He appeared in a production of "Candida", and married his leading lady, Virginia Chapman. He began to get small roles with frequency, often, due to his size, villainous characters. Most notable among these was that of the space alien in The Thing from Another World (1951). While playing a Greek warrior in a play, Arness was spotted by agent Charles K. Feldman, who represented John Wayne. Feldman introduced Arness to Wayne, who put the self-described 6' 6" actor under personal contract. Arness played several roles over the next few years for and with Wayne, whom he considered a mentor. In 1955, Wayne recommended Arness for the lead role of Matt Dillon in the TV series Gunsmoke (1955). (Contrary to urban legend, Wayne himself was never offered the role.) Arness at first declined, thinking a TV series could derail his growing film career, but Wayne argued for the show, and Arness accepted. After the cancellation of "Gunsmoke" in 1975, Arness took on another successful Western project, "How The West Was Won." A brief modern police drama, McClain's Law (1981), followed, and Arness played his mentor John Wayne's role in Red River (1988), a remake of the Wayne classic.

Movies for James Arness...

For the Love of Spock
Title: For the Love of Spock
Character: Matt Dillon (archive footage)
Released: September 9, 2016
Type: Movie
The life of Star Trek's Mr. Spock — as well as that of Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played Mr. Spock for almost fifty years —written and directed by his son, Adam.
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Gunsmoke: One Man's Justice
Title: Gunsmoke: One Man's Justice
Character: Matt Dillon
Released: February 10, 1994
Type: Movie
Retired marshal Dillon goes after a 15 year old boy who is determined to kill the men responsible for the murder of his mother during a stagecoach robbery
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Gunsmoke: The Long Ride
Title: Gunsmoke: The Long Ride
Character: Matt Dillon
Released: May 8, 1993
Type: Movie
For thirty years, Marshall Matt Dillon fought to preserve the law in Dodge City… now, he's wanted for murder and fighting to clear his name. Three deputies ride up with a warrant for Dillon's arrest, a wealthy mine operator has been gunned down in cold blood and an eyewitness says Dillon was the murderer.
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Gunsmoke: To the Last Man
Title: Gunsmoke: To the Last Man
Character: Matt Dillon
Released: January 10, 1992
Type: Movie
Retired marshal Matt Dillon tracks Arizona rustlers and lands in the middle of the 1880s Pleasant Valley War.
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Gunsmoke: The Last Apache
Title: Gunsmoke: The Last Apache
Character: Matt Dillon
Released: March 17, 1990
Type: Movie
James Arness rides again as Matt Dillon, the US Marshal he made popular in the 1955-75 TV series. In this movie he goes after a renegade Apache named Wolf (Joe Lara) who has taken his daughter captive. As a bargaining chip, Dillon helps two sons of Apache chief Geronimo out of the fort stockade and offers them in trade. Dillon is aided by an Army scout, Chalk Brighton (Kiley). Written by John Sacksteder
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John Wayne Standing Tall
Title: John Wayne Standing Tall
Character: Self - Host
Released: March 1, 1989
Type: Movie
Profile of one of the world's most popular motion picture stars, told through interviews with some of the artists who worked with him, family, friends, and excerpts from many of his films and television appearances.
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Red River
Title: Red River
Character: Thomas Dunson
Released: April 10, 1988
Type: Movie
Remake of the 1948 John Wayne feature about a man who rebels against his tyrannical guardian during a crucial cattle drive.
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The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory
Title: The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory
Character: Jim Bowie
Released: November 11, 1987
Type: Movie
Against orders and with no help of relief Texas patriots led by William Travis, Jim Bowie, and Davy Crockett defend the Alamo against overwhelming Mexican forces.
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Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge
Title: Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge
Character: Matt Dillon
Released: September 27, 1987
Type: Movie
Will Mannon, "product of the Devil's loins," is released from a frontier prison and promptly goes in search of the people who put him there some 12 years ago -- Matt Dillon and Kitty Russell.
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Title: McClain's Law
Character: Det. Jim McClain
Released: November 20, 1981
Type: TV
McClain's Law is an American crime drama television series that aired on NBC during the 1981-1982 season. New episodes ended on March 20, and rebroadcasts continued until August 24, 1982.
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The Horror Show
Title: The Horror Show
Character: (archive footage)
Released: February 6, 1979
Type: Movie
A history of horror movies.
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Title: How the West Was Won
Character: Zeb Macahan
Released: February 6, 1977
Type: TV
The Macahans, a family from Virginia headed by Zeb Macahan, travel across the country to pioneer a new land and a new home in the American West.
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The Macahans
Title: The Macahans
Character: Zeb
Released: January 19, 1976
Type: Movie
Zeb Macahan, a pioneering westerner, helps move his brother's family to the wild west. They run into several obstacles including the breakout of the Civil War. This sends the father back to fight in the war and leaves the family to move on ahead.
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Alias Jesse James
Title: Alias Jesse James
Character: Marshal Matt Dillon (uncredited)
Released: March 20, 1959
Type: Movie
Insurance salesman Milford Farnsworth sells a man a life policy only to discover that the man in question is the outlaw Jesse James. Milford is sent to buy back the policy, but is robbed by Jesse. And when Jesse learns that Milford's boss is on the way out with more cash, he plans to rob him too and have Milford get killed in the robbery while dressed as Jesse, and collect on the policy.
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Gun the Man Down
Title: Gun the Man Down
Character: Rem Anderson
Released: November 15, 1956
Type: Movie
An outlaw is left for dead by his gang after being shot. A year later, he is released from jail with one thing on his mind: Revenge.
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The First Traveling Saleslady
Title: The First Traveling Saleslady
Character: Joel Kingdom
Released: August 1, 1956
Type: Movie
At the turn of the century Rose and ex-showbiz friend Molly get involved in selling steel. When they come unstuck with corsets they embark on the even more hazardous project of selling barbed wire to highly suspicious Texas cowboys.
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Flame of the Islands
Title: Flame of the Islands
Character: Kelly Rand
Released: December 4, 1955
Type: Movie
A café singer buys a gambling casino and several men fall in love with her.
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Title: Gunsmoke
Character: Marshal Matt Dillon
Released: September 10, 1955
Type: TV
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television.
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Title: The Johnny Carson Show
Released: June 30, 1955
Type: TV
While working as a staff writer on The Red Skelton Show, local Los Angeles television comedian Carson filled in as host when Skelton was injured during a show rehearsal. As a result of Carson’s performance, CBS created the primetime variety program: The Johnny Carson Show, a traditional potpourri of comedy, music, dance, skits and monologues. The short-lived 1955-56 series served as a precursor of what would come later for Carson, planting the seeds for sketches he would perform on the later The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson such as "Mighty Carson Art Players".
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The Sea Chase
Title: The Sea Chase
Character: Schlieter
Released: June 4, 1955
Type: Movie
As the Second World War breaks out, German freighter captain Karl Ehrlich is about to leave Sydney, Australia with his vessel, the Ergenstrasse. Ehrlich, an anti-Nazi but proud German, hopes to outrun or out-maneuver the British warship pursuing him. Aboard his vessel is Elsa Keller, a woman Ehrlich has been ordered to return to Germany safely along with whatever secrets she carries. When Ehrlich's fiercely Nazi chief officer Kirchner commits an atrocity, the British pursuit becomes deadly.
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Many Rivers to Cross
Title: Many Rivers to Cross
Character: Esau Hamilton
Released: February 4, 1955
Type: Movie
Robert Taylor and Eleanor Parker star as a Kentucky backwoodsman and the woman who will NOT let anything interfere with her plans to marry him in this humorous romantic adventure through the American Frontier of 1798.
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Her Twelve Men
Title: Her Twelve Men
Character: Ralph Munsey
Released: August 11, 1954
Type: Movie
An inexperienced female teacher is hired at a private elite school for boys where she raises a few eyebrows among the all-male faculty.
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Them!
Title: Them!
Character: FBI Agent Robert Graham
Released: June 16, 1954
Type: Movie
As a result of nuclear testing, gigantic, ferocious mutant ants appear in the American desert southwest, and a father-daughter team of entomologists join forces with the state police officer who first discovers their existence, an FBI agent and, eventually, the US Army to eradicate the menace, before it spreads across the continent, and the world.
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Hondo
Title: Hondo
Character: Lennie
Released: November 26, 1953
Type: Movie
Army despatch rider Hondo Lane discovers a woman and her son living in the midst of warring Apaches, and he becomes their protector.
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The Veils of Bagdad
Title: The Veils of Bagdad
Character: Targut
Released: October 6, 1953
Type: Movie
Antar is sent by Suleiman, head of the Ottoman Empire, to Bagdad to prevent Hammam, Pasha of Bagdad, from purchasing the services of local leader Mustapha to unite the hill tribes and overthrow the emperor. The intrigue mounts as Antar falls in love with dancer Selima, who tries to avenge her father's death against Hammam's right-hand-man Kasseim, whose wife Rosanna has fallen in love with Antar!
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Island in the Sky
Title: Island in the Sky
Character: Mac McMullen
Released: September 5, 1953
Type: Movie
A C-47 transport plane, named the Corsair, makes a forced landing in the frozen wastelands of Labrador, and the plane's pilot, Captain Dooley, must keep his men alive in deadly conditions while awaiting rescue.
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The Lone Hand
Title: The Lone Hand
Character: Gus Varden
Released: May 20, 1953
Type: Movie
Zachary Hallock and his son Joshua are farmers who live in a frontier town that suffers the assaults of a band of outlaws. After the murder of a Pinkerton's detective, the farmers decide to unite against the bandits, but Hallock rejects the proposal. To the astonishment of his son and his fiancée, Hallock decides to join the outlaws.
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Horizons West
Title: Horizons West
Character: Tiny McGilligan
Released: October 11, 1952
Type: Movie
Brothers Dan and Neil Hammond return to Texas after the Civil War. Ambitious Dan turns to rustling and then shady land deals to build an empire. Being held for a murder, he is rescued from a lynch mob by Neil, who is now the Marshal, but there is eventually a falling out between the brothers, good triumphing over evil.
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Hellgate
Title: Hellgate
Character: George Redfield
Released: September 4, 1952
Type: Movie
A man is framed and sent to the toughest prison in the territory.
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Big Jim McLain
Title: Big Jim McLain
Character: Mal Baxter
Released: August 30, 1952
Type: Movie
House Un-American Activities Committee investigators Jim McLain and Mal Baxter come to post war Hawaii to track Communist Party activities even though belonging to the party was legal at the time. They are interested in everything from insurance fraud to the sabotage of a U.S. naval vessel.
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The Girl in White
Title: The Girl in White
Character: Matt
Released: May 23, 1952
Type: Movie
The first female doctor in New York City comes up against prejudice from male counterparts who feel threatened by her skills. Eventually, though, they come to respect her and romance blossoms between her and the head doctor.
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Carbine Williams
Title: Carbine Williams
Character: Leon Williams
Released: May 1, 1952
Type: Movie
David Marshall Williams is sent to a prison farm where he works in the tool shop and eventually develops the precursor of the famous M-1 Carbine automatic rifle used in World War II.
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Iron Man
Title: Iron Man
Character: Alex Mallick
Released: September 20, 1951
Type: Movie
In Coaltown, Pennsylvania, miner Coke Mason hopes to better himself, buy a radio store, and marry Rose Warren. His gambler brother George thinks Coke can be more successful as a boxer, knowing that when he fights he's consumed with a murderous rage that makes him an "iron man." Seeing dollar signs in Rose's eyes, Coke reluctantly agrees, though he's fearful of the "killer instinct" that makes him a knockout success in the ring...and brings him the booing hatred of the fans. Will Coke throw off his personal demon before he kills someone?
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The People Against O'Hara
Title: The People Against O'Hara
Character: John Fordman 'Johnny' O'Hara
Released: September 1, 1951
Type: Movie
A defense attorney jeopardizes his career to save his client.
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Cavalry Scout
Title: Cavalry Scout
Character: Barth
Released: May 13, 1951
Type: Movie
Kirby Frye, a former Confederate officer but now a Union Cavalry scout, is sent into Montana territory to locate and retrieve three Gatling Guns stolen from the U.S. Arsenal by outlaws believed to have taken them west to sell to the Soiux and Cheyenne. The trail leads him to Red Bluff where, aided by Claire Corville, he and the audience discover together and real quick like that Martin Gavin, a supposedly-honest operator of a freight line, has the guns and intends to exchange them to the Indians for furs.
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The Thing from Another World
Title: The Thing from Another World
Character: 'The Thing'
Released: April 5, 1951
Type: Movie
Scientists and US Air Force officials fend off a blood-thirsty alien organism while investigating at a remote arctic outpost.
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Two Lost Worlds
Title: Two Lost Worlds
Character: Kirk Hamilton
Released: January 5, 1951
Type: Movie
Shipwreck survivors land on an uncharted island inhabited by prehistoric beasts.
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Wyoming Mail
Title: Wyoming Mail
Character: Russell
Released: October 18, 1950
Type: Movie
In 1869, the United States begins a railroad mail service to the West Coast which proves highly tempting to train robbers, in particular an organized gang with one of the mail's supposed guardians in their pay. Prizefighter Steve Davis, a former army intelligence man, is hired to track down the gang and save the Territorial Mail Service. Steve goes undercover in territorial prison, leans Morse Code from a fellow prisoner, breaks jail, infiltrates the gang...and finds time to romance dance-hall singer Mary, who proves to have hidden depths...
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Title: Lux Video Theatre
Character: Chuck Scott
Released: October 2, 1950
Type: TV
Lux Video Theatre is an American anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1959. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays.
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Sierra
Title: Sierra
Character: Little Sam (as Jim Arness)
Released: May 26, 1950
Type: Movie
Ring Hassard and his father Jeff, wild horse breakers, live in a hidden mountain eyrie as Jeff is wanted for a murder he didn't commit. Things change when they take in a lost young lady, Riley Martin, who finds that Ring has "never seen a woman close up." Jeff is injured, Ring runs afoul of horse thieves and the law, and Riley (who is a lawyer) labors to clear the Hassards (who others would prefer dead).
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In a Lonely Place
Title: In a Lonely Place
Character: Young Detective (uncredited)
Released: May 17, 1950
Type: Movie
An screenwriter with a violence record is a murder suspect until his lovely neighbor clears him. However, she soon starts to have her doubts.
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Stars in My Crown
Title: Stars in My Crown
Character: Rolfe Isbell (uncredited)
Released: May 11, 1950
Type: Movie
The story of a young pastor coming to a small town in the United States to set up his ministry. The movie tells of the various relationships and struggles he goes through as he goes about raising his family and preaching to the community.
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Wagon Master
Title: Wagon Master
Character: Floyd Clegg
Released: April 22, 1950
Type: Movie
Two young drifters guide a Mormon wagon train to the San Juan Valley and encounter cutthroats, Navajo, geography, and moral challenges on the journey.
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Battleground
Title: Battleground
Character: Garby
Released: November 9, 1949
Type: Movie
Members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division are fighting for their country amidst the rugged terrain of Bastogne, Belgium, in December 1944. Holley and his American compatriots have already seen one of their own, Roderigues, perish under enemy fire. The men try to rebuff another series of Nazi attacks, but what they really need is a change in the weather. Without clear skies, they'll never get the air support they need.
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Title: The Ed Sullivan Show
Character: Self
Released: June 20, 1948
Type: TV
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the CBS Sunday Night Movie, which ran only one season and was eventually replaced by other shows. In 2002, The Ed Sullivan Show was ranked #15 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
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The Man from Texas
Title: The Man from Texas
Character: (uncredited)
Released: March 6, 1948
Type: Movie
James Craig is torn between his criminal career as the masked bandit named the "El Paso Kid," and the life of a law-abiding citizen with his long-suffering wife Zoe. He repeatedly tells Zoe, "just one more time," but he is unable to stop which angers her greatly. However, he does have brief moments of heroics such as when he helps the Widow Weeks save her farm.
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Roses Are Red
Title: Roses Are Red
Character: Ray (as James Aurness)
Released: November 10, 1947
Type: Movie
A crooked crime boss tries to put a crony into office.
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The Farmer's Daughter
Title: The Farmer's Daughter
Character: Peter Holstrom (as James Aurness)
Released: March 26, 1947
Type: Movie
After leaving her family's farm to study nursing in the city, a young woman finds herself on an unexpected path towards politics.
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Title: Front Row Center
Released: March 25, 1945
Type: TV
Broadway plays are presented live in condensed one hour versions.