Marshal Matt Dillon

Matt Dillon
Gunsmoke character
James Arness as Matt Dillon in 1969.
Created by	Norman Macdonnell/John Meston
Portrayed by	William Conrad (Radio) James Arness (TV)
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	U.S. Marshal
Nationality	American

Matt Dillon is a fictional character featured on both the radio and television versions of Gunsmoke. He serves as the U.S. Marshal of Dodge City, Kansas, who works to preserve law and order in the western frontier of the 1870s. The character was created by writer John Meston, who envisioned him as a man "...whose hair is probably red, if he's got any left. He'd be handsomer than he is if he had better manners but life and his enemies have left him looking a little beat up, and I suppose having seen his mother (back about 1840) trying to take a bath in a wooden washtub without fully undressing left his soul a little warped. Anyway, there'd have to be something wrong with him or he wouldn't have hired on as a United States Marshal in the heyday of Dodge City, Kansas." Notwithstanding Meston's original vision, the character evolved considerably during Gunsmoke's nine-year run on CBS Radio and its 20-year run on CBS Television.

On the radio series (which ran from 1952 until 1961), Matt was portrayed by William Conrad, whose deep and resonant voice helped to project a larger than life presence. In the opening of most radio episodes, the announcer would describe the show as "...the story of the violence that moved west with young America, and the story of a man who moved with it." William Conrad's Matt would take over, saying, "I'm that man, Matt Dillon, United States Marshal -- the first man they look for and the last they want to meet. It's a chancy job, and it makes a man watchful . . . and a little lonely." Conrad's Matt provided bits of narration for many of the radio episodes, usually to help set the scene for the listener or to provide observations that assisted with character development. Inasmuch as the radio episodes were a bit darker and more violent in nature than the television episodes (especially in the radio series' early years), Conrad's Matt could sometimes be quick to anger and unhesitating with respect to taking violent courses of action. Paradoxically, however, Conrad's Matt often struggled internally with the need to utilize violence in order to fulfill his duties. He also struggled internally with the frequent needless tragedies that his job caused him to witness. These factors were the primary reasons that Conrad's Matt could occasionally become snappish and impatient with others (including his friends and allies). At all times, however, he managed to remain sufficiently in control of his emotions to perform his difficult job capably and impartially. Conrad's Matt would speak frequently of the still-fragile acceptance of law and order on the frontier and he would sometimes determine his course of action based upon what he honestly felt was necessary to preserve its long-term acceptance. In the radio version, Matt spoke of actual persons who were well known in the history of the American West, including Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid (whose "supposed" origin figured in the very first episode of the radio series), and he often referred to Wild Bill Hickok as being a close personal friend.