In “Gunsmoke,” did they ever explain why Chester had a stiff leg?
If your question is about what incident in Chester’s life caused the limp (gunfight, riding accident, etc.), I don’t have an answer.
But I was told this by a friend who was a fan of the show going back to the radio version:
In the radio version of Gunsmoke, Chester was kind of an ineffectual flunky. Dennis Weaver played him with a high-pitched, semi-comical voice (in sharp contrast to William Conrad’s boomy Matt Dillon).
When the show went on TV, Weaver was again chosen to play Chester. But his appearance - tall, lean, cowboy type - didn’t match the voice he had played Chester with. So to explain why this guy who looked like he could have been Matt’s peer was his flunky, they gave him the limp.
No idea of the accuracy of this account.
I don’t think Dennis Weaver played Chester on the radio version.
I was amused to find that Howard McNear (Floyd the barber on the Andy Griffith Show) played Doc Adams on the radio show. I wonder if he played the role similar to Milburn Stone on TV, or if he went for a more realistic (doctor & a drunk) portrayal. I’ve heard that the radio show was a lot darker than the TV version.
The Horse’s Mouth. Be sure to click on the Highlights section dealing with Dennis Weaver and Chester.
If you have the patience, browse that site for some amazing and entertaining trivia.
It is my aging recollection that Chester, a Union veteran of the Civil War, was shot in the knee at Vicksburg. You would think that a wound bad enough to bust up a knee that much would result in amputation, but not for Chester.
Chester was played on radio by Parley Baer- I always remember him best as one of the mayors of Mayberry. His Chester’s last name was Proudfoot, a name he made up on the air. His portrayal was pretty close to Dennis Weaver’s, except maybe a little less on the comic side. I think I remember hearing that Dennis Weaver almost didn’t get the part on the TV show because they thought he was a pretty boy. So he came up with the limp to give him a bit of an edge.
By the way, Howard McNear’s Doc was about what you’d expect from a character played by him- Doc was almost a comic relief character at times, even taking into consideration he wouldn’t play Floyd until later. He was rather befuddled and slightly crusty. He had quite a backstory, though, which was the subject of an entire show.
IIRC, later episodes (in the Ken Curtis years) seemed to play the Doc/Festus relationship mostly for comic relief.
Chester ineffectual? On the radio he absolutely was not. He regularly backed Matt in gunfights and racked up a pretty respectable body count. Matt openly stated that Chester was the only man he trusted to be his deputy. Chester liked to eat and he liked to gamble, but he was brave, loyal, and good with a Winchester.
there were no actors in common between the radio and tv versions. plots were shared or adapted between the two.
Chester didn’t limp on the radio, it was too hard for the sound effects man. Chester was not the same comical opposition to Matt that he was on tv, Chester was less sophisticated though. he did like to enjoy his ‘off the job’ time on the radio.
Wait a minute.
Did the radio and TV shows run at the same time?
Their runs overlapped: Radio from 1952-61 and TV from 1955-1975.
radio was 30 minute in 1952 to 1961.
tv was 30 minute in 1955 to 1961, 60 minute 1961 to 1975.
A Festus for the rest of us.