1924-06-04 Joplin, Missouri, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Billy Dennis Weaver (June 4, 1924 – February 24, 2006) was an American actor and president of the Screen Actors Guild, best known for his work in television and films from the early 1950s until just before his death in 2006. Weaver's two most famous roles were as Marshal Matt Dillon's deputy Chester Goode on the western Gunsmoke and as Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud on the police drama McCloud. He starred in the 1971 television film Duel, the first film of director Steven Spielberg. He is also remembered for his role as the twitchy motel attendant in Orson Welles's film Touch of Evil (1958). Weaver was born June 4, 1924, in Joplin, Missouri, the son of Walter Leon "Doc" Weaver and his wife Lenna Leora (née Prather). Weaver wanted to be an actor from childhood. He lived in Shreveport, Louisiana, for several years and for a short time in Manteca, California. He studied at Joplin Junior College, then transferred to the University of Oklahoma at Norman, where he studied drama and was a track star, setting records in several events. During World War II, he served as a pilot in the United States Navy, flying Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter aircraft. After the war, he married Gerry Stowell (his childhood sweetheart), with whom he had three children. Under the name Billy D. Weaver, he tried out for the 1948 U.S. Olympic team in the decathlon, finishing sixth behind 17-year-old high school track star Bob Mathias. However, only the top three finishers were selected. Weaver later commented, "I did so poorly [in the Olympic Trials], I decided to ... stay in New York and try acting. Career Weaver's first role on Broadway came as an understudy to Lonny Chapman as Turk Fisher in Come Back, Little Sheba. He eventually took over the role from Chapman in the national touring company. Solidifying his choice to become an actor, Weaver enrolled in the Actors Studio, where he met Shelley Winters. In the beginning of his acting career, he supported his family by doing odd jobs, including selling vacuum cleaners, tricycles, and women's hosiery. In 1952, Shelley Winters helped him get a contract from Universal Studios. He made his film debut that same year in the movie The Redhead from Wyoming. Over the next three years, he played in a series of movies, but still had to work odd jobs to support his family. In 1955 he appeared in an episode of The Lone Ranger "The Tell-Tale Bullet", which is viewable on YouTube. While delivering flowers, he heard he had landed the role of Chester Goode, the limping, loyal assistant of Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) on the new television series Gunsmoke. It was his big break; the show went on to become the highest-rated and longest-running live action series in United States television history (1955 to 1975), an honor now held by Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. In 1970, Weaver landed the title role in the NBC series McCloud, for which he received two Emmy Award nominations. The show, about a modern Western lawman who ends up in New York City, was loosely based on the Clint Eastwood film Coogan's Bluff. Weaver married Gerry Stowell after World War II, and they had three sons: Richard, Robert, and Rustin Weaver. Gerry died April 26, 2016, at 90. Death Weaver died from prostate cancer at his home in Ridgway, Colorado, on February 24, 2006, at age 81. CLR
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Home on the Range | Abner (voice) | 2004-04-02 |
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High Noon | Mart Howe | 2000-08-20 |
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Submerged | Buck Stevens | 2000-10-24 |
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The Virginian | Sam Balaam | 2000-01-09 |
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Escape from Wildcat Canyon | Grandpa Flint | 1998-06-21 |
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Stolen Women, Captured Hearts | Captain Farnsworth | 1997-01-16 |
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Seduction in a Small Town | Sam Jenks | 1997-02-09 |
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Two Bits & Pepper | Sheriff Pratt | 1995-01-01 |
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Greyhounds | Chance Wayne | 1994-06-24 |
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Mastergate | Vice President Dale Burden | 1992-11-01 |
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Earth and the American Dream | Reader (voice) | 1992-10-01 |
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Dennis Weaver's Earthship | 1990-01-01 | |
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Great Adventurers & Their Quests: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade | Narrator | 1990-01-31 |
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The Return of Sam McCloud | Sam McCloud | 1989-11-12 |
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Walking After Midnight | Self | 1988-01-01 |
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Disaster at Silo 7 | Sheriff Ben Harlen | 1988-11-27 |
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Bluffing It | Jack Duggan | 1987-09-13 |
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A Winner Never Quits | Mr. Wyshner | 1986-04-13 |
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Amy Grant: Headin' Home for the Holidays | Tom Miller | 1986-12-21 |
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Going for the Gold: The Bill Johnson Story | Wally Johnson | 1985-05-08 |
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Cocaine: One Man's Seduction | Eddie Gant | 1983-02-27 |
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Don't Go to Sleep | Phillip | 1982-12-10 |
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The Day the Loving Stopped | Aaron Danner | 1981-10-16 |
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Amber Waves | Elroy 'Bud' Burkhardt | 1980-03-09 |
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The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd | Dr. Samuel A. Mudd | 1980-03-25 |
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Stone | Daniel Ellis Stone | 1979-08-26 |
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The Ordeal of Patty Hearst | Charles Bates | 1979-03-04 |
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A Cry For Justice | Sgt. Ted Bentley | 1979-05-23 |
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The Islander | Gable McQueen | 1978-09-16 |
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Ishi: The Last of His Tribe | Prof. Benjamin Fuller | 1978-12-20 |
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Intimate Strangers | Donald Halston | 1977-11-11 |
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Female Artillery | Deke Chambers | 1973-01-17 |
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Terror on the Beach | Neil Glynn | 1973-09-18 |
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The Great Man's Whiskers | Abraham Lincoln | 1972-05-02 |
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Rolling Man | Lonnie McAfee | 1972-10-04 |
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Duel | David Mann | 1971-11-13 |
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The Forgotten Man | Lt. Joe Hardy | 1971-09-14 |
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What's the Matter with Helen? | Lincoln Palmer | 1971-06-30 |
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A Man Called Sledge | Erwin Ward | 1970-11-14 |
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Swing Out, Sweet Land | Self | 1970-01-01 |
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Mission Batangas | Chip Corbett | 1968-11-15 |
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The Dean Martin Christmas Show | Self | 1968-12-19 |
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Gentle Giant | Tom Wedloe | 1967-10-25 |
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Gallegher Goes West | George Tucker, the Sundown Kid | 1966-10-30 |
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Duel at Diablo | Willard Grange | 1966-06-15 |
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Way... Way Out | Hoffman | 1966-10-26 |
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The Gallant Hours | Andy Lowe | 1960-06-13 |
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Touch of Evil | Mirador Motel Night Manager | 1958-03-30 |
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Chief Crazy Horse | Maj. Carlisle | 1955-04-01 |
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Seven Angry Men | John Brown Jr. | 1955-03-27 |
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Ten Wanted Men | Sheriff Clyde Gibbons | 1955-02-01 |
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Storm Fear | Hank | 1955-12-16 |
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Dragnet | Capt. R.A. Lohrman | 1954-09-04 |
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Dangerous Mission | Ranger clerk | 1954-03-06 |
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The Man from the Alamo | Tennessean (uncredited) | 1953-08-07 |
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Law and Order | Frank Durling | 1953-05-13 |
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The Golden Blade | 1953-08-12 | |
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The Redhead from Wyoming | Matt Jessup | 1953-01-08 |
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Column South | Menguito | 1953-05-20 |
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The Mississippi Gambler | Julian Contant | 1953-01-29 |
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War Arrow | Pino | 1953-12-26 |
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The Lawless Breed | Jim Clements | 1952-12-28 |
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Horizons West | Dandy Taylor | 1952-10-11 |
