Aurness, James King

1923 - James Arness was born on May 26th in Minneapolis.

1944 - He joined the Army, and received a Purple Heart after suffering serious injuries to his right leg during the invasion at Anzio, Italy.

1947 - He starred in the movie "The Farmer's Daughter".

1950 - His first leading role was "Two Lost Worlds", which left Arness shipwrecked on a volcanic island filled with dinosaurs.

          - He was one of the cast in "Wagon Master".

1949 - Married his first wife, Virginia Chapman. They had a daughter named Jenny.          - He appeared in the movie "Battleground".

1951 - He appeared in "The People Against O'Hara" and "The Thing From Another World".

1952 - Starred in "Gunsmoke" which was a popular radio series, aired by CBS Radio. 

         - He starred in the movies "Carbine Williams" and "Big Jim McLain".

1954-1977 - He appeared in "How the West Was Won", "The First Traveling Saleslady", "The Sea Chase", "Many Rivers to Cross", "Them!", "Hondo" and "Island in the Sky"

1955-1975 - He played the Marshal on the TV version of "Gunsmoke" for 20 years.

1978 - Married his second wife, Janet Surtrees.

2001 - Co-wrote his memoir "James Arness: An Autobiography" with James E. Wise, Jr.