Matt Dillon
This post started out focused on Dennis Weaver’s sidekick role as Chester Goode. It was to be followed by a second post on Ken Curtis sidekicking as Festus Haggen. A funny thing happened on the way to this orderly little plan. We were reminded Matt Dillon had five different sidekicks over the shows two decade run.
In the early 50’s Denis Weaver had a nascent acting career withering on the vine with an assortment of day-jobs to feed his family. In 1955 he landed the role of Chester Goode as sidekick to James Arness’s Matt Dillon. Chester gimped into the role with an affected stiff leg to enhance his secondary character. His work as Chester received the 1959 Emmy for Best Supporting Actor. Weaver left the show in 1963 to pursue a wider range of career opportunities. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Dodge City Trail of Fame and a place in the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. An environmentalist and philanthropist Weaver died of cancer in 2006.
Weaver’s departure from the show opened the sidekick revolving door. Burt Reynolds joined the cast as “half-breed” blacksmith Quint Asper. He played the role from 1962 to 1965 bridging Weaver’s departure and the arrival of Ken Curtis as Festus. Along the way the sidekick spotlight was shared with Roger Ewing as Thad Greenwood (’66-’68) and Buck Taylor, Dub Taylor’s son, as Newly O’Brien (’67-’75).
Ken Curtis found his way into the role of the irascible back county Festus Haggen following four guest appearances in the series. He came to the role with quite the resume. Son-in-law by one of his marriages to legendary director John Ford, Curtis played roles in Ford classics including Rio Grande, The Searchers, The Horse Soldiers, The Alamo and How the West Was Won. His Festus grated our ears with a fingernails-on-the-blackboard scratchy, nasal quality voice Curtis created. In real life, Curtis sang with the Tommy Dorsey band and the Sons of the Pioneers where he hit it big with the classic Ghost Riders in the Sky. Ken Curtis has his place in the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. He died of a heart attack in1991.
Next Week: National Barn Dance
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Ride easy,
Paul
In the early 50’s Denis Weaver had a nascent acting career withering on the vine with an assortment of day-jobs to feed his family. In 1955 he landed the role of Chester Goode as sidekick to James Arness’s Matt Dillon. Chester gimped into the role with an affected stiff leg to enhance his secondary character. His work as Chester received the 1959 Emmy for Best Supporting Actor. Weaver left the show in 1963 to pursue a wider range of career opportunities. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Dodge City Trail of Fame and a place in the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. An environmentalist and philanthropist Weaver died of cancer in 2006.
Weaver’s departure from the show opened the sidekick revolving door. Burt Reynolds joined the cast as “half-breed” blacksmith Quint Asper. He played the role from 1962 to 1965 bridging Weaver’s departure and the arrival of Ken Curtis as Festus. Along the way the sidekick spotlight was shared with Roger Ewing as Thad Greenwood (’66-’68) and Buck Taylor, Dub Taylor’s son, as Newly O’Brien (’67-’75).
Ken Curtis found his way into the role of the irascible back county Festus Haggen following four guest appearances in the series. He came to the role with quite the resume. Son-in-law by one of his marriages to legendary director John Ford, Curtis played roles in Ford classics including Rio Grande, The Searchers, The Horse Soldiers, The Alamo and How the West Was Won. His Festus grated our ears with a fingernails-on-the-blackboard scratchy, nasal quality voice Curtis created. In real life, Curtis sang with the Tommy Dorsey band and the Sons of the Pioneers where he hit it big with the classic Ghost Riders in the Sky. Ken Curtis has his place in the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. He died of a heart attack in1991.
Next Week: National Barn Dance
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
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