John Meston and refined the main characters who would populate his and Macdonnell's radio portrayal of Dodge. Jeff Spain soon became United States Marshal Matt Dillon, and veteran voice actor William Conrad was chosen by Meston, Macdonnell, and two other network audition judges to be the lawman and the series' central figure. Other seasoned actors filled the needed regular supporting roles, including Parley Baer as Marshal Dillon's trusty assistant Chester Proudfoot, Howard McNear as Dr. Charles "Doc" Adams, and Georgia Ellis, whose role in the series' early episodes would quickly evolve into the saloon "hostess" Kitty Russell. "Gunsmoke" was broadcast for the
Matt Dillon Award for Best Spoken Word Album for narrating Jack Kerouac's "On the Road". In 2015, he has starred in the first season of the FOX television series "Wayward Pines", for which he was nominated for a Saturn Award. Dillon was born in New Rochelle, New York, to Mary Ellen, a homemaker, and Paul Dillon, a portrait painter and sales manager for Union Camp, a toy bear manufacturer. His paternal grandmother was the sister of comic strip artist Alex Raymond, the creator of "Flash Gordon". Dillon is the second of six children with one sister and four brothers, one of whom