Above: Gunsmoke on the radio. From the left: Howard McNear as Doc, William Conrad as Matt, Georgia Ellis as Kitty and Parley Baer as Chester. Below: In civilian clothes.

 
 
 
• Did Dillon ever get shot on the radio?
Yes ... a number of times
 
 
• Dillon called wanted posters
• circulars.
• the rogues gallery.
• paper outlaws.
• graphiles.


Answer: ... circulars
 

• What percent of the award did Dillon get when he captured a man with a price on his head?
Zero
 
 
• Did Dillon smoke or chew?
On radio ... yes
 
 
• (T/F) Dillon only drank beer because he felt whisky would slow his reaction time.
False


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William Conrad



• Radio's Matt Dillon played the title role in three television series. Name one of them.
Cannon and Nero Wolfe and Jake and the Fat Man. He was the fat man. After the show was cancelled, Conrad said ``Cannon was crap. I was delighted to see it canceled."

Conrad as Cannon
 
 

• (T/F) Conrad married the widow of newsman Chet Huntley.
True ... her name was Tippy. His first wife, Suzie, died in 1979.
 
 
• (T/F) William Conrad has been inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.
True. He was inducted in 1977.
• (T/F) Conrad had no children.
False. He has a son Christopher.
 
 
• Has William Conrad ever sang professionally?
Yes ... Conrad made his singing debut in Gilbert & Sullivan's The Mikado in 1984.
 
 
• William Conrad had a superbly deep resonant voice. For which of the following television shows was he the narrator?
• The Fugitive.
• The Wild Wild World of Animals.
• The Invaders.
• Tales of the Unexpected.
• Rocky and His Friends.
• All of the above.
Answer: ... All of the above
 
 
 
• Did William Conrad direct any of the television episodes of Gunsmoke?
Yes
 
 
• One of the reasons that William Conrad was not selected for the television role of Matt Dillon was his large girth.
True. 5' 9" Conrad typically weighed between 230 and 270 pounds.
 
 
 
• (T/F) Prior to Gunsmoke, William Conrad narrated the radio drama anthology Escape on which all the future Gunsmoke regulars (Georgia Ellis, Parley Baer and Howard McNear) worked.
True. Conrad had over 7500 radio jobs.
 
 
 
• Prior to Gunsmoke, William Conrad typically got what type of dramatic roles?
The heavy or the villain
 
 
 
• (T/F) William Conrad was the narrator of the Huckleberry Hound cartoons.
False
 
 
• (T/F) William Conrad starred as the lead in the television series The Wild Wild West.
False ... that was Robert Conrad
 
 
• (T/F) William Conrad played the roll call police sargaent on the television series Hill Street Blues. He was famous for the phrase ``Let's be careful out there".
False ... that was Micheal Conrad
 



• Prior to his work on Gunsmoke, William Conrad narrated the short lived television series
• Espionage.
• Escape.
• Animals Today.
• Dragnet.


Answer: ... Escape, which ran on television from January 5, 1950 through March 30, 1950 - a total of three months.
 
 
 

• (T/F) During rehearsals for radio's Gunsmoke, William Conrad typically cursed like a sailor.
True
 
 
• (T/F) TV Guide awarded William Conrad a J. Fred Muggs Award in 1987 as a result of his vulgar mouth.
True ... In a scene from Jake and the Fatman, Conrad uttered some vulgarities that had to be bleeped. CBS censors decided, however, that his lips could be read so the scene was cut. Hence the reward.
 
 
 
• Did William Conrad smoke?
Yes
 
• According to William Conrad, how many pages of script provided for a good comfortable half hour Gunsmoke?
Eleven
 
• Did William Conrad participate in the introduction live each week?
No ... his portion was taped.
 
• (T/F) William Conrad maintains that one of the major reasons for the success of radio's Gunsmoke was the charisma he contributed to the leading role.
True
 
• (T/F) After radio's Gunsmoke was canceled, William Conrad took an executive position with the Desilu studios.
False ... the position was with Warner Brothers.
 
 
 
• Did William Conrad ever act with Ronald Reagan in a radio drama?
Yes
 
 
• What line of products did Conrad represent in print and on television in the '80's.
First Alert security equipment such as fire alarms.
 
 
 
 
• Conrad began his career in the media as a California radio announcer in what decade?
The 30's
 
 
• Conrad made his motion picture debut in 1947 in the film
• The Killers.
• Shane.
• Winchester 45.
• High Noon.


Answer: a ... The Killers
 
 
 

• To within one thousand, in how many radio productions, including Gunsmoke, did Conrad participate?
Answer: 7500
 
 
 
• Conrad was the producer and/or director of the television series
• Bat Masterson.
• Klondike.
• General Electric True.
• all of the above.
• none of the above.


Answer: ... all of the above.
 

• (T/F) Conrad has done the voice of The Lone Ranger.
True ... in Saturday morning cartoons
 
 
• Conrad was a co-star in what 1947 movie classic starring John Garfield about boxing?
Body and Soul which was ineffectively remade in 1981.






Click HERE to see a letter from Matt Dillon a.k.a. William Conrad

Doc
• (T/F) The character of Doc was initially conceived from and named after the ghoulish character in the Addams family cartoon.
True
 
 
• (T/F) William Conrad gave Doc Adams his first name.
True
 
 
• (T/F) On television, Doc's first name was Galen. On radio, his first name was Charles.
True
 
 
• (T/F) Radio's Doc refused to perform autopsies because the government fee was too low.
False ... he got excited over such opportunities to make a quick buck.
 
 
 
• On radio's Gunsmoke, Doc's real name was not Adams. He changed it to Adams to hide from a bum murder rap. His real name was
• Clayton Moore.
• Ormeda Moore.
• Les Moore.
• William Moore.
• Calvin Moore.
• George Moore.


Answer: ... Calvin Moore

• Radio's Doc was a widower. His wife died
• as an innocent bystander in a bank robbery.
• of typhoid.
• in a savage Indian attack.
• in a train wreck.


Answer: ... typhoid
 
 

• When Doc's wife died, they were both living in
• Boston.
• Denver.
• St. Louis.
• New York City.
• Seattle.


Answer: ... St. Louis
 
 

• Doc went to medical school in
• Boston.
• Denver.
• St. Louis.
• New York City.
• Seattle.


Answer: ... Boston
 

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Howard McNear
• The actor who played Doc was better known for his portrayal of a country barber on what television situation comedy?
Floyd the Barber on the Andy Griffith Show.
 
 
• Is the actor who played radio's Doc still with us?
No ... Howard McNear is dead.
 
 
• (T/F) William Conrad had strong personality clashes with Howard McNear that remained active even after McNear's death.
False
 
 
• (T/F) Howard McNear was famous for his ad libs.
False ... he liked to stick to the script.
 
 
 
 
• (T/F) Howard McNear played Floyd the barber on the Andy Griffith Show even after a stroke left him unable to walk.
True ... the scenes were structured so that he was always sitting.
 
 
• (T/F) Howard McNear refused to take medication.
False ... he carried around a bottle that contained all shapes and sizes of pills and would offer them to his friends for their ills.
 
• When Howard McNear died, who gave a eulogy at his funeral that drew laughs from those in attendance?
William Conrad
 
 
• (T/F) Howard McNear irregularly attended a number of churches.
True
 
 
• (T/F) Howard McNear commonly wore a moustache.
True
 

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Chester
• Was Chester's character in the first aired radio episode of Gunsmoke?
Yes
 
 
 
• Chester was named after Chesterfield cigarettes which sponsored Gunsmoke on both television and radio.
False ... Chester's name was established prior to the cigarette sponsorship.
 
• (T/F) Chester was known for shooting himself in the foot.
False
 
• (T/F) On television, Chester's last name was Goode. What was his last name on the radio version of Gunsmoke?
Proudfoot
 
• (T/F) Chester's middle name was (a) Deacon. (b) Mangus. (c) Trevor. (d) Wesley.
Answer: d ... Wesley
 
• What animal bi-product was Chester fond of putting in the grounds to improve the flavor of coffee?
Egg shells
 
• (T/F) One of Chester's hobbies was knitting.
False
 
 
• What did Chester like mixed with his whiskey?
Sugar
 
• On television, Chester had a stiff leg. Did the radio character also have a stiff leg?
No ... Parley Baer says that television's Chester was given a limp so that Dennis Weaver would not overshadow James Arness' characterization of Matt Dillon.
• Did Chester drink or chew?
On radio ... yes.
 
• Was Chester a character in the first radio episode of Gunsmoke?
Yes
 
• Chester's father was named
• Ned.
• Wesley.
• William.
• Hack.
Answer: ... Wesley
 
 
 
• (T/F) Chester had ten siblings. Each had Wesley as a middle name.
True
 
• (T/F) Unlike on television, radio's Chester was fat.
True
 
 
• Radio's Chester was played by
• Dennis Morgan.
• Billy Sunday.
• Carl Weathers.
• Parley Baer.
• Howard Conrad.
• Jerry Hoff.


Answer: ... Baer
 
 

• In the first Gunsmoke script, Chester's character was referred to as "townsman". Who gave him the name of Chester?
William Conrad
 
 
• Who created Chester's middle and last name?
Parley Baer ... Chester's middle and last name were changed for television.
 
 
• (T/F) Chester's middle and last names on the radio were created by an ad lib.
True

Parley Baer (left) with Gunsmoke sound man Ray Kemper in 1990.


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Parley Baer
• (T/F) Parley Baer once played both Chester and Chester's father on the same radio play.
True
 
• Choose one of two television shows in which Parley Baer had a regular role:
• The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
• The Dottie Mack Show.
• The Partridge Family.
• California Fever.
• The Double Life of Henry Phyfe.
• The Real McCoys.


Answer: The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and The Double Life of Henry Phyfe.
 
 

• (T/F) Parley Baer was a guest star on the television series The Golden Girls on Saturday, October 11, 1986.
False ... he was on The Twilight Zone that day. The episode was a complete flop, ranking number 62 of the 64 prime time shows rated that week.
 
 
 
 
• (T/F) Parley Baer typically picked up Howard McNear on the way to the studio to perform Gunsmoke.
True
 
• (T/F) Parley Baer has retired from acting and presently owns a pear farm in Madrid Spain.
False
 
• (T/F) Parley Baer is affectionately known to his close friends as Stinky.
False
 
 
• (T/F) Parley Baer played Uncle Joe on the television series Petticoat Junction.
False
 
 
• (T/F) Parley Baer occasionally played an insurance agent on The Addams Family.
True
 
 
• (T/F) Mayor Stoner on The Andy Griffith Show was played by Parley Baer.
True
 
 
• (T/F) Parley Baer played an orphaned southern child in Gone With The Wind.
False
 
 
• (T/F) Parley Baer played Don Rickle's boss on The Don Rickles Show.
True
 
 
 
 
• (T/F) In the 1985 production of A Christmas Carol that starred George C. Scott as Scrooge, Parley Baer played the ghost-of-Christmases-past.
False
 
 
• (T/F) In 1971, Parley Baer played the role of Simon Legree on the PBS production of The Plot to Overthrow Christmas.
True
 
 
• (T/F) The mannerisms and voice of Parley Baer were the inspiration behind the animated cartoon character, Yogi Bear.
False
 
 
 
• (T/F) Parley Baer has worked for Walt Disney.
True ... he appeared in the 1966 Disney movie The Ugly Dachshund. He also played an executioner in the Disney movie Bullwhip Griffin starring Roddy McDowall in the title role.)
 

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Kitty
 
 
 
• (T/F) Kitty's character was not in the first few of the radio Gunsmoke episodes.
True
 
 
• On early radio Gunsmokes, Kitty neither owned or worked at the Long Branch Saloon. The name of the saloon she worked at was
• the Texas Trails.
• the Bull's Head.
• Good Time Charley's.
• the Happy Trails.
• Lulu's.
• Fat Henry's.
• the Dodge City Saloon.


Answer: ... the Texas Trails
 
 
 
 

• What sleezy occupation was Kitty implied to have?
A prostitute
 
• How did Kitty break her toe?
• playing touch football on Front Street with Chester.
• dancing with a Texas cowboy.
• kicking a spitoon.


Answer: ... dancing with a cowboy
 

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Georgia Ellis
• Georgia Ellis was a regular on which of the following television series:
• The George Burns Show.
• Lassie.
• Medallin Theater.
• The Ruggles.
• The Texan.
• Tanafly.
• All of the above.
• None of the above.


Answer: ... Ellis never made it big in television - None of the above.
 

• Before she played Kitty, what other role did Georgia Ellis play on Gunsmoke?
• Bertha Bell, a woman mule skinner.
• Belle Starr, a sharp shooter.
• Yorky, a young farm boy.
• Brandy, a saloon girl much like Kitty.


Answer: ... Brandy
 

• Before Georgia Ellis, the role of Kitty was played for a short time by Patricia Loveless. Loveless was killed in an automobile accident half way through Gunsmoke's first season on the radio.
Totally False

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