Gunsmoke Gunsmoke Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television. When aired in the UK, the television series was initially titled Gun Law, later reverting to "Gunsmoke". The radio series ran from 1952 to 1961. John Dunning wrote that among radio drama enthusiasts, ""Gunsmoke" is routinely placed among the best shows of any kind
Matt Dillon (Gunsmoke) events through the use of dialog. Arness's Matt thus naturally evolved into a "strong, silent" type of character who tended to act rather than talk at length about possible courses of action. Perhaps the best measure of Matt Dillon's endurance and physical prowess is how he survived the dozens of gunshot wounds and other assaults on his person during the 20-year run of the television series. In 2013, Marshall Trimble, the board president of the Arizona Historical Society and vice president of the Wild West History Association, documented all of Dillon's wounds from gunfire as well as his other brushes