DODGE CITY'S LEADING CITIZENS: DOC, MATT, KITTY AND CHESTER.
GUNSMOKE’S FIRST FAMILY
To many of the television generation it comes as a surprise that the classic Western Gunsmoke began as a radio series and ran on both CBS radio and television with separate casts for six years.
To television fans, William Conrad was simply Cannon, the fat detective with the deep voice. Parley Baer was one of those character actors whose face who kept popping up on popular television shows for decades, Howard McNear was the whiney Floyd The Barber on TV’s Andy Griffith Show and Georgia Ellis was a member of Jack Webb’s stock company of Dragnet actors. Actually, Gunsmoke began its nine year CBS radio run with this permanent cast of four principal actors in late April, 1952.
But the series had a long trail of development before its debut. Producer Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston were CBS employees who were given the green light by the network in 1949 to create a realistic Western drama devoid of the Lone Ranger’s gentlemanly heroics or Gene Autry’s song sandwiched tales. Network executives obviously had a television extension of the concept in mind when allocating the budget for MacDonnell’s recordings of Meston’s first script for Gunsmoke.
Gunsmoke's first audition from June 11, 1949 features Rye Billbury as Matt Dillon. But the talented radio actor didn‘t fit MacDonnell or Meston’s idea of a hard-bitten Matt Dillon. A second recording of the same script was produced a month later on July 14, 1949 with seasoned network regulars Howard Culver and June Foray in the leads. Culver’s interpretation of the gruff yet vulnerable Matt Dillon was right on target but MacDonnell wanted William Conrad for the radio role of a lifetime and Conrad got it…with a quick audition of two lines.
Then, other roles of Gunsmoke’s “first family” of the next nine years fell quickly into place: Parley Baer as Dillon’s loyal deputy, Chester Proudfoot, (1) Georgia Ellis as Matt's widowed saloon girl confidant, Kitty Russell, (2) and Howard McNear as Dodge City’s lone physician of questionable credentials, Dr. Charles Adams. (3)
The finished series with original musical scoring by Rex Koury, began unpromoted, unsponsored and unrated on Saturday night, April 26, 1952. Nevertheless, critics and fans alike immediately recognized the gritty stories of life after the Civil War in Dodge City, Kansas, to be classic radio drama.
Variety praised its debut: “Gunsmoke is a blazing radioater pegged for moppet and adult listening. The cactus vintaged series is presented with top thesping and scripting values that pull it way ahead of AM westerns. It manages to dish out plenty of excitement and suspense without falling into the hokey sagebrush groove. Series got off to a fast start with a first rate yarn. … High level dialog and first rate thesping made it exciting listening, … Bill Conrad, featured in the series as the marshal scored effectively in the first assignment. Role could be an actor’s field day but Conrad handles it with restraint and understanding. The supporting players were all believable. Norman MacDonneli’s direction rates special plaudits for blending all elements of the production into a realistic drama. Gunsmoke was launched by CBS on a sustaining basis, a situation that should probably be remedied soon.”
Matt Dillon’s raw emotions are on full display in the July 7, 1952 episode, Never Pester Chester, when he pursues and overtakes an assailant of his deputy without weapons.
Chester, Kitty and Doc all play parts in the October 20, 1952, installment, Drop Dead - written by Les Crutchfield and still remembered as one of Gunsmoke’s best.
The show finally appeared in the ratings on November 21, 1952, sponsored for only one broadcast by Chrysler’s Plymouth automobiles. Gunsmoke scored a respectable 5.0 against This Is Your FBI which was in its final months on ABC. The car company bailed a week too soon, because one of the series’ most unusual episodes, Kitty, written by Antony Ellis and broadcast on November 29, 1952, explored the relationship between Marshal Dillon and “that woman” whom the town looked down upon.
Gunsmoke disappeared again from the ratings until eleven months later when General Foods’ Post Toasties cereal assumed its sponsorship on October 3, 1953. The General Foods contract lasted for a mere 13 weeks and ended in December despite the program's low production cost of merely $3,000 per week. (4) Another six months passed until Gunsmoke was picked up by Liggett & Myers Tobacco for a run of almost three years on July 5, 1954. This broadcast was also the first to feature the classic introduction that opened every episode for the next seven years:
ANNC: Gunsmoke! Starring William Conrad…the story of the violence that moved west with young America and the story of a man who moved with it…
CONRAD: I’m that man, Matt Dillon…United States marshal…the first man they look for and the last man they want to meet. It’s a chancy job and it makes a man watchful…and a little lonely.
Gunsmoke finally ran its course on CBS Radio on June 18, 1961, after a long and distinguished run against the increasing tide of television popularity. Bill Conrad’s curtain line in the final episode, Letter of The Law, is a wry inside joke that has to be heard to be appreciated.
Ironically, television proved to be Gunsmoke’s greatest triumph. The video version of the series debuted on CBS-TV on September 10, 1955, but radio’s four leads were nowhere to be seen. Instead 6’7”James Arness replaced the shorter, (and heavier), Bill Conrad as Matt Dillon, Dennis Weaver took the role as the renamed Chester Goode, Milburn Stone became Doc Adams and Amanda Blake was the new Kitty Russell. (5) With this cast Gunsmoke became television’s most popular program from 1957 through 1961 and remained on the network’s schedule for 635 episodes until 1975.
Although Bill Conrad lost the role of television’s Matt Dillon to James Arness, he finally received his due as the (overweight but popular) lead in the network television series Cannon, (CBS, 1971-76), Nero Wolfe, (NBC, 1981), and Jake & The Fat Man, (CBS, 1987-92). He further became one of television’s most active directors and his distinctive voice is still heard today narrating hundreds of television productions ranging from The Fugitive to The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show. Conrad died of heart failure at age 73 on February 11, 1994.
Yet, to fans and students of Network Radio’s Golden Age who survive today, Bill Conrad will always be remembered as…I’m that man, Matt Dillon, United States Marshall…
(1) Parley Baer, (1914-2002), extended his active radio career into film and television appearances where he earned hundreds of credits before suffering a debilitating stroke in 1999. Baer is best remembered today as the voice of Ernie Keebler in the Keebler Cookies animated television commercials.
(2) Georgia Ellis, (1917-1988), played several supporting roles in television films following her nine years as Kitty.
(3) Howard McNear, (1905-1969), had an active career in films and television and is still seen as Floyd The Barber in re-runs of television’s Andy Griffith Show.
(4) Gunsmoke’s $3,000 weekly production charge was less than half of the $7,000 that General Foods was paying NBC for The Roy Rogers Show.
(5) Ken Curtis as Festus Haggen replaced Dennis Weaver’s Chester as Matt Dillon’s deputy in 1964.
Copyright © 2020, Jim Ramsburg, Estero FL Email: [email protected]
To many of the television generation it comes as a surprise that the classic Western Gunsmoke began as a radio series and ran on both CBS radio and television with separate casts for six years.
To television fans, William Conrad was simply Cannon, the fat detective with the deep voice. Parley Baer was one of those character actors whose face who kept popping up on popular television shows for decades, Howard McNear was the whiney Floyd The Barber on TV’s Andy Griffith Show and Georgia Ellis was a member of Jack Webb’s stock company of Dragnet actors. Actually, Gunsmoke began its nine year CBS radio run with this permanent cast of four principal actors in late April, 1952.
But the series had a long trail of development before its debut. Producer Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston were CBS employees who were given the green light by the network in 1949 to create a realistic Western drama devoid of the Lone Ranger’s gentlemanly heroics or Gene Autry’s song sandwiched tales. Network executives obviously had a television extension of the concept in mind when allocating the budget for MacDonnell’s recordings of Meston’s first script for Gunsmoke.
Gunsmoke's first audition from June 11, 1949 features Rye Billbury as Matt Dillon. But the talented radio actor didn‘t fit MacDonnell or Meston’s idea of a hard-bitten Matt Dillon. A second recording of the same script was produced a month later on July 14, 1949 with seasoned network regulars Howard Culver and June Foray in the leads. Culver’s interpretation of the gruff yet vulnerable Matt Dillon was right on target but MacDonnell wanted William Conrad for the radio role of a lifetime and Conrad got it…with a quick audition of two lines.
Then, other roles of Gunsmoke’s “first family” of the next nine years fell quickly into place: Parley Baer as Dillon’s loyal deputy, Chester Proudfoot, (1) Georgia Ellis as Matt's widowed saloon girl confidant, Kitty Russell, (2) and Howard McNear as Dodge City’s lone physician of questionable credentials, Dr. Charles Adams. (3)
The finished series with original musical scoring by Rex Koury, began unpromoted, unsponsored and unrated on Saturday night, April 26, 1952. Nevertheless, critics and fans alike immediately recognized the gritty stories of life after the Civil War in Dodge City, Kansas, to be classic radio drama.
Variety praised its debut: “Gunsmoke is a blazing radioater pegged for moppet and adult listening. The cactus vintaged series is presented with top thesping and scripting values that pull it way ahead of AM westerns. It manages to dish out plenty of excitement and suspense without falling into the hokey sagebrush groove. Series got off to a fast start with a first rate yarn. … High level dialog and first rate thesping made it exciting listening, … Bill Conrad, featured in the series as the marshal scored effectively in the first assignment. Role could be an actor’s field day but Conrad handles it with restraint and understanding. The supporting players were all believable. Norman MacDonneli’s direction rates special plaudits for blending all elements of the production into a realistic drama. Gunsmoke was launched by CBS on a sustaining basis, a situation that should probably be remedied soon.”
Matt Dillon’s raw emotions are on full display in the July 7, 1952 episode, Never Pester Chester, when he pursues and overtakes an assailant of his deputy without weapons.
Chester, Kitty and Doc all play parts in the October 20, 1952, installment, Drop Dead - written by Les Crutchfield and still remembered as one of Gunsmoke’s best.
The show finally appeared in the ratings on November 21, 1952, sponsored for only one broadcast by Chrysler’s Plymouth automobiles. Gunsmoke scored a respectable 5.0 against This Is Your FBI which was in its final months on ABC. The car company bailed a week too soon, because one of the series’ most unusual episodes, Kitty, written by Antony Ellis and broadcast on November 29, 1952, explored the relationship between Marshal Dillon and “that woman” whom the town looked down upon.
Gunsmoke disappeared again from the ratings until eleven months later when General Foods’ Post Toasties cereal assumed its sponsorship on October 3, 1953. The General Foods contract lasted for a mere 13 weeks and ended in December despite the program's low production cost of merely $3,000 per week. (4) Another six months passed until Gunsmoke was picked up by Liggett & Myers Tobacco for a run of almost three years on July 5, 1954. This broadcast was also the first to feature the classic introduction that opened every episode for the next seven years:
ANNC: Gunsmoke! Starring William Conrad…the story of the violence that moved west with young America and the story of a man who moved with it…
CONRAD: I’m that man, Matt Dillon…United States marshal…the first man they look for and the last man they want to meet. It’s a chancy job and it makes a man watchful…and a little lonely.
Gunsmoke finally ran its course on CBS Radio on June 18, 1961, after a long and distinguished run against the increasing tide of television popularity. Bill Conrad’s curtain line in the final episode, Letter of The Law, is a wry inside joke that has to be heard to be appreciated.
Ironically, television proved to be Gunsmoke’s greatest triumph. The video version of the series debuted on CBS-TV on September 10, 1955, but radio’s four leads were nowhere to be seen. Instead 6’7”James Arness replaced the shorter, (and heavier), Bill Conrad as Matt Dillon, Dennis Weaver took the role as the renamed Chester Goode, Milburn Stone became Doc Adams and Amanda Blake was the new Kitty Russell. (5) With this cast Gunsmoke became television’s most popular program from 1957 through 1961 and remained on the network’s schedule for 635 episodes until 1975.
Although Bill Conrad lost the role of television’s Matt Dillon to James Arness, he finally received his due as the (overweight but popular) lead in the network television series Cannon, (CBS, 1971-76), Nero Wolfe, (NBC, 1981), and Jake & The Fat Man, (CBS, 1987-92). He further became one of television’s most active directors and his distinctive voice is still heard today narrating hundreds of television productions ranging from The Fugitive to The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show. Conrad died of heart failure at age 73 on February 11, 1994.
Yet, to fans and students of Network Radio’s Golden Age who survive today, Bill Conrad will always be remembered as…I’m that man, Matt Dillon, United States Marshall…
(1) Parley Baer, (1914-2002), extended his active radio career into film and television appearances where he earned hundreds of credits before suffering a debilitating stroke in 1999. Baer is best remembered today as the voice of Ernie Keebler in the Keebler Cookies animated television commercials.
(2) Georgia Ellis, (1917-1988), played several supporting roles in television films following her nine years as Kitty.
(3) Howard McNear, (1905-1969), had an active career in films and television and is still seen as Floyd The Barber in re-runs of television’s Andy Griffith Show.
(4) Gunsmoke’s $3,000 weekly production charge was less than half of the $7,000 that General Foods was paying NBC for The Roy Rogers Show.
(5) Ken Curtis as Festus Haggen replaced Dennis Weaver’s Chester as Matt Dillon’s deputy in 1964.
Copyright © 2020, Jim Ramsburg, Estero FL Email: [email protected]
