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) hesitated to do so when the situation warranted. Dillon often tried to talk men out of "trying him", and would express a genuine regret to family members when he had to kill a man. In one salute to modern police dramas, one episode ["The Fourth Victim"] Matt Dillon has to try to stop a mad killer who is shooting Dodge citizens for no apparent reason. Possibly the angriest Matt Dillon ever got was after an accidental shooting ("The Round Up"). An old friend, Zel, had come to town during an influx of wild acting cattle drovers. Matt deputized him, and