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Picture

A HISTORY OF GUNSMOKE 

"Oh, East is East, and West is West, 
and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently 
at God's great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, 
Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, 
though they come from the ends of the earth!" 
-Rudyard Kipling 

Matt and Matt side by side? 
Yes!  And Kitty and Kitty, 
Doc and Doc, 
and Chester and Chester too! 

Track & trail the evolution 
of Gunsmoke as it went 
through its several eras!  


The first regular episode of Gunsmoke, 
Billy the Kid, 
aired on April 26, 1952. 
Gunsmoke's first semi-regular character, 
Mr. Hightower, 
made his first appearance. 



TEST YOUR GUNSMOKE IQ 

Why did William Conrad 
not play Matt Dillon on TV? 
1)  His voice was not 
solid and resonant enough. 
2)  Radio salaries were higher 
than television salaries. 
3)  He opted to do the tv version 
of The Fat Man instead. 
4)  He lost too much weight 
to play Matt Dillon 
after a bout of dengue fever 
caught in downtown Los Angeles.  




Did Miss Kitty practice 
numerology & astrology? 
John Wayne was born 
on May 26, 1907; 
Sam Edwards on May 26, 1915; 
and James Arness 
on May 26, 1923. 
Gunsmoke itself was born 

on radio 
on a 26th--April 26, 1952.  





   HITES & HIGHTOWERS

    Besides convincing James Arness to be 
    on Gunsmoke, 
    and introducing the show 

    on its premiere night, 
    John Wayne 
    had a million other uncanny connections 
    to Gunsmoke and its star. 



    Bryan "Slim" Hightower 
    was John Ford's favorite stuntman. 
    He worked in many Ford movies, 
    including The Searchers. 



    Robert Marmaduke Hightower, 
    John Wayne's character 
    in Ford's 3 Godfathers (1948), 
    was named after Slim Hightower. 

   

    ☜


    Three decades and three years 
    before 4' 2" Billy Curtis stood 
    next to 6' 7" James Arness 
    as a gag in Arizona Midnight, 
    Curtis had already done 
    the same thing 
    with 6' 4" John Wayne 
    in Three Texas Steers. 


    Gunsmoke was shown 
    as  Gun Law  on British TV. 
    In France, it was called 
    Police des plaines.   
    No, the setting was not 
    changed to Illinois; 
    Dillon remained in Kansas. 


    Gunsmoke's first-produced tv episode, 
    Hack Prine, wasn't shown first 
    and lost that honor 

    to Matt Gets It; 
    instead, Hack Prine became...  
    Episode No. 26. 
    Amanda Blake herself was 26 
    when tv Gunsmoke 
    first hit the air. 





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