A ‘Gunsmoke’ Star Has Just Passed Away: Roger Ewing Was 83

Gunsmoke star Roger Ewing has died.

His family shared in an obituary that the actor passed away on Dec. 18. He was 83.

Born on Jan. 12, 1942 in Los Angeles, Ewing played Dennis Weaver’s Chester in a variety show satire of Gunsmoke when he was a senior in high school, per The Hollywood Reporter. “I watched [the show] every Saturday night,” he said in an interview in 1966.

Ewing was in college for a year and worked as a lifeguard before shifting his focus to acting. He made his on-screen debut in an uncredited role in the 1964 film Ensign Pulver. After doing brief appearances in shows such as Bewitched, The Baileys of Balboa, The Bing Crosby Show, and Rawhide, as well as the 1965 Frank Sinatra movie None But the Brave, Ewing landed the role of Ben Lukens in February 1965. He was later introduced as deputy marshal and handyman Thad Greenwood the following October.

Ewing joined the series during Season 11 and was on it through the end of Season 12. According to his IMDb, he was in 52 episodes of Gunsmoke total. His role on Gunsmoke came following the departure of Burt Reynolds as Quint Asper. Producers were looking for an actor to fill his “younger actor” slot, which is where Ewing came on. While he joined when star James Arness and CBS were fighting over salary and ownership of the series, producers thought he could help replace Arness if things didn’t work out.

The dispute was resolved after the show was close to being canceled and Thad was phased out. He was replaced by Buck Taylor as Newly O’Brien, who stayed on the series through Gunsmoke’s cancellation in 1975 after its 20^th season. After being dropped from Gunsmoke, Ewing went on to appear in the shows The Mothers-In-Law and Death Valley Days in 1967 and 1970, respectively, as well as the 1969 film Smith! And 1972’s Play It As It Lays, the latter of which was his final on-screen role.

Aside from acting, Ewing was also a contestant on the popular dating show The Dating Game in 1968. Lindsay Wagner, future star of Bionic Woman, opted to go with someone else. After quitting acting, Ewing pursued photography, traveling throughout Europe, Russia, Mexico, and the South Pacific. As if that wasn’t enough, he was active in local politics and ran for a city council seat in Morro Bay, California in 2003.