Ken Curtis was an American actor and singer best known for his role as Festus Haggen on the western television series Gunsmoke. He appeared on Gunsmoke earlier in other roles. His first appearance as Festus was in season 8, episode 13, "Us Haggens", which debuted December 8, 1962. His next appearance was Season 9, episode 2, October 5, 1963, as Kyle Kelly, in "Lover Boy". Curtis joined the cast of Gunsmoke permanently as Festus in "Prairie Wolfer", season 9 episode 16, which debuted January 18, 1964. This episode features the same title as a 1969 episode (S13E10).
Curtis as Festus Haggen 1964
The old Bent County jail in Las Animas in southeastern Colorado, where Ken Curtis lived as a boy
Ken Curtis as Festus Haggen and James Arness as Matt Dillon, 1968
Milburn Stone, Ken Curtis, Amanda Blake, and James Arness
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television.
Publicity photo from Gunsmoke's radio version (photo from 1954)
William Conrad in 1952, when Matt Dillon was created on radio
The interior of the real Long Branch Saloon in Dodge City, Kansas, photographed between 1870 and 1885
Matt Dillon, 1969
