Festus Haggen actor Ken Curtis was once worried about replacing 'Gunsmoke' actor Dennis Weaver's Chester Goode, but soon realized why Festus was better.

Gunsmoke actor Ken Curtis brought Festus Haggen to the television show for more than half of its run. However, the personality of the character came from John Ford’s The Searchers, which remains ...

But rather than recasting the Chester character, "Gunsmoke" instead opted to expand upon Festus Haggen, a character that appeared as a one-off guest appearance in season 8 ("Us Haggens").

After 20 seasons, the greatest TV Western ever didn't deserve to be canceled so abruptly. But a spinoff TV movie in 1994 made ...

In the history of television characters, there has been none more polarizing than Festus Haggen. Many viewers enjoyed the comic relief he brought to “Gunsmoke.” As a longtime sidekick to ...

Ken Curtis portrayed the colorful and humorous deputy Festus Haggen from 1964 to 1975. Born in 1916 in Colorado, Curtis had a background in music and was a member of the Sons of the Pioneers.

James Arness, who presided over the frontier town of Dodge City as television’s most enduring western hero, the laconic, fair-minded and incorruptible Marshal Matt Dillon of the two-decade-long ...

Later, regulars would include Burt Reynolds, Buck Taylor and the scene-stealing Ken Curtis, as Festus "a-Haggen." Actually, an entire episode could pass with almost no Dillon and nary a single ...

He was replaced by Ken Curtis as scruffy Festus Haggen, who remained as head deputy for the rest of the show’s run through 1975. Gunsmoke was first broadcast in color in the 1966-67 season.