Matt Dillon's Favorite

Photograph of man wearing cowboy hat inside an illustration of a badge shape with red, white and blue stripes.  Blue and red text on a white background.

Actor James Arness played U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon, the leading character in the Western television drama Gunsmoke. The TV series was set in Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West. John Wayne, fellow actor and friend to Arness, recommended him for the role of Dillon. Gunsmoke ran for 20 seasons from 1955 to 1975. After the show ended, Arness starred in the Western TV series How the West Was Won and performed in Western movies. Arness was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and died in 2011 at the age of 88 in Brentwood, California.