James Arness is an actor best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon on "Gunsmoke" for 20 years (though the length of time in a role is shared with Kelsey Grammer’s portrayal of Dr. Frasier Crane, Grammer played the same role on "three" different programs, Cheers, Frasier, and Wings), however, James Arness has played the part of Marshal Matt Dillon in 5 separate decades. 1955 to 1975 in the weekly series. Wikipedia
The definitive Wikipedia entry for James Arness. Wikipedia is the biggest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the Internet. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Arness
Most remembered for his role as 'U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon' of Dodge City Kansas, James Arness was born on May 26, 1923 in Minneapolis, MN. www.tv.com/person/34003/summary.html