Gunsmoke

William Dennis Weaver was an American actor, best known for his work in television, including his role as Matt Dillon's trusty deputy Chester Goode on the long-running western series Gunsmoke, as Marshal Sam McCloud on the NBC police drama McCloud, and in the 1971 TV movie Duel, the first film of... director Steven Spielberg. Weaver was born in Joplin, Missouri, son of Walter Weaver and his wife Lena Prather. His father was of Irish, Scottish, English, Cherokee and Osage ancestry. Weaver wanted to be an actor from childhood. For a short time during his teenage years he lived in Manteca, California. He studied at Joplin Junior College, now Missouri Southern State University and then transferred to the University of Oklahoma at Norman, where he studied drama and was a track star, setting records in several events. During World War II he served as a pilot in the United States Navy. At the war's end, married Gerry Stowell, by whom he had three children - Richard, Robert and Rustin Weaver. He tried out for the U.S. Olympic team in the decathlon. He finished sixth and only the top three were chosen for the team.
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