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September 2001 issue

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Other Past Interviews:
Tom Selleck
on Crossfire Trail

Barry Corbin
of Crossfire Trail, Lonesome Dove and Conagher fame.

And the rest, as they say, is historyevery bit of which is covered in his new book (written with James E. Wise, Jr.), James Arness: An Autobiography. This comprehensive account of the film stars life is the ultimate must-have book that many western fans have long been hoping for, and one which Arness fans will certainly treasure. The book starts off with a bangthe foreword is written by Burt Reynolds (who played Quint Aspen, in Gunsmoke). Within its pages are many rare photos from the star's personal collection, plus a number of other wonderful personal accounts written by fellow actors Buck Taylor (Newly O'Brien), Morgan Woodward, Bruce Boxleitner (How the West Was Won), and stuntman/double Ben Bates. Another section contains comments by some of the show's guest stars and, yes, even fans!

Recently I had the opportunity to talk with James Arness. When asked how he came to be among the lucky ones who carved out a life-long career in a business as tough as show business, the conviction in the actors voice is unmistakable.

Ive always felt like there was some kind of providence at work that was sort of guiding me along, says James Arness, because over the years Ive had a lot of success in this business. When youre out here in this business, especially when youre first starting out, you get to know a lot of others who are trying to get things going too. Some manage to really put it together and others break their bones trying to get somewhere year after year and cant seem to do it. I felt that certainly in my case my success was a providential thing. I never thought of myself of some special kind of talented actor, things just seemed to come along and just always work out.

After completing his first film The Farmers Daughter in Sept. 1946, young Arness didnt immediately go back to pounding the pavement in serach of more roles. Instead he hit the California beaches in pursuit of the newest love in his life: surfing.

I got so hung up on surfing that I kind of drifted away from Hollywood, Arness admits.

But by that time the men who served in the war were returning to states and to their pre-war jobs. The studios gave the returning vets first consideration for parts.

So that made it tougher for me, not having been there before the war. I guess I got kind of discouraged during that period. I just didnt really keep up with all of the daily stuff youre supposed to do, so I got a little behind.

Arness might not have left the beach bum life behind if a friend hadn't stopped by and encouraged him to read for a play at the Pasadena Playhouse.

I thought, well, maybe Ill try that and see what happens," says Arness. "Anyway, I wound up getting a part in the play and that sort of got me back in the acting mode again.

Luckily, things quickly panned out. In 1948, Arness landed a minor role in his first western, Whiplash (Warner Bros.).

The 1950s - The Boom Years - 19 films - Every set I worked on was fun.

After playing the heavy in the 1952 civil war epic Hellgate, Arness landed a role in The People Against OHara, opposite Spencer Tracy.

What was it like working with this legendary actor?

Spencer Tracy was just a very serious-minded guy, says Arness. When he came onto the set everybody really settled, there were no extraneous conversations or anything like that going on. When he came on, first you would rehearse the scene and make sure it was just the way he wanted it to be. Of course, he was one of the greatest actors that ever came through the business and it was a great privilege to be around this man. I actually had several scenes that I played with him, so it was a big break for me.

Little did he know that an even bigger break was looming on the horizon. Arness recalls his first meeting with John Wayne.

I had gotten an interview with him as he was preparing to do a picture. He was at Republic Studios then, so I went out to meet him. There I was sitting across the desk from the great one! Arness chuckles at the memory.

He was a tremendously impressive guy and his persona was just like what youve seen on the screen. He was a big, real friendly guy, strong personality. So we talked a bit and he wasnt overly interested in all of the work I might have done. I think he was trying to see whether maybe I was the kind of guy that hed like to have along on his company. Evidently I passed the test and got the part and it was great! Working with him was a marvelous experience.

At that time, Arness had no inkling this meeting with John Wayne would be the start of a long-term friendship with the legendary star. Soon after the picture was completed, Waynes film company, Batjac Productions, signed Arness to a regular yearly contract.

That turned out to be great because I got a steady income. I was there for three years and appeared in several of his pictures. That was a wonderful time. They were really a great bunch of guys to be around and work with.

The first John Wayne western in which Arness appeared was Hondo in 1953. The film was directed by John Farrow. However, Farrow wasnt the only director on location. Hanging around, serving in an unofficial capacity was legendary director John Ford, who Arness simply describes as a very colorful guy.

Arness laughs and explains, Ford used to kind of nose around and look in on things. When he wasnt directing it hed usually stop by and see what was happening. He came down during the shooting of Hondo and wound up doing like a second unit, out filming some action sequences. So he was down there for a few weeks and ended up being like a second director. He wasnt given any official credit or anything, but Farrow really did direct most of the picture.

And how did Farrow take to Fords unofficial presence?

Well, I dont really know what the behind the scenes imaginations were and all, but I imagine it probably seemed a little strange, Arness chuckles. Ford had the habit of doing that on a lot of Waynes pictures of course, including The Alamo. There Duke was directing The Alamo and Ford came down, moved in there and started directing it himself.

John Ford also had a habit of playing practical jokes, especially when he was looking to capture a certain reaction on film. During the filming of Hondo, Arness remembers one such stunt in a scene Ford was directing. The scene had Arness in the back of a wagon, fighting off Indians. Ford told Arness he wanted him to raise up, shoot and then duck down for cover. An archer would then fire an arrow which would fly over Arnesss head and land in the back of the seat.

And then Ford said to me, Jim, you dont have to worry about it because Ive got the Archery Champion of Mexico right over here, off camera. Then he introduced this guy to me.

That was one introduction Arness would never forget. As he shook hands with the archery expert, Arness couldnt help but wonder about the big, thick glasses the man was wearing (which was all part of Fords gag). In spite of any apprehensions that Arness might have had at the time, he went ahead with completing the scene. Immediately afterwards, Ford told Arness to put his head up in the scene once again, and with the camera still rolling Arness did just that.

As soon as I put my head up, this guy fired the arrow and it went right past my nose!

The resulting look of total shock, albeit genuine, was all that Ford had hoped it would be.

Oh God, he loved to do stuff like that, Arness chuckles.

In 1953, Arness was loaned out to Warner Brothers for the Sci-Fi classic Them, starring opposite James Whitmore. Arness is the type of guy who enjoys having fun on a set. On the other hand, James Whitmore... well, isnt he an extremely serious actor?

Oh-ho, I should say so! gushes Arness. The thought of cracking up during a scene was something he really couldnt even imagine.

Although acting is indeed a serious profession, there is something magical about Arness that always manages to draw amusement from his co-workers. His autobiography is peppered with personal anecdotes by actors who tell of suffering from laughing fits, both on film and off, while working with him. Even as serious an actor as Whitmore was, he too found himself cracking up during the morgue scenes he did with Arness... and it wasnt long before the films director had reached his wits end with the pair.

After a while, recalls Arness, he had the big boss come down and chew us out, and eventually we got our act together.

Later that same year the Hollywood trade papers reported that a groundbreaking adult-themed western television show was under development. At the time Arness wasnt even being considered for the part. But then one day out of the blue he received a call to read for the role of U. S. Marshal Matt Dillon of Gunsmoke. Initially Arness declined the part after seeking out the trusted advice of experienced director Eddie Ludwig (who had directed Big Jim McLain). Ludwig was very concerned that if the television series failed, Arness might then have a tough time finding roles again in motion pictures.

But that was before I talked to Duke, says Arness. Duke called me in and said, I think you really ought to do this. I think its really going to be good for you. He was wholeheartedly in favor of it. He convinced me, thank God, that it was the thing to do.

Prior to this time the original Gunsmoke had been a successful radio show for six years. Yet the questioned remained: how well would an adult western fare in the new medium of television?

January 1955 - Gunsmoke Filming Begins at the Gene Autry Ranch

In 1955, nervous CBS execs must have been sweating bullets when they finally scheduled Gunsmoke into the Fall television line up. But as with any good western drama, when things get tough, in rides a heroJohn Wayne gave the show an incredible boost by applying his stamp of approval in a very unique way. While the cast gathered around the television set in the Arnesss living room to watch the debut airing that night, they were surprised to see Wayne introduce the series.

Of course, that was an extremely gracious thing for him to do, says Arness. And, boy, that meant a great deal. That had a lot to do with us getting off to such a great start. I dont know of any other television show that had a big movie star come in and introduce them like that.

That first season Arness flew through the filming very casually. Yet by the second season the rigors of a weekly show seemed to shake the confidence he had in himself as an actor.

When I first started Gunsmoke I thought, this is television and I can do this easily. But I found the workload was so tremendous. Id never done anything that was even remotely as much work as that. I was in every scene and I was having to do about fifteen pages of dialogue a day, and I began to feel overwhelmed. As an actor I had never been faced with having to do that much work in such a short period of time.

Eventually Arness sought out a private acting coach Elsa Schreiber, who helped him get more into the character.

She was one of the best. She helped me tremendously. I would send her the script for the coming week and she would look that over and study it. Then Id go over there on a Saturday afternoon and by then she would have familiarize herself with that particular episode and what I had to do. Thats the way she worked. She didnt start out with generalities about acting or teaching a certain technique. She strictly coached you on the role you were playing. So we would go through that script, scene by scene, and she would help me to have the right feeling and understanding about the character and how he would react to these various things. After a period of time I felt much more comfortable going to work.

When it comes to explaining the endearing qualities of Gunsmoke or exploring the magic behind it that managed to win the hearts of its viewers, Arness admits thats a tough one to try to figure out.

Its a mystery, he says. And thats not true just of us and our show, but its true of any movie. Lets say if youre the producer and you start out hiring the best writer to write the best script you can get, then you get the best actors to play the parts, the best director... all these components have to come together. And in many cases it doesnt work. To try to figure out that very subtle combination of qualities... its an unexplainable chemistry.

The 60s - A Time of Change

As the show entered its eighth season, ratings were beginning to slip. The decision was made to expand the episodes from a half-hour to a full hour.

That was tough to do, says Arness. We did a year or two of those and had a lot of trouble making them all work. The audience didnt accept this change all that well, at first. Then I think it was two seasons after that they decided to shoot in color, and that in itself helped out a lot. About that time we also had a whole new production team come in that were fresh to the show, so they added a lot of new ideas and the thing picked back up again.

In 1966, CBS moved Gunsmoke from Saturday to Monday nights. Under the guidance of producer/writer John Mantley the show transitioned into an anthology-type series, featuring stars like Bette Davis, Bruce Dern, Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, and scores of other well-knowns, as well as many who were on the brink of stardomincluding Harrison Ford (who fell on his gun during shooting and knocked out several of his teeth).

Not only had Arness provided an entire generation with a moral hero in his portrayal of U. S. Marshal Matt Dillon, the show also provided many treasured memories. For many folks during that era, watching the show truly became a family affair.

In April 1975 Arness and the cast were shocked to learn that Gunsmoke had been canceled. Perhaps providence was at play here, too, for it was but a brief month later the world of the television star was solidly rocked upon learning of the tragic and untimely death of his daughter Jennie (from his first marriage). In his autobiography Arness credits his wife Janet for helping him through that truly devastating period of his life. (Their loving marriage is now twenty-three years strong.)

Then in 1976 it was back to television for Jim with How the West Was Won. Arness says he enjoyed playing the role of Zeb Macahan. The mini-series was markedly different from his experiences on Gunsmoke.

Zeb Macahan was a totally different kind of guy than Matt Dillon had been. He was a wild type of mountain man who didnt really obey any laws except his own. So it was a lot of fun making the switch and playing that character.

The last episode aired in April of 1979. But James Arness was not done with television just yet. He went on to star in the short-lived series McClains Law (1981-82), plus five made-for-television Gunsmoke moviesall of which can be read about in more detail in his autobiography!

To sum it all up, Arness adds, Its just been a wonderful experience. My whole life in this business, I really do believe, has been guided by providence. Ive had as wonderful a life, certainly, as an actor can have. I look back on this whole thing with the greatest appreciation. Its just been a marvelous life.

Speaking for a generation that was touched, shaped and guided by the hero that James Arness gave to us through his portrayal of Matt Dillon, all we can say is thank you. Small words, simple words. Yet for those of us still awed by the long tall shadow of a hero so rare, we sincerely wish those two little words may somehow forever resound mightily within the heart of the man to whom that shadow belongs.

Copyright ©2001 Taylor Sophia Fogarty.
American Western Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Duplication not permitted.