2. Bill Conrad:
William Conrad may perhaps be known to television viewers as the portly star of ‘Cannon’ or ‘Jake and the Fat Man’…….but to radio listeners Bill will always be the fast draw gunman who took a chancy job that’s a little lonely: The Marshall’s job at Dodge City, Kansas. It was the greatest western of all: Gunsmoke.
Gunsmoke started on radio in 1952 and was an immediate hit. Bill Conrad was perfect as Matt Dillon. He was tough, a little unmannered, deadly with a six-gun, and inclined to be rough on prisoners. Conrad played the part to the hilt. His voice could bite like the business end of a buzz-saw and he never shouted ‘come out with your hands up’ to any crooks. He just blasted ‘em. When Gunsmoke went to TV, the network bosses never gave Conrad a chance for the part. They gave him a ‘fake’ audition but had no intention of installing a ‘fat’ guy as the TV Marshall of Dodge.
The Radio Gunsmoke had a much harder edge than the television version. On TV, sometimes it seemed like Miss Kitty was Oprah…always helping people, giving away stuff, being nice to everybody, and lending cowpokes a couple silver dollars.
On radio, everybody knew what Miss Kitty’s business really was.
Listen to some radio Gunsmokes at the Internet Archive and you’ll quit those mild TV ‘smokes’ in favor of the full flavor radio ones.
The radio company of Gunsmoke.
From Left.
Howard McNear played Doc Adams for the entire run of the show. He also did quite a bit of television work, most notably as Floyd the Barber on the Andy Griffith show.
Bill Conrad. He was one of the busiest actors in radio, appearing in hundreds of programs, and it almost cost him the role of Matt Dillon. The creators of the series wanted him but some executives at the network felt that he was overexposed and too familiar to audiences. Among his many radio jobs, Bill Conrad was host and a featured performer on a popular CBS adventure series, “Escape”. Luckily for radio fans, the producers of the show got their way and Conrad played the part of Matt Dillon to perfection.
Seated next to Conrad, is veteran actor Parley Baer who had a sixty year career in radio and TV. He started out as a wild animal trainer, ringmaster, and circus performer. In World War Two he served in the army air force.
On Gunsmoke, Parley created the character of Chester, sidekick of Matt Dillon. Chester had no last name until Parley adlibbed “Proudfoot” during one broadcast. The name stuck, even through the 20 years of the television version.
On TV, as a contract player for CBS he appeared in most of their programs including the Andy Griffith Show and The Ozzie and Harriet Program.
Standing, is Georgia Ellis, who appeared in a few other radio and tv shows, but is primarily known for her role on Radio Gunsmoke.
Many people like both the radio and TV gunsmokes, but a lot of them prefer the radio show because it was much more realistic – an adult western.
Radio historian John Dunning had this to say, in his book about OTR,
He writes that Dillon…
"played his hand and often lost. He arrived too late to prevent a lynching. He amputated a dying man's leg and lost the patient anyway. He saved a girl from brutal rapists then found himself unable to offer her what she needed to stop her from moving into ... life as a prostitute."[14]
As a radio show Gunsmoke ran on CBS from 1952 to 1961. As a young boy, I listened to the program faithfully. It was my favorite radio show, for me it even topped the Lone Ranger and The Shadow. I’ll never forget one episode, I think it was in 1954, when at the end of the program Bill Conrad came out of character and said, “I’ve got good news folks. Gunsmoke is coming to television.”
He went on to say that the radio show would continue, but there would also be a TV version. I ran from my bedroom where I had been listening, into the kitchen where Mom was preparing dinner.
“Mom. I just heard that Gunsmoke is going to be on television,” I screamed excitedly as though I was giving some momentous news like World War Two has just ended. Mom wasn’t too impressed. She was a fan of Ma Perkins, The Edge of Night, and the Guiding Light.
When I saw the TV show I liked it. Me, an old radio guy, liked the TV show. I admit it. I watched it for 20 years and liked it. But…. I never liked it as much as the radio version. Bill Conrad is Matt Dillon. Jim Arness was a tall guy who was acting the part of Matt Dillon. There’s a big difference between the two.