James Arness made all the difference in his storied film and television career.
In 1976, Gunsmoke’s James Arness was about to take on the lead role in the series How the West Was Won. He had full cast approval. As he told the Television Academy Archives, “We watched four guys in scenes from other shows. Hands down, there was just one guy that [was] right for it.” When the lights went up, ABC President Michael Eisner said he liked the second one. “I knew that it was live or die at that m
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