Matt Dillon (Gunsmoke) no uncertain terms that he had no interest whatsoever. (Wayne was arguably the cinema's foremost box office attraction at the time.) Warren stated that the inquiry had not been serious inasmuch as Wayne could not realistically have been expected to abandon a thriving movie career for a less certain and immensely less lucrative television role. Wayne did, however, recommend James Arness for the part and his offer to introduce the first episode was readily accepted by CBS. Others who had auditioned for the part included Raymond Burr, Richard Boone, Denver Pyle, and William Conrad. All would go on to other
Sheila Dillon Sheila Dillon Sheila Dillon is a British food journalist who began her career writing for the New York food magazine "Food Monitor". She is known to listeners of Radio Four as presenter of "The Food Programme", on which she has appeared for more than 20 years. Dillon has been the programme's regular presenter since 2001. Dillon was born in Hoghton, Lancashire, and grew up in the 1950s and 1960s. She is from a farming background and went to a Roman Catholic primary school. Her grandfather was a head joiner on the Hoghton Tower Estate. Her mother worked as a weaver