James Arness

James Arness was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon in the television series Gunsmoke foryears. Arness has the distinction of having played the role of Dillon in five separate decades 1955 to 1975 in the weekly series, then in Gunsmoke Return to Dodge and four more madefortelevision Gunsmoke films in the 1990s. In Europe, Arness reached cult status for his role as Zeb Macahan in the western series How the West Was Won. His younger brother was actor Peter Graves.

James Arness was born James King Aurness in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 26, 1923 he dropped the u when he started acting. His parents were Rolf Cirkler Aurness, a businessman, and his wife Ruth Duesler, a journalist. His fathers ancestry was Norwegian his mothers was German. The family name had been Aursnes, but when Rolfs father, Peter Aursnes, emigrated from Norway in 1887, he changed it to Aurness. Arness and his family were Methodists. Arness younger brother was actor Peter Graves . Peter used the stage name Graves, a maternal family name.

Source: Wikipedia