| Dennis Weaver  AKA William Dennis Weaver
Born: 6-Jun-1924
Birthplace: Joplin, MO
Died: 24-Feb-2006
Location of death: Ridgeway, CO
Cause of death: Cancer - unspecified
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Actor
Party Affiliation: Democratic Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Sam McCloud in McCloud Military service: US Navy Dennis Weaver grew up on a Missouri farm, and was an outstanding athlete on his college track and field team. He competed in the decathlon and came close to making the US Olympic team in 1948. A struggling actor for many years, he eventually became a familiar character actor in films, mostly low-budget westerns, and played Marshal Dillon's friend and deputy Chester Goode for the first nine years of TV's Gunsmoke. Weaver gave his Gunsmoke character a limp and a twangy accent, and said later that he added these endearing embellishments to prevent his performance from being overshadowed by the towering James Arness, who played Dillon. Being a TV sidekick was not a lucrative job in the 1950s, so between seasons Weaver augmented his income by touring in a singing trio with his castmates Milburn Stone and Amanda Blake.
After leaving Gunsmoke, Weaver starred as the friendly veterinarian Kentucky Jones, as the paternal Everglades ranger with a bear on his hands in Gentle Ben, and as the New Mexico deputy marshal on loan to the New York Police in McCloud. In films, Weaver played the nervous manager of the Mirador Motel in Orson Welles' classic Touch of Evil. He also played a police captain in Jack Webb's original theatrical film of Dragnet, then played five different characters in five episodes of the subsequent series.
During a 1971 break from McCloud, Weaver was offered the lead in a television movie, playing a lonely traveling salesman chased and taunted on the highway by a crazed trucker. As the star, he was given veto power over the network's selection of a rookie director, but he agreed that the energetic young Steven Spielberg deserved a chance. The film, Duel, was released theatrically overseas, launched Spielberg's career, and is still considered one of the best films ever made for commercial television.
Weaver was a vegetarian since 1958, when, he says, it was still difficult to find a meat-free entrée at a restaurant, even in Hollywood. Solidly liberal, he and Valerie Harper were co-founders of L.I.F.E. (Love is Feeding Everyone), a charity which now helps fund more than 100,000 meals weekly to the homeless and hungry in Los Angeles. A devoted environmentalist, Weaver spoke out against America's addiction to fossil fuels, and lived in a solar-powered home constructed from about 3,000 recycled auto tires and 300,000 tin and aluminum cans. He advocated "creating prosperity without pollution", and recycled almost everything he used. He founded The Institute of Ecolonomics (a word Weaver coined, combining "ecology" and "economics").
Weaver died in his home of complications from cancer in 2006, at the age of 81.
Father: Walter Weaver (d. Oct-1974)
Mother: Lenna Prather (d. 3-Mar-1992)
Wife: Gerry Stowell (m. 20-Oct-1945)
Son: Rick Weaver (TV producer, b. 1949)
Son: Robby Weaver (actor, b. 8-Apr-1953)
Son: Rusty Weaver (musician, The Rockodiles, b. 1959)
University: Joplin Junior College, Joplin, MO (now Missouri Southern State University)
University: BFA, University of Oklahoma (1948)
Screen Actors Guild President (1973-75)
Emmy 1959 for Gunsmoke
Hollywood Walk of Fame 1986
Risk Factors: Vegetarian
TELEVISION
Lonesome Dove: The Series Buffalo Bill Cody (1994-95)
Emerald Point N.A.S. Rear Admiral Thomas Mallory (1983-84)
McCloud Sam McCloud (1970-77)
Gentle Ben Tom Wedloe (1967-69)
Gunsmoke Deputy Chester Goode (1955-64)
FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
Home on the Range (21-Mar-2004) [VOICE]
Submerged (24-Oct-2000)
High Noon (20-Aug-2000)
The Virginian (9-Jan-2000)
Stolen Women, Captured Hearts (16-Mar-1997)
A Winner Never Quits (14-Apr-1986)
Don't Go to Sleep (10-Dec-1982)
Centennial (1-Oct-1978)
Duel (10-Nov-1971)
What's the Matter with Helen? (30-Jun-1971)
A Man Called Sledge (30-Oct-1970)
Way... Way Out (26-Oct-1966)
Duel at Diablo (15-Jun-1966)
The Gallant Hours (13-Jun-1960)
Touch of Evil (21-May-1958)
Storm Fear (16-Dec-1955)
Ten Wanted Men (1-Feb-1955)
Chief Crazy Horse (1955)
Dragnet (20-Aug-1954)
Dangerous Mission (6-Mar-1954)
Law and Order (May-1953)
Official Website:
http://www.dennisweaver.com/
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