Inside the “Gunsmoke” Cast’s Lives 51 Years After the Show Was Canceled

The Emmy Award-winning Western set a new standard for television over its 20-season run from 1955 to 1975

NEED TO KNOW

• Gunsmoke aired on CBS from 1955 to 1975
• As television’s first adult Western, the pioneering series earned five Emmys during its 20-season run
• James Arness, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake and Ken Curtis were among the show’s cast members, with legendary actor Burt Reynolds in the recurring role of Quint Asper

Gunsmoke aired its series finale on March 31, 1975, and decades later, fans still don't want to get out of Dodge.

The Emmy-winning Western, based on the eponymous radio show, premiered on CBS on Sept. 10, 1955, and offered a gritty, grounded portrayal of frontier life. The series ran for 20 seasons and remains one of the most influential American television dramas of all time.

What began as a 30-minute, black-and-white program soon evolved into a one-hour color drama in the '60s. Audiences tuned in weekly to watch tales of law, justice and survival unfold against a backdrop of rugged plains and rising moral stakes in Dodge City, Kan.

Unlike many Westerns of its time, Gunsmoke thrived on character-driven plots, emotional complexity and slow-burning conflicts. The show also explored themes such as loyalty, grief, vengeance and redemption.

At the heart of Gunsmoke's success was its unforgettable cast. From James Arness and Amanda Blake to Ken Curtis and Burt Reynolds, each actor's performance added something unique to the fabric of the show, and together they created a rich ensemble that carried the series through 635 episodes. Several of the cast members even have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for their performances on-screen.

Here's a look at what happened to the Gunsmoke cast, 51 years after the series was canceled.

James Arness as Marshal Matt Dillon

Arness played U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon for all 20 seasons of Gunsmoke, becoming the face of the series and earning three Emmy nods.

After the series ended, he starred on How the West Was Won and McClain's Law and appeared in the 1987 TV movie The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory and took on John Wayne's role in the 1988 TV movie remake of Red River.

Arness reprised the role of Dillon in all five Gunsmoke TV movies: Return to Dodge (1987), The Last Apache (1990), To the Last Man (1992), The Long Ride (1993) and One Man's Justice (1994). The last four films were his final acting roles.

The Minnesota native — who began his acting career shortly after serving in World War II and working as a radio disc jockey — starred in more than 30 films over his career. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in February 1960. 

Arness was married twice. He had two sons with his first wife, Virginia Chapman, whom he was married to from 1948 to 1960. He was married to his second wife, Janet Surtees, from 1978 until his death at age 88 on June 3, 2011.

Milburn Stone as Dr. Galen "Doc" Adams

Milburn Stone played Galen "Doc" Adams, the town doctor, for Gunsmoke's entire run.

The actor, born in Kansas in 1904, had a career spanning over five decades. During his time on the Western series, he also starred in the 1957 film Drango and guest starred on the series Front Row Center and Climax!. Gunsmoke was his final acting credit.

Stone was first married to Ellen Morrison from 1925 to 1937. He was then married to Jane Garrison twice, first from 1939 to 1940, and then again from 1946 until his death from a heart attack on June 12, 1980, at age 75, per The New York Times.

Amanda Blake as Miss Kitty Russell

Blake portrayed the saloon owner and Matt Dillon's confidante, Miss Kitty Russell, from 1955 to 1974. She reprised the role in 1987's Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge.

Born in 1929 in Buffalo, N.Y., the actress continued to act after Gunsmoke. In addition to guest starring on The Quest, The Love Boat, Brothers and Dragnet, she had a recurring role on The Edge of Night.

She was married five times, including to Frank Gilbert, with whom she co-founded a cheetah breeding program.

Blake was passionate about animal welfare. In 1971, she co-founded the Arizona Animal Welfare League (AAWL), which is now the oldest and largest "no-kill" shelter in the state.

According to The New York Times, Blake passed away from AIDS-related complications on Aug. 16, 1989. She was 60.

Dennis Weaver as Chester Goode

Dennis Weaver played the loyal deputy Chester Goode from 1955 to 1964. He won an Emmy for his role in 1959.

The actor went on to earn two more Emmy nominations for McCloud and star on Centennial, Stone, Emerald Point N.A.S., Buck James and Wildfire, as well as in numerous TV movies. He received acclaim for his role as Buffalo Bill Cody in the miniseries Lonesome Dove: The Series and Steven Spielberg's 1971 TV movie Duel.

Later in his career, the Missouri-born actor took on voice acting and voiceover roles, including on the cartoon Captain Planet and the Planeteers and the 2004 animated film Home on the Range.

Off-screen, Weaver was active in environmental and humanitarian causes. He was president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1973 to 1975 and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1986.

The Kentucky Jones star was married to his childhood sweetheart, Geraldine Stowell, with whom he shared three children.

Weaver died of cancer at age 81 on Feb. 24, 2006, per CBS News.

Ken Curtis as Festus Haggen

Curtis replaced Weaver in 1964 as the colorful and humorous deputy Festus Haggen, a role he played until the show ended in 1975.

The Colorado-born actor began his career in the 1940s. After Gunsmoke, he appeared in several Westerns and guest-starred on many shows, including the 1978 miniseries Black Beauty and the single-series primetime soap opera The Yellow Rose.

His final role was the acclaimed 1991 TV movie Conagher, alongside cowboy regular Sam Elliott.

Curtis had a background in music and was a member of the Sons of the Pioneers.

His first wife was director John Ford's daughter Barbara. He was married to Torrie Connelly from 1966 until his death in 1991 at age 74, per The Washington Post.

Burt Reynolds as Quint Asper

Reynolds played blacksmith-turned-deputy Quint Asper from 1962 to 1965.

Born in 1936 in Michigan, Reynolds became a major film star in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of his best-known films include Deliverance (1972), The Longest Yard (1974) and its 2005 remake, Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Hooper (1978), The Cannonball Run (1981) and Boogie Nights (1997).

He made his directorial debut with the 1976 feature film Gator, the sequel to the 1973 film White Lightning, in which he starred as the character Gator McKlusky. Reynolds continued to direct episodes of shows like Evening Shade, TV movies, feature films and shorts such as the 2006 adaptation of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.

The iconic actor was a leading sex symbol of the 20th century. He once told PEOPLE that he "got better parts and better ladies" after growing his signature mustache.

He was married twice, first to Judy Carne from 1963 to 1965 and then to Loni Anderson from 1988 to 1994. Reynolds and Anderson, who died in August 2025, adopted one child together, son Quinton.

Reynolds died on Sept. 6, 2018. He was 82.

Roger Ewing as Thad Greenwood

Though his first appearance on Gunsmoke was as a character named Ben Lukens in February 1965, later that year, he'd take on a lengthier part: the young deputy Thad Greenwood. He'd stay in the role for 50 episodes, until September 1967, starring opposite Reynolds and Buck Taylor.

Born in 1942 in California, the actor's acting career began in high school on a variety show satire of Gunsmoke, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

After his time on the Western series, Ewing made a 1967 appearance on Mothers-in-Law. His last TV gig was in 1970 on Death Valley Days, while his final two films were Smith! (1969) and Play It as It Lays (1972).

Per THR, he later traded acting for photography. He was also active in local politics and ran for a city council seat in his hometown of Morro Bay, Calif., in 2003.

Ewing did not marry or have children. He died at age 83 on Dec. 18, 2025.

Buck Taylor as Newly O'Brien

Taylor, son of actor Dub Taylor, portrayed gunsmith-turned-deputy Newly O'Brien from 1967 to 1975. He reprised the role in Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge.

The Hollywood native continued acting after the series ended. He starred in several films, the vast majority of which were Westerns, including Tombstone (1993), Gettysburg (1993), Wild Wild West (1999), Cowboys & Aliens (2011) and Hell or High Water (2016), and appeared on shows like Dallas, Knots Landing, and Yellowstone. His most recent credit is 2025's Buffalo Daze.

Taylor was inducted into the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum's Hall of Great Western Performers in 1981.

Outside of Hollywood, Taylor became a renowned artist, specializing in Western-themed paintings.

The actor was married twice. From 1961 to 1983, he was married to Judy Nugent, with whom he shares four children: daughter Tiffany and sons Cooper, Matthew (a stuntman named after Arness' Gunsmoke character) and Adam. Adam died in a motorcycle accident in 1994. Taylor then tied the knot with Goldie Ann Taylor in April 1995.

Taylor is the last living regular cast member of Gunsmoke.

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