Chester Leaving ‘Gunsmoke’ Was A Cast Member’s Idea

Starting on the radio and transitioning to television, Gunsmoke introduced audiences to the wild west in unprecedented ways, strengthened by a powerful cast of characters who each brought something valuable to the plot. Chief among them was the loyal deputy Chester Goode, played by Dennis Weaver.

But Chester was not as permanent a fixture in the series as Matt Dillon, who changed actors from William Conrad to James Arness, but was a key part of both the radio and television series. Chester was eventually written out of the show entirely. Why? The answer actually comes from his own actor.

Woven into the plot

Gunsmoke‘s Marshal Dillon takes on a lot of outrageous baddies and has had to make some pretty tough decisions himself for taking them down. No authority figure in his shoes would be complete with a loyal supporter at his side, shouldering some of the weight and being a reliable constant. That was Chester Goode for Dillon. Chester’s character was the result of important character choices first by Parley Baer over the radio, then Weaver himself. The character’s title depends on who you ask, but he has the heart of a deputy, and Dillon’s loyal friend was played by Weaver from 1955 to 1964.

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Gunsmoke itself lasted on TV from ’55 to ’75 with a total of 635 episodes. Weaver stayed a part of the Western from ’55 to ’64. His next big role, that of Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud on NBC’s McCloud, would come in 1970 and last for seven years, to the end of the series. So, why did Weaver not stay with Gunsmoke longer?

Dennis Weaver has Chester Goode bow out

The decision to write Chester out of Gunsmoke came from his actor, Weaver, himself. Pursuing such an idea was dangerous for Weaver, which he acknowledged with, “I know it was risky doing that because a lot of actors did the same thing and really disappeared.” But, he explained, “I felt it was time to move on” Why?

“I’d done the show for nine years,” Weaver shared, “and … I’d pretty much exhausted all creative possibilities with the character, and I just wanted to do something else.” Under his tenure, Goode had become regarded as one of the few people Dillon readily trusted and had even nearly died. After seeing the character through these memorable waters, Weaver went on to not only enjoy several years in McCloudbut also starred in one of director Steven Spielberg’s earliest projects, Duel. He died in 2005 at the age of 81 but had been working in the industry until just a year before his passing, avoiding the fear that he might “really disappear” and instead continued to forge a fruitful career. Well done, deputy!