James Arness obituary

James Arness, who has died aged 88, may not have been the biggest film star ever, but he was certainly one of the tallest, at 6ft 7in. His height and large bulk made a lasting impression in his role of US Marshal Matt Dillon in the television western series Gunsmoke, which Arness played for 20 years.

As the poker-faced, taciturn marshal of Dodge City who works to preserve law and order on the western frontier in the 1870s, Arness, in medium-close shots, often had to perform standing in a hole, or else other actors stood on boxes so their faces could be in frame. His height was also a factor in his casting in the title role of The Thing from Another World (1951), also known as The Thing, which gave impetus to his career.

Arness himself found the part of the alien plant creature that feeds on human blood embarrassing, remarking that his make-up "made me look like a giant carrot". In another sci-fi, Them! (1954), he played it straight as an FBI agent on the trail of huge mutant atomic ants, good practice for his later dealings with human beasts in Gunsmoke.

He was born James King Aurness in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His father, a businessman, was of Norwegian origin, his mother, a journalist, had German ancestry. His younger brother was the actor Peter Graves, who died last year. After high school he had various jobs, and for a time was a lumberjack.

When the US entered the second world war, he wanted to become a navy pilot, but his height disqualified him. He joined the army instead, and was awarded a Purple Heart after suffering serious injuries to his right leg during the 1944 invasion at Anzio, Italy. His wounds continued to bother him, and prevented him from mounting a horse, quite a handicap for a western hero. For almost a year he was in hospital, where nurses suggested that, with his sonorous voice, he ought to be in radio. Taking their advice, Arness became an announcer and disc jockey at a Minneapolis radio station, before deciding to try his luck in Hollywood.

He made his screen debut, billed as James Aurness, simulating a Swedish accent, as one of Loretta Young's three beefy brothers in The Farmer's Daughter (1947). He then appeared as a soldier in William Wellman's Battleground (1949), a cowboy in John Ford's Wagon Master (1950), a boxer in Iron Man (1951), the title role in The People Against O'Hara (1951), as an innocent accused of murder defended by Spencer Tracy, and one of James Stewart's brothers in Carbine Williams (1952).

Big Jim McLain (1952) was the first of four films Arness made with his close buddy John Wayne, whose rightwing ideology he shared. In this simplistic McCarthyite movie, he and Wayne played two US House Un-American Activities Committee investigators out to break up a ring of commie agitators in Hawaii. Arness's character, in particular, sees red every time he sees a "red" because, as Wayne's voiceover explains: "My partner hates these people. They shot at him in Korea." 

His other roles supporting Wayne were as an Indian Scout in Hondo (1953), a pilot in Island in the Sky (1953) and a German sailor in The Sea Chase (1955). It was Wayne who suggested Arness for Marshal Matt Dillon in Gunsmoke. Afraid of being typecast, Arness initially rejected it. "Go ahead and take it, Jim," Wayne urged him. "You're too big for pictures. Guys like Gregory Peck and I don't want a big lug like you towering over us. Make your mark in television."

From then on, Arness played little else but Matt Dillon, including in five television movies between 1987 and 1994, ending with Gunsmoke: One Man's Justice, in which the 71-year-old was still someone to look up to. The character's durability could be explained by his being a voice of reason, with an unwavering sense of fairness, using his gun only as a last resort.

Arness was made an honorary US marshal, "in recognition of his unique contribution to the image and traditions of the US Marshals Service", and in June 2003 he was honoured for his career by the Los Angeles City Council for "leaving us with one of the most telling and realistic portraits ever created of the brave, tall man in the saddle who tames a western town as he searches for justice and peace".

Arness is survived by his second wife, Janet Surtees, and son Rolf, from his first marriage to the actor Virginia Chapman, which ended in divorce. A daughter and an adopted son predeceased him.

James Arness (James King Aurness), actor, born 26 May 1923; died 3 June 2011

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