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
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