The Giant Gila Monster is an American 1959 science fiction horror film directed by Ray Kellogg and produced by Ken Curtis. A famous B-movie of the era, the film stars Don Sullivan, a veteran of several low budget monster and zombie films, and Lisa Simone, the French contestant for the 1957 Miss Universe, as well as comedic actor Shug Fisher and KLIF disc jockey Ken Knox. The effects included a live Mexican beaded lizard filmed on a scaled-down model landscape.
Theatrical release poster
Drive-in advertisement from 1959 for The Giant Gila Monster alongside its co-feature, The Killer Shrews.
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
