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) empty barroom. Matt's sincerity is obvious inasmuch as he himself sometimes finds that the respectable citizens of Dodge City regard him with trepidation (and even suspicion) because his job involves being "...paid to handle a bad element." It is apparent that the incident at the dance has considerably strengthened the bond and the trust between Matt and Kitty. In a 1949 audition show (or pilot) for the radio series, the character was named "Mark Dillon", but by 1952, when the regular series aired, the name had been changed to Matt Dillon. When the program came to television in 1955, the