James Arness was an actor.
James Arness ( May 26 , 1923 -- June 3 , 2011 ) was an American actor , best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon for 20 years in the television series Gunsmoke . Arness has the distinction of having played the role of Dillon in five separate decades : 1955 to 1975 in the weekly series , then in Gunsmoke : Return to Dodge ( 1987 ) and four more made-for-television Gunsmoke films in the 1990s . In Europe , Arness reached cult status for his role as Zeb Macahan in the western series How the West Was Won .