James arness series#

He was severely wounded in his right leg during the Battle of Anzio, and medically evacuated from Italy to the US, where he was sent to the 91st General Hospital in Clinton, Iowa. Arness – due to his height – was the first man to be ordered off his landing craft to determine the depth of the water it came up to his waist. As a rifleman, he landed on Anzio Beachhead on January 22, 1944, with the 2nd Platoon, E Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division. He was drafted into the US Army and reported to Fort Snelling in March 1943. However, his 6-ft, 7-in (2.01 m) frame ended his chances because the limit for aviators was set at 6 ft, 2 in (1.88 m).

Military service in World War II Īlthough Arness wanted to be a naval fighter pilot, he was concerned his poor eyesight would bar him. Īrness entered Beloit College that fall, where he joined the campus choir and became a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Despite 'being a poor student and skipping many classes,' he graduated from high school in June 1942. During this time, Arness worked as a courier for a jewelry wholesaler, loading and unloading railway boxcars at the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad freight yards in Minneapolis, and logging in Pierce, Idaho. Īrness attended John Burroughs Grade School, Washburn High School, and West High School in Minneapolis. Peter used the stage name 'Graves', a maternal family name. Arness' younger brother was actor Peter Graves. The family name had been Aursnes, but when Rolf's father, Peter Aursnes, emigrated from Norway in 1887, he changed it to Aurness. His father's ancestry was Norwegian his mother's was German. His parents were businessman Rolf Cirkler Aurness and journalist Ruth Duesler. He was the older brother of actor Peter Graves.

James arness series#

In Europe, Arness reached cult status for his role as Zeb Macahan in the Western series How the West Was Won. Arness has the distinction of having played the role of Dillon in five decades: 1955 to 1975 in the weekly series, then in Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987) and four more made-for-television Gunsmoke films in the 1990s.

James Arness (born James King Aurness – June 3, 2011) was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon for 20 years in the CBS television series Gunsmoke.