Why James Arness became frustrated with Gunsmoke’s death of Bruce Dern

“Gunsmoke” featured a number of incredible guest stars, including Harrison Ford, who played two distinct characters in the hit TV western. But he was far from the only newcomer to take on multiple roles on the show. A young Bruce Dern also played four different roles during the latter half of the show’s 20-year run, and it appears that at one point he upset star James Arness by trying to embellish his on-screen death.

In the 1950s, John Wayne signed Arness and starred alongside him in several films before recommending him for a new television western, “Gunsmoke” and truly launching his career. As U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon, Arness would become a major star, not quite on the level of his mentor but about as big as any small screen actor could be. After serving in the army before hitchhiking to Hollywood, Arness took a tough approach to acting and, with Wayne’s blessing, eventually became a household name. This couldn’t have been more different from Dern, who attended the Actors Studio. There his mentors were not the biggest Western stars in the world, but also the famous acting coach Lee Strasberg and the controversial Hollywood mathematician Elia Kazan.

As such, when Dern came face-to-face with Arness during one of his many guest roles on “Gunsmoke,” the two weren’t exactly friends instantly. Instead, a scene that required Dern’s character to expire on a living room floor led to a brief confrontation between the two men, with Arness insisting that the actor hurry up and die after witnessing Dern’s more elaborate attempt to die.

Bruce Dern became a movie star in the 1970s — the same decade he infamously killed off James Arness’ mentor John Wayne in “The Cowboys” (which prompted a pre-filming warning from the Duke). But before that, he had a prolific television career that included guest roles in small-screen westerns ranging from “Bonanza” and “Wagon Train” to “The Loner.” However, “Gunsmoke” was the only one on which he played multiple characters, all of whom were scheming villains.

Season 11, Episode 5, “Ten Little Indians,” was directed by Mark Rydell, the filmmaker who would later oversee Dern’s murder of Wayne in “The Cowboys.” The episode saw Dern play Doyle Phleger, a gunslinger who attempts to claim the large bounty on Matt Dillon only to be killed before he gets the chance.

During a 2013 interview with CBS News, the actor specifically recalled being directed by Rydell when he managed to upset Arness. “I got shot and had to fall to the floor of the bar,” he said. “And I was shaking and I was like, ‘Oh, my God, my… oh, why did the bullet go in there?’ or something like that.'” According to Dern, Arness did not appreciate his improvisation:

“[Arness] looks at me and he says: “My God. It’s pretty interesting, but who cares how you die. Die already. Get it over with, you know what I mean? Otherwise, we’ll cut it and you’re still alive.'”

In response, Dern said, “Well, that’s the point, because then I can come back in another episode, because I’m not dead!” As funny as this moment was, it seems that Dern may have been somewhat confused, because it can’t have been Rydell who oversaw the scene in question.

Bruce Dern indeed returned to “Gunsmoke” in another episode. Three, in fact. By the time he was done with his guest roles on “Gunsmoke,” he had been shot by James Arness three times. But it seems he may have misremembered the death scene that shocked Marshal actor Matt Dillon a little. Dern told CBS that Mark Rydell had directed it at that time, but the only episode featuring Dern that Rydell directed was “Ten Little Indians”, in which Dern’s character died from a stab in the back. Arness was not present at the scene, which took place in an alley and not, as Dern recalled in his CBS interview, in a bar.

As such, Dern was more likely remembering a different episode. The 1966 episode “The Jailer” saw his character shot by Arness while running straight at him, but it wasn’t in a bar. That means Dern was probably remembering what might be his best “Gunsmoke” appearance in Season 14, Episode 21, “The Long Night.” The episode saw him play Guerin, the leader of three bounty hunters (one of whom is played by Russell Johnson, who played the professor in “Gilligan’s Island”). The infamous trio take hostages and hole up in the Long Branch Saloon until Dillon storms the bar and shoots Guerin before he can draw his own pistol. The gunslinger then falls to the ground as Dillon leaves the room, and this is likely where the way Dern died upset the “Gunsmoke” star. Indeed, he might have been somewhat worried about having an Actors Studio graduate in his midst, given that Arness had developed doubts about his own acting skills while working on “Gunsmoke”.