Dennis Weaver
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- June 4, 1924
- Died
- February 24, 2006 (aged 81)
- Birthplace
- Joplin, Missouri, USA
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Billy Dennis Weaver (June 4, 1924 – February 24, 2006) was an American actor and president of the Screen Actors Guild, best known for his work in television and films from the early 1950s until just before his death in 2006. Weaver's two most famous roles were as Marshal Matt Dillon's deputy Chester Goode on the western Gunsmoke and as Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud on the police drama McCloud. He starred in the 1971 television film Duel, the first film of director Steven Spielberg. He is also remembered for his role as the twitchy motel attendant in Orson Welles's film Touch of Evil (1958). Weaver was born June 4, 1924, in Joplin, Missouri, the son of Walter Leon "Doc" Weaver and his wife Lenna Leora (née Prather). Weaver wanted to be an actor from childhood. He lived in Shreveport, Louisiana, for several years and for a short time in Manteca, California. He studied at Joplin Junior College, then transferred to the University of Oklahoma at Norman, where he studied drama and was a track star, setting records in several events. During World War II, he served as a pilot in the United States Navy, flying Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter aircraft. After the war, he married Gerry Stowell (his childhood sweetheart), with whom he had three children. Under the name Billy D. Weaver, he tried out for the 1948 U.S. Olympic team in the decathlon, finishing sixth behind 17-year-old high school track star Bob Mathias. However, only the top three finishers were selected. Weaver later commented, "I did so poorly [in the Olympic Trials], I decided to ... stay in New York and try acting. Career Weaver's first role on Broadway came as an understudy to Lonny Chapman as Turk Fisher in Come Back, Little Sheba. He eventually took over the role from Chapman in the national touring company. Solidifying his choice to become an actor, Weaver enrolled in the Actors Studio, where he met Shelley Winters. In the beginning of his acting career, he supported his family by doing odd jobs, including selling vacuum cleaners, tricycles, and women's hosiery. In 1952, Shelley Winters helped him get a contract from Universal Studios. He made his film debut that same year in the movie The Redhead from Wyoming. Over the next three years, he played in a series of movies, but still had to work odd jobs to support his family. In 1955 he appeared in an episode of The Lone Ranger "The Tell-Tale Bullet", which is viewable on YouTube. While delivering flowers, he heard he had landed the role of Chester Goode, the limping, loyal assistant of Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) on the new television series Gunsmoke. It was his big break; the show went on to become the highest-rated and longest-running live action series in United States television history (1955 to 1975), an honor now held by Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. In 1970, Weaver landed the title role in the NBC series McCloud, for which he received two Emmy Award nominations. The show, about a modern Western lawman who ends up in New York City, was loosely based on the Clint Eastwood film Coogan's Bluff. Weaver married Gerry Stowell after World War II, and they had three sons: Richard, Robert, and Rustin Weaver. Gerry died April 26, 2016, at 90. Death Weaver died from prostate cancer at his home in Ridgway, Colorado, on February 24, 2006, at age 81. CLR
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Wildfire
TV · as Henry Ritter · 12 eps
Home on the Range
Movie · as Abner (voice)
High Noon
Movie · as Mart Howe
Submerged
Movie · as Buck Stevens
The Virginian
Movie · as Sam Balaam
Family Law
TV · as Judge Richard Lloyd · 1 ep
Escape from Wildcat Canyon
Movie · as Grandpa Flint
Seduction in a Small Town
Movie · as Sam Jenks
Stolen Women, Captured Hearts
Movie · as Captain Farnsworth
E! True Hollywood Story
TV · 1 ep
Two Bits & Pepper
Movie · as Sheriff Pratt
Greyhounds
Movie · as Chance Wayne
Lonesome Dove: The Series
TV · as Buffalo Bill Cody · 21 eps
Touched by an Angel
TV · as Emmett Rivers · 1 ep
Mastergate
Movie · as Vice President Dale Burden
Earth and the American Dream
Movie · as Reader (voice)
Dennis Weaver's Earthship
Movie
Great Adventurers & Their Quests: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Movie · as Narrator
Captain Planet and the Planeteers
TV · 1 ep
The Return of Sam McCloud
Movie · as Sam McCloud
The Simpsons
TV · as Buck McCoy (voice) · 1 ep
Disaster at Silo 7
Movie · as Sheriff Ben Harlen
Walking After Midnight
Movie · as Self
Bluffing It
Movie · as Jack Duggan
Buck James
TV · as Dr. Buck James · 19 eps
A Winner Never Quits
Movie · as Mr. Wyshner
Amy Grant: Headin' Home for the Holidays
Movie · as Tom Miller
Going for the Gold: The Bill Johnson Story
Movie · as Wally Johnson
Cocaine: One Man's Seduction
Movie · as Eddie Gant
Emerald Point N.A.S.
TV · as Rear Adm. Thomas Mallory · 22 eps
Don't Go to Sleep
Movie · as Phillip
The Day the Loving Stopped
Movie · as Aaron Danner
Amber Waves
Movie · as Elroy 'Bud' Burkhardt
The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd
Movie · as Dr. Samuel A. Mudd
Magnum, P.I.
TV · as Lacy Fletcher · 1 ep
Stone
TV · as Det. Sgt. Daniel Stone · 9 eps
Stone
Movie · as Daniel Ellis Stone
The Ordeal of Patty Hearst
Movie · as Charles Bates
A Cry for Justice
Movie · as Sgt. Ted Bentley
Ishi: The Last of His Tribe
Movie · as Prof. Benjamin Fuller
The Islander
Movie · as Gable McQueen
Centennial
TV · as R.J. Poteet · 12 eps
Pearl
TV · as Col. Jason Forrest · 3 eps
Intimate Strangers
Movie · as Donald Halston
The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Cher
TV · as Self - Guest · 1 ep
Terror on the Beach
Movie · as Neil Glynn
Female Artillery
Movie · as Deke Chambers
Police Story
TV · 1 ep
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Rolling Man
Movie · as Lonnie McAfee
The Great Man's Whiskers
Movie · as Abraham Lincoln
Duel
Movie · as David Mann
What's the Matter with Helen?
Movie · as Linc Palmer
The Forgotten Man
Movie · as Lt. Joe Hardy
The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour
TV · 1 ep
The Pet Set
TV · as Self · 1 ep
A Man Called Sledge
Movie · as Erwin Ward
Swing Out, Sweet Land
Movie · as Self
The Don Knotts Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
McCloud
TV · as Sam McCloud · 46 eps
The Dean Martin Christmas Show
Movie · as Self
Mission Batangas
Movie · as Chip Corbett
The Name of the Game
TV · as Walter Grayson · 1 ep
Gentle Giant
Movie · as Tom Wedloe
Judd, for the Defense
TV · 1 ep
Gentle Ben
TV · as Tom Wedloe · 56 eps
Duel at Diablo
Movie · as Willard Grange
Way... Way Out
Movie · as Hoffman
Gallegher Goes West
Movie · as George Tucker, the Sundown Kid
That Girl
TV · 1 ep
Kentucky Jones
TV · as Kentucky Jones · 26 eps
The Merv Griffin Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Combat!
TV · as Noah · 1 ep
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV · as Self · 7 eps
Dr. Kildare
TV · as Wayne Wandemeir · 1 ep
The Mike Douglas Show
TV · as Self - Co-Host · 1 ep
The Gallant Hours
Movie · as Andy Lowe
The Twilight Zone
TV · as Adam Grant · 1 ep
Touch of Evil
Movie · as Mirador Motel Night Manager
Ten Wanted Men
Movie · as Sheriff Clyde Gibbons
Storm Fear
Movie · as Hank
Seven Angry Men
Movie · as John Brown Jr.
Chief Crazy Horse
Movie · as Maj. Carlisle
Gunsmoke
TV · as Chester · 341 eps
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
TV · as Charles Cavender · 1 ep
Dangerous Mission
Movie · as Ranger clerk
Dragnet
Movie · as Capt. R.A. Lohrman
Climax!
TV · as Steve Maclyn · 1 ep
The Golden Blade
Movie
Column South
Movie · as Menguito
The Mississippi Gambler
Movie · as Julian Contant
Law and Order
Movie · as Frank Durling
War Arrow
Movie · as Pino
The Redhead from Wyoming
Movie · as Matt Jessup
The Man from the Alamo
Movie · as Tennessean (uncredited)
Horizons West
Movie · as Dandy Taylor
The Lawless Breed
Movie · as Jim Clements
Dragnet
TV · as Russ Camp · 4 eps
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV · as Ben · 1 ep
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep