Friday, June 3, 2011

Goodbye, James Arness;  you gave us a lot of pleasure.

12 comments:

Brooke said...

Wow. I always enjoyed watching Gunsmoke with my Grandpa.

May he go with God.

The Born Again American said...

I remember meeting the man in Ft. Myers in the late fifties... He was a giant of a man, well at least to an eight year old...

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

Festus has the whiskey waitin', Marshal.

cube said...

I know most people associate him as Marshall Dillon and I do as well, but I also remember him scaring me to pieces as the veggie from outer space in "The Thing".

RIP Mr. Arness.

Karen K said...

Memory eternal.

Z said...

And you know he was Peter Graves' brother.

Beamish, apparently, Arness was a very private guy but did weigh in when Festus died...he had thought a lot of him.
I like your sentiment a lot.

BAA...6'6"!

People like him brought us all a lot of pleasure, didn't they..

Lisa said...

I felt so bad. Love Gunsmoke.
I only found out about 2 years ago that Peter Graves was his brother. Actually they sound alike.


'Festus has the whiskey waitin', Marshal.

good one

I call my dog "Bestest" after Festus.

Z said...

"bestest" for Festus..i love that!

Anonymous said...

I loved watching gunsmoke and always felt that Arness was out of character when playing contemporary roles. To me, he WAS Marshal Dillon.

Rest in peace, Jim ...

Z said...

Mustang, the article says John Wayne turned down the part but encouraged Arness to take it because Arness wasn't fit for films because the big stars didn't want to be dwarfed by his 6'6" frame..interesting, huh?
Arness didn't take it right away because he thought he'd be type-cast.......You are so right; he WAS Major Dillon.

Of course, you and I watched it when we were 3 years old, right? :-)

Bob said...

Gun Smoke was one of my parent's favorite tv shows. James Arness did a good job as the Marshall. I always liked Miss Kitty.

Susannah said...

Very fond memories of Gun Smoke w/ my Grandaddy~ They loved that & Hawaii 5-0...

As Brooke said, "May he go with God."

Hope you & your peeps here are doing well, Z. Been good-crazy @ our house...Miss you!!