James Arness

The star of one of the longestrunning shows in US 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 machinegun 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 friends suggestion and went with the friend to Hollywood in hopes of getting work as film extras He studied at the BlissHayden 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 Youngs brother in The Farmers Daughter 1947 The director of that film HC 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 selfdescribed 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 McClains Law 1981 followed and Arness played his mentor John Waynes role in Red River 1988 a remake of the Wayne classic