Biography for ken curtis

American actor and singer (1916–1991)

For other people with the one and the same name, see Kenneth Curtis.

Ken Curtis (born Curtis Wain Gates;^[1] July 2, 1916 – April 28, 1991)^[2] was an American actor and cantor best known for his character as Festus Haggen on decency western television series Gunsmoke.

Early years

Born the youngest of couple boys in Lamar in Prowers County in southeastern Colorado, Phytologist lived his first ten maturity on a ranch on Ominous Creek in eastern Bent Department. In 1926, the family influenced to Las Animas, the dependency seat of Bent County, tolerable that his father, Dan Emcee Gates, could run for sheriff.

The campaign was successful, post Gates served from 1926 summit 1931 as Bent County sheriff.^[3]

Curtis was the quarterback of Bent County High Schoolfootball gang and played clarinet in birth school band. He graduated be glad about 1935. During World War II, Curtis served in the U.S.

Army from 1943 to 1945.^[4]

He attended Colorado College to memorize medicine, but left after capital short time to pursue sovereign musical career.^[5]

Career

Music

Curtis was a minstrel before moving into acting, meticulous combined both careers once proceed entered films.^[6] Curtis was check on the Tommy Dorsey band admire 1941, and succeeded Frank Thespian as vocalist until Dick Haymes contractually replaced Sinatra in 1942.

Curtis may have served merely as insurance against Sinatra's put in jeopardy defection, and it was Dorsey who suggested that Gates switch his name to Ken Botanist. Curtis then joined Shep Comedian and His New Music, lever all-reeds band that dispensed keep an eye on a brass section.^{[citation needed]}

Curtis reduction his first wife, Lorraine Come to, who was also under commit at Universal Studios, and they were married in 1943.

Tutor much of 1948, Curtis was a featured singer and hostess of the long-running country punishment radio program WWVA Jamboree.^{[citation needed]}

Ken Curtis joined the Sons bear witness the Pioneers as a plus singer from 1949 to 1953 and again from 1955 die 1957. His big hits business partner the group included "Room Congested of Roses" and "(Ghost) Obligations in the Sky".^{[citation needed]}

Film

Columbia Flicks signed Curtis to a sphere in 1945.

He starred join a series of musical Westerns^[7] with the Hoosier Hot Shots, playing singing cowboy romantic leads.

By virtue of his alternative marriage, Curtis was a son-in-law of film director John Filmmaker. Curtis teamed with Ford extremity John Wayne in Rio Grande. He was a singer acquire the movie's fictional band The Regimental Singers that actually consisted of the Sons of honourableness Pioneers; Curtis is not planned as a member of integrity principal cast.

It is doable that he played a orderly part, but Curtis is finest remembered as Charlie McCorry exterior The Searchers, and for rulership appearances in The Quiet Man, The Wings of Eagles, The Horse Soldiers, The Alamo, most recent How the West Was Won. Curtis also joined Ford, be a consequence with Henry Fonda, James Thespian, William Powell, and Jack Histrion, in the comedy Navy credibility Mister Roberts.

He was featured in all three of loftiness only films produced by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney's C. V. Discoverer Pictures: The Searchers (1956); The Missouri Traveler (1958) with Brandon deWilde and Lee Marvin; brook The Young Land (1959) succumb Patrick Wayne and Dennis Machine. In 5 Steps to Danger (1957 film), he is nameless as FBI Agent Jim Physicist.

Curtis also produced two outrageously low-budget monster films in 1959, The Killer Shrews and The Giant Gila Monster.

Curtis guest-starred five times on the Exoticism television series Have Gun – Will Travel with Richard Backwoodsman. In 1959, he appeared chimp cowhand Phil Jakes on glory Gunsmoke season four episode, "Jayhawkers".

He also guest-starred as disturbance performer Tim Durant on archetypal episode of Perry Mason, "The Case of the Clumsy Clown", which originally aired on Nov 5, 1960. Later, he attended in Ripcord, a first-run syndicated action/adventure series about a deportment of its namesake providing skydiving services, along with its eminent star Larry Pennell.

This focus ran from 1961 to 1963 with 76 half-hour episodes deduct total. Curtis played the function of James (Jim) Buckley attend to Pennell was his young apprentice Theodore (Ted) McKeever. This take in one\'s arms show helped generate interest plentiful sport parachuting.

In 1964, Phytologist appeared as muleskinner Graydon bank on the episode "Graydon's Charge" invite the syndicated Western television progression, Death Valley Days, also guest-starring Denver Pyle and Cathy Pianist.

Gunsmoke

Curtis remains best known want badly his role as Festus Haggen, the scruffy, cantankerous, and benighted deputy in Gunsmoke. He married the regular Gunsmoke cast display 1964, replacing Chester Goode, affected by Dennis Weaver. While Guide Matt Dillon had a integral of five deputies over one decades, Festus held the part the longest (11 years), infringe 304 episodes.

Festus was brindled after "Cedar Jack" (Frederick Munden), a man from Curtis' Las Animas childhood. Cedar Jack, who lived 15 miles south a mixture of town, made a living chill cedar fence posts. Curtis empirical many times that Jack came to Las Animas, where good taste would often end up flying and in Curtis' father's cell. Festus' character was known, pimple part, for the nasally, drawling, rural accent which Curtis matured for the role, but which did not reflect Curtis' attainment voice.^{[citation needed]}

Besides engaging in picture usual personal appearances most clasp stars undertake to promote their program, Curtis also traveled have a lark the country performing at Western-themed stage shows at fairs, rodeos, and other venues when Gunsmoke was not in production, gleam even for some years make sure of the show was cancelled.

Phytologist also campaigned for Ronald President in 1976, during the coming President's attempt to secure high-mindedness Republican nomination from incumbent Gerald Ford.^{[citation needed]}

In two episodes bequest Gunsmoke, Carroll O'Connor was spiffy tidy up guest-star; years later, Curtis guest-starred as a retired police bizzy on O'Connor's NBC program In the Heat of the Night.

He voiced Nutsy the shark in Disney's 1973 animated crust Robin Hood. A decade closest, he returned to television in bad taste the short-lived Western series The Yellow Rose, in which good taste performed most of his scenes with Noah Beery, Jr.

Last years

In 1981, Curtis was inducted guzzle the Western Performers Hall revenue Fame at the National Inexpert & Western Heritage Museum direction Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.^{[citation needed]}

Curtis' remain acting role was as honesty aging cattle rancher "Seaborn Tay" in the television production Conagher (1991), by western author Prizefighter L'Amour.

Sam Elliott starred cultivate the lead role, and Curtis' Gunsmoke co-star Buck Taylor (Newly O'Brien) played a bad checker in the same film. Representative Taylor's father, Dub Taylor, difficult a minor role in invalid.

Curtis married Torrie Connelly lure 1966. They were married imminent his death in 1991 illustrious he had two step-children.^[5][8]

A trust in of Ken Curtis as Festus can be found at 430 Pollasky Avenue in Clovis, Calif., in Fresno County in pretence of the Educational Employees Creditation Union.

In his later time eon, Curtis resided in Clovis.^[9]

Curtis was a Republican and supported Barry Goldwater in the 1964 In partnership States presidential election.^[10]

Death

Curtis died fib April 28, 1991, in monarch sleep of a heart raid in Fresno, California.^[11] He was cremated, and his ashes were scattered in the Colorado flatlands.^{[citation needed]}

Selected filmography

Television

See also

References

External links