Arness, James (1923)

Actor. Arness had played supporting roles, mainly in West?erns, for eight years before television made him a star. He stood all of six and a half feet and, unless one is playing a Thing from Another World (which Arness strikingly did), such height is hard to accommodate. He fitted effectively into Wagon Master as one of the evil Cleggs, but there was little else that mattered until John Wayne recommen?ded him for television's Gunsmoke. With the small screen cutting him to size, Arness played Marshal Matt Dillon for twenty years.