final credits - dennis weaver
He became a star by wearing one.
Actor Dennis Weaver played two of television's most beloved lawmen: the slow-witted deputy Deputy Chester Goode on "Gunsmoke" and Sam McCloud, the New Mexico cowboy-deputy solving crime in New York, on "McCloud."
Weaver died February 24th, 2006 at the age of 81 of complications from cancer.
The actor who made the drawling "Mis-ter Dil-lon" part of schoolground lexicon in the late 1950s was earning $60 a week delivering flowers when he was offered five times that much for a role in a new CBS western in 1955. After nine years with "Gunsmoke," Weaver was earning $9,000 a week (the typical family car of the period cost $4,000).
Having trained in the Actor's Studio, Weaver first thought the character of Chester to be "inane." He drew on his training and turned Goode into a well-rounded character that appealed to audiences.
Weaver gave Goode a limp so he would be noticed when playing scenes with 6-foot 7-inch co-star James Arness. Weaver played the part so well that thousands of fans wrote to him offering money, advice and the names of top surgeons to correct his limp.
Weaver later said, “If I’d have known I would do that for nine years, I wouldn’t have picked a character with a stiff leg. Try making a campfire with a stiff leg.”
After seven seasons with the show, Weaver announced his departure. After attempts at launching his own series failed he returned to "Gunsmoke" on a limited basis for two more years. The role brought him an Emmy in the 1958-59 season.
"Gunsmoke" originally started out as a radio drama. The Marshall Dillon TV role was originally offered to John Wayne. Turning it down, Wayne recommended Arness and appeared on the first episode in 1955 to introduce and endorse the series. "Gunsmoke" ran for twenty years.
Weaver went on to star in "Kentucky Jones," a 1964 comedy-drama series about a veterinarian-horse trainer who adopts a Chinese orphan. Despite good reviews, the NBC show was cancelled after 26 weeks.
In 1966, Weaver starred in the series "Gentle Ben" with a 600-pound black bear that his family adopts as a pet. The series was cancelled after two seasons, with CBS stating it needed more 'adult entertainment.'
A few years later, Weaver came into the part he called "the most satisfying role of my career."
On NBC's "McCloud," Weaver played Sam McCloud, a no-nonsense lawman from Taos, New Mexico who was transplanted to the crime-stained streets of New York City. Weaver endeared an audience with such ranch-land tactics as riding his horse through Manhattan traffic (driving local cops crazy) and always solving the case.
Playing McCloud's boss, Chief of Detectives Peter B. Clifford, was veteran character actor J.D. Cannon, who died May 20th, 2005 at age 83. Cannon once appeared on an episode of "Gunsmoke" in 1964, shortly after Weaver left.
NBC's "McCloud" series ran from 1970 to 1977, with Weaver receiving two Emmy nominations for his role. "McCloud," with "Columbo and "McMillan and Wife," was initially one of three elements in the "NBC Mystery Movie" rotation. The TV show was loosely based on Clint Eastwood's 1968 film "Coogan's Bluff."
Weaver appeared in dozens of TV movies, the most notable being 1971's "Duel" with Weaver playing a driver terrorized by a large truck following him down a dangerous mountain road. Directed by Steven Spielberg, the TV film made the rare leap to theatrical release in 1983. Weaver did many of his own stunts in the tele-pic.
Weaver also appeared in several movies, including the 1958 Orson Welles film-noir classic "Touch of Evil," 1955's "Ten Wanted Men," 1955's "Seven Angry Men," 1954's "Dragnet," 1966's "Way ... Way Out" and 1955's "The Bridges at Toko-Ri" in an uncredited role. All told, Weaver made over 100 film and television appearances.
In 1982, Weaver became the spokesman in commercials for Great Western Bank, taking over from John Wayne after "The Duke's" death.
Weaver last starred in 2005 in ABC Family's "Wildfire" as an eccentric owner of a thoroughbred racing ranch.
In recent years, Weaver became an activist for protecting the environment and combating world hunger. He served as president of Love Is Feeding Everyone (LIFE), feeding needy people in Los Angeles County.
Weaver and his wife built "Earthship," a 10,000-square-foot solar-powered Colorado home made from about 3,000 recycled tires and 300,000 tin and aluminum cans. It was featured in a 1990 PBS documentary and was recently offered for sale at $3,750,000 USD.
Weaver was born in Joplin, Missouri. After Navy service in World War II, he enrolled at the University of Oklahoma and qualified for the U.S. Olympic trials in the decathlon but missed the cut by placing sixth.
In the University's drama class, he introduced Jean Speegle to Rance Howard. The two later married and raised Ron and Clint Howard.
Weaver studied at the Actors Studio in New York and appeared in "A Streetcar Named Desire" opposite Shelley Winters.
From 1973 to 1975, Weaver served as president of the Screen Actors Guild. Weaver has a Bacon number of 2.
Other TV actor tributes can be found here.