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James Arness: An Autobiography
This is the long anticipated, never-before-told account of one of the icons of twentieth-century television. There are many personal revelations of interacting with some of the Gunsmoke family ensemble, such as Miss Kitty, Doc and Festus. His own work as a producer is covered. Throughout are rare, previously unpublished photographs from the author's personal collection. Ap
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Paperback
,
Large Print
,
331 pages
Published
July 1st 2008
by McFarland & Company
(first published September 2001)
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Community Reviews
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Mar 31, 2014
Mike (the Paladin)
rated it
5 of 5 stars
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review of another edition
Shelves:
biography
Please forgive my use of what some may consider a somewhat vulgar word in the quote below....
When I was young there was a saying many versions of which still survive, it's:
"You don't piss into the wind, you don't start a fight with Superman and you don't draw on Matt Dillon."
This is another book where I have to confess a personal bias. I suppose many times bios are selected because we already know, know of or about the subject of said bio.
Growing up every Sunday...and then Saturday (and even la ...more
When I was young there was a saying many versions of which still survive, it's:
"You don't piss into the wind, you don't start a fight with Superman and you don't draw on Matt Dillon."
This is another book where I have to confess a personal bias. I suppose many times bios are selected because we already know, know of or about the subject of said bio.
Growing up every Sunday...and then Saturday (and even la ...more
view 2 comments
Since Arness grew up in the same Minneapolis neighborhood as myself I really enjoyed reading about his early years. The rest covers his WW2 years where he was wounded at Anzio, his film/tv career. He was making tons of dough on Gunsmoke and its schedule allowed him an enviable, leisurly lifestyle of surfing, sailing, flying, ranching etc. Written in a low-key, innocuous style and is probably mainly of interest to hardcore Gunsmoke fans.
The Early Years and the WWII account were the most interesting parts of the life of James w Arness. The man certainly lived a charmed life and there is almost no one from my generation that didn't enjoy Gunsmoke
Every Saturday night when I was growing up the family would gather in front of the TV to watch Gunsmoke. James Arness aka Matt Dillon was a hero to us all. His life story if fascinating.
I really enjoyed reading about James Arness as I grew watching all the Gunsmoke episodes, black and white to color. I am still watching re-runs almost daily even now.
Autobiographies aren't usually my cup of tea but a friend loaned this to me (Kindle and all) so I read it. A chronological progression from childhood to retirement, the book is fairly dry and moves along quickly. Arness' early years were more interesting to me than the television years. The description of his WWII experiences and the period immediately following his return to the States gives us a good picture of this young athlete turned actor. What was most telling was that he cared enough to
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