James Arness, the towering actor best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon, the strong and commanding symbol of frontier justice on the landmark TV western series "Gunsmoke," died Friday. He was 88. ...
At 6 feet 7, Arness was a bigger-than-life actor who amply filled the boots of the mythic Dodge City lawman in the series, which earned praise for breaking TV western-genre conventions with its strong dramatic stories and psychologically complex characters. ...
Of Norwegian descent, Arness was born James Aurness in Minneapolis on May 26, 1923. His brother, future actor Peter Graves ["Mission: Impossible"; "Airplane!"], was born three years later. ...
After being drafted into the Army during his freshman year at Beloit College in Wisconsin, in early 1943, Arness was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division and took part in the landing at Anzio, Italy, in 1944. (Because of his height, he was chosen to be the first off his landing craft to test the depth of the water.)
Later, while walking point on a night patrol through a vineyard, Arness walked into a German machine-gun nest and rounds severely splintered the bones in his lower right leg. The wound resulted in his leg being shortened by about 5/8 of an inch, and he thereafter wore a lift in his shoe. ...
On the "Gunsmoke" set, Arness was known for his sense of humor. He enjoyed practical jokes and was prone to uncontrollable fits of laughter. ...
A surfer since he arrived in California, he learned to fly in the late '60s so he could easily get to remote surf breaks in Baja. ...
More (w/photo):
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-james-arness-20110604,0,7068793.story
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