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MSNBC
Dennis Weaver, the diffident deputy Chester Goode in the TV classic western “Gunsmoke” and the canny New Mexico deputy solving New York City crime in “McCloud,” has died. The actor was 81.

Weaver died of complications from cancer Friday at his home in Ridgway, in southwestern Colorado, his publicist, Julian Myers, announced Monday.

“He was a wonderful man and a fine actor and we will all miss him,” Burt Reynolds, who played alongside Weaver in “Gunsmoke,” said Monday.

Weaver was a struggling actor in Hollywood in 1955, earning $60 a week delivering flowers when he was offered $300 a week for a role in a new CBS television series, “Gunsmoke.” After nine years as Chester, who he played with a stiff-legged gait, he was earning $9,000 a week.

When Weaver first auditioned for the series, he found the character of Chester “inane.” He wrote in his 2001 autobiography, “All the World’s a Stage,” that he said to himself: “With all my Actors Studio training, I’ll correct this character by using my own experiences and drawing from myself.”

The result was a well-rounded character that appealed to audiences, especially with his drawling, “Mis-ter Dil-lon.”

Technorati Tags: Dennis Weaver, TV, Gunsmoke, McCloud

This entry was posted on Monday, February 27th, 2006 at 2:11 pm and is filed under ODD Guests, Movies & TV. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.