Matt Dillon (Gunsmoke) 1840) trying to take a bath in a wooden washtub without fully undressing left his soul a little warped. Anyway, there'd have to be something wrong with him or he wouldn't have hired on as a United States Marshal in the heyday of Dodge City, Kansas." Notwithstanding Meston's original vision, the character evolved considerably during "Gunsmoke"s nine-year run on CBS Radio and its 20-year run on CBS Television (Columbia Broadcasting System). On the radio series which ran from 1952 until 1961, Matt was portrayed by William Conrad, whose deep and resonant voice helped to project a larger than life presence.
Matt Dillon (Gunsmoke) (Milburn Stone), and saloon-keeper Kitty Russell (Amanda Blake). These three individuals were among Matt's few real friends because he knew that he could trust them in any situation. In the television version, Chester was eventually replaced by Festus Haggen (Ken Curtis), an uneducated country-boy, but savvy plainsman who ultimately became a badge-wearing Deputy U.S. Marshal; a position that always eluded Chester. In both the radio and television versions, the exact nature of Matt's relationship with Kitty Russell was deliberately kept somewhat vague. Kitty was portrayed by Georgia Ellis in the radio version and by Amanda Blake in the television version.