Marshal Matt Dillon For President!

In our recent RUSC Survey I asked the question "Which character from the golden age of radio would win your vote for president?" The clear winner with 34% of the votes was Marshall Matt Dillon of Gunsmoke. It was a hard choice but you know I don't think we'd go far wrong with Matt Dillon as leader of the USA!

The opening of the show left little doubt that Dillon was the law; “Around Dodge City, and into the territory on the west, there’s just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers: that’s with a US Marshall and the smell of gunsmoke! Gunsmoke! … Starring William Conrad the story of the violence that moved west with young America, and the story of a man who moved with it. I’m that man … Matt Dillon. United States Marshal … the first man they look for, and the last man they want to meet … it’s a chancy job, and it makes man watchful … and a little lonely.”

John Meston who wrote most of the scripts for the series and was involved from the beginning wanted William Conrad to play Matt Dillon but many others auditioned before Conrad was given the role. We have the first two auditions, which incidentally were never aired, to add to RUSC starring Rye Billsbury and Howard Culver but you may find them hard to listen to as William Conrad as Meston always knew, was made for the part. 

With Marshal Matt Dillon you always know that justice will be done in a fair and compassionate way and that the bad guy will always get his comeuppance.

I will be adding more of this magnificent series throughout the forthcoming week. You can click on the link to read more on RUSC about William Conrad and throughout March I will be adding biographies on each of the main stars of Gunsmoke commencing next week with Parley Baer who played Dillon's loyal deputy, Chester Wesley Proudfoot.

Happy listening my friends,

If you have any ideas for future mini RUSC surveys please email with your suggestion at ned@rusc.com