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Here is Milburn Stone’s candid review of his co-stars on Gunsmoke
Here’s what Stone had to say about his co-workers.
Milburn Stone played the role of Doc Adams, the Dodge City doctor with a big heart, on the 1955 series Gunsmoke. On-screen, the cast had great chemistry—which is one reason the series worked so well and lasted as long as it did. 20 seasons, to be exact.
But it wasn’t just their on-screen chemistry that stood out—their off-screen relationships were just as important. In fact, according to a 1967 interview with The World-News, Stone got candid about his relationships with the cast and how he felt about them.
We’ll start with the leading man of the series, James Arness, who played the role of Marshal Matt Dillon. His character was a quiet, but loyal lawman who always stood up for what was right.
"Who would ever consider putting a itty bitty man in a show that has a star who is six-foot-and-God-knows-what?" Stone said. "Jim is so tall that if he ever falls down he will land out of town!"
Continuing his review of the Gunsmoke cast, Stone went on to talk about his best friend on the series, Ken Curtis, who played Festus Haggen. The two even toured together during filming breaks, appearing at fairs and performing for fans.
"Ken is brilliant and one of the nicest boys I've ever seen," Stone said. "He's half cowboy at heart and he's one of my dearest friends. If he wasn't, I don't think I could stand him."
According to the interview, Curtis and Stone were the only members of the Gunsmoke cast who regularly saw each other socially outside of the series. Stone even vowed that if he ever had a script picked up, he’d put Curtis in it. However, acting in another series wasn’t exactly on his radar. He had enough success, money, fame and friends that any man in his 60s could have asked for.
"I know of no group of actors who could stay together for 20 minutes... except the five of us on Gunsmoke," Stone said. "There has never been a quarrel. We have a lot of fun on the set and I always look forward to going to work every day."
"It's a happy show," Stone added. "Amanda is a big help, as well as Ken. Amanda laughs like a lumberjack."
His character, Doc Adams, kept Dodge City alive—literally and figuratively—patching up injuries, delivering medicine, and keeping everyone together behind the scenes. He truly was the heart of Gunsmoke.
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