‘Gunsmoke’ deputy dies at 81
LOS ANGELES – Dennis Weaver, the slow-witted deputy Chester Goode in the TV classic western “Gunsmoke” and the New Mexico deputy solving New York crime in “McCloud,” has died. The actor was 81.
Weaver died of complications from cancer Friday at his home in Ridgway, in southwestern Colorado, his publicist Julian Myers said.
Born in Joplin, Mo., Weaver was a World War II pilot and star athlete who came close to qualifying for the decathlon in the 1948 Olympics. He then turned to acting and made his Broadway debut in 1950 in “Come Back, Little Sheba.”
Weaver was a struggling actor in Hollywood in 1955, earning $60 a week delivering flowers when he was offered $300 a week for a role in a new CBS television series, “Gunsmoke.” By the end of his nine years with “Gunsmoke,” he was earning $9,000 a week.
When Weaver first auditioned for the series, he found the character of Chester “inane.” He wrote in his 2001 autobiography, “All the World’s a Stage,” that he said to himself: “With all my Actors Studio training, I’ll correct this character by using my own experiences and drawing from myself.”
The result was a well-rounded character that appealed to audiences, especially with his drawling, “Mis-ter Dil-lon.”
At the end of seven hit seasons, Weaver sought other horizons. He announced his departure, but the failures of pilots for his own series caused him to return to “Gunsmoke” on a limited basis for two more years. The role brought him an Emmy in the 1958-59 season.
To 1970s television viewers, he was Sam McCloud, a slow-talking but sharp-witted New Mexico marshal who chased a fugitive to New York and ended up staying for seven years, on the “McCloud” mystery movie series.
Weaver also starred on television in the late 1960s series “Gentle Ben,” in which he played a wildlife officer whose family befriended a large bear.
He would later say that role was after his heart, since he was a longtime environmental activist. In 1989, he built Earthship, a 10,000-square-foot solar-powered home in Ridgway, using 3,000 recycled tires and 300,000 aluminum and tin cans.
He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Gerry, and three sons.