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
Paul Richards (actor) "Gunsmoke", "Bonanza", "Trackdown", "Rawhide", "The Virginian", "The Loner", and "The Guns of Will Sonnett." Richards also performed four times as a guest star on "Gunsmoke". In 1955, in that long-running CBS series' very first episode, “Matt Gets It,” he portrays a gunfighter who outdraws and nearly kills Marshal Matt Dillon. The next year, in the episode “Mr. and Mrs. Amber”, he delivered another memorable performance playing a poor, desperate homesteader beleaguered by his rich, self-righteous brother-in-law. His other two appearances on "Gunsmoke" are in 1958 and 1968 episodes. Richards guest-starred three times in 1956 on the NBC western anthology series