Dennis Weaver stepped away from his role as Chester on "Gunsmoke" almost midway through the show's 20-season run. Why did he really leave the beloved Western?

Weaver played Chester Goode on Gunsmoke, quickly becoming one of the most beloved characters on the show. He joined the original cast alongside Arness, Amanda Blake, and Milburn Stone. They had ...

Dennis Weaver thought there was a terrible mistake when he was reading for the part of Chester on 'Gunsmoke' instead of the role of Matt Dillon. Weaver went freelance in his acting work, although had ...

For the first nine seasons of Gunsmoke, James Arness' Marshal Matt Dillon was joined on the job by the lovable (albeit simple) Chester Goode, played remarkably by Dennis Weaver. A faithful and ...

Easily one of the best Western shows of all time, "Gunsmoke" ran for a remarkable 20 seasons on CBS between 1955 to 1975. In addition to James Arness' Marshal Matt Dillon, one of the show's most ...

Dennis Weaver, the lanky actor with the gentle drawl who came to fame in the 1950s playing Marshal Matt Dillon’s limping deputy, Chester, on “Gunsmoke” and later starred as a contemporary western ...

Dennis Weaver, who played diffident deputy Chester Goode in the TV classic Western “Gunsmoke” and a canny New Mexico deputy solving New York City crime in “McCloud,” has died. The actor was 81. Weaver ...

The Emmy-winning Western, based on the eponymous radio show, premiered on CBS on Sept. 10, 1955, and offered a gritty, grounded portrayal of frontier life. The series ran for 20 seasons and remains ...

LOS ANGELES – Dennis Weaver, the slow-witted deputy Chester Goode in the TV classic western "Gunsmoke" and the New Mexico deputy solving New York crime in "McCloud," has died. The actor was 81. Weaver ...