Ken Curtis

Ken Curtis born Curtis Wain Gates July 2 1916 April 28 1991 was an American actor and singer best known for his role as Festus Haggen on the Western television series Gunsmoke Early years Born on July 2 1916 as the youngest of three boys in Lamar in Prowers County in southeastern Colorado Curtis lived his first 10 years on a ranch on Muddy Creek in eastern Bent County In 1926 the family moved to Las Animas the county seat of Bent County so that his father Dan Sullivan Gates could run for sheriff The campaign was successful and Gates served from 1926 to 1931 as Bent County sheriff Curtis was the quarterback of his Bent County High School football team and played clarinet in the school band He graduated in 1935 During World War II Curtis served in the US Army from 1943 to 1945 He attended Colorado College to study medicine but left after a short time to pursue his musical career Film Columbia Pictures signed Curtis to a contract in 1945 He starred in a series of musical Westerns with the Hoosier Hot Shots playing singing cowboy romantic leads By virtue of his second marriage Curtis was a soninlaw of film director John Ford Curtis teamed with Ford and John Wayne in Rio Grande He was a singer in the movies fictional band The Regimental Singers who actually consisted of the Sons of the Pioneers Curtis is not listed as a member of the principal cast Possibly he played a bit part but Curtis is best remembered as Charlie McCorry in The Searchers and for his appearances in The Quiet Man The Wings of Eagles The Horse Soldiers The Alamo and How the West Was Won Curtis also joined Ford along with Henry Fonda James Cagney William Powell and Jack Lemmon in the comedy Navy classic Mister Roberts He was featured in all three of the only films produced by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitneys C V Whitney Pictures The Searchers 1956 The Missouri Traveler 1958 with Brandon deWilde and Lee Marvin and The Young Land 1959 with Patrick Wayne and Dennis Hopper In 5 Steps to Danger 1957 film he is uncredited as FBI Agent Jim Anderson Curtis remains best known for his role as Festus Haggen the scruffy cantankerous and illiterate deputy in Gunsmoke He first appeared in 1962 and joined the regular Gunsmoke cast in 1964 replacing Chester Goode played by Dennis Weaver While Marshal Matt Dillon had a total of five deputies over two decades Festus held the role the longest 11 years in 304 episodes Festus was patterned after Cedar Jack Frederick Munden a man from Curtis Las Animas childhood Cedar Jack who lived 15 miles south of town made a living cutting cedar fence posts Curtis observed many times that Jack came to Las Animas where he would often end up drunk and in Curtis fathers jail Festus character was known in part for the nasally twangy rural accent which Curtis developed for the role but which did not reflect Curtis actual voice Curtis married Torrie Connelly in 1966 They were married until his death in 1991 and he had two stepchildren Death Curtis died on April 28 1991 in his sleep in Fresno California after suffering a heart attack He was 74 He was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the Colorado flatlands CLR From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia