Monday, February 27, 2006

'Gunsmoke,' 'McCloud' Actor Weaver Dies


From Yahoo News:
Dennis Weaver, an actor with a Midwestern twang who played stiff-legged Chester the deputy on "Gunsmoke" and the cowboy cop hero in "McCloud," has died. He was 81.

Weaver died Friday from complications of cancer 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," said Burt Reynolds, who appeared with Weaver in "Gunsmoke" in the early 1960s.

Weaver and actor James Arness were close friends since their 1955 screen test for "Gunsmoke."

"It is a very sad time and a big loss for me personally," Arness said. "He provided comic relief but was also a real person doing things that were very important to the show."

Weaver's 50-year career included stage plays and movies. But his real success was on television, where in addition to his cowboy roles he shared the screen with a 600-pound black bear on "Gentle Ben" and faced down a murderous big-rig in the early Steven Spielberg movie "Duel."

Weaver starred last year in ABC Family's "Wildfire" as the eccentric owner of a thoroughbred racing ranch.

"His performance never ceased to dazzle us," the cable channel said in a prepared statement. "He was an American legend not only for his contribution to the acting community but for his extensive and inspirational environmental work."

They say death comes in threes. This past weekend we lost Don Knotts, Darren McGavin, and Dennis Weaver.