James Arness

Acting

James Arness

Born May 26, 1923 · Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Died June 3, 2011 · aged 88

The star of one of the longest-running shows in U.S. television history, Gunsmoke (1955). Born of Norwegian heritage (the family name, Aurness (formerly had been Aursness) in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Rolf and Ruth Duesler Aurness. His father was a traveling salesman of medical supplies and his mother later became a newspaper columnist. James attended West High School in Minneapolis. Although…

Known For

BattlegroundBattleground · 1949
Battleground
★ 6.71949
MovieActionDrama
Members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division are fighting for their country amidst the rugged terrain of Bastogne, Belgium, in December 1944. Holley and his American compatriots have already seen one of their own, Roderigues, perish under enemy fire. The men try to rebuff another series of Nazi attacks, but what they really need is a change in the weather. Without clear skies, they'll never get the air support they need.
HondoHondo · 1953
Hondo
★ 6.51953
MovieWestern
Army despatch rider Hondo Lane discovers a woman and her son living in the midst of warring Apaches, and he becomes their protector.
The Thing from Another WorldThe Thing from Another World · 1951
The Thing from Another World
★ 6.71951
MovieDramaHorror
Scientists and US Air Force officials fend off a blood-thirsty alien organism while investigating at a remote arctic outpost.
Wyoming MailWyoming Mail · 1950
Wyoming Mail
★ 5.21950
MovieWestern
In 1869, the United States begins a railroad mail service to the West Coast which proves highly tempting to train robbers, in particular an organized gang with one of the mail's supposed guardians in their pay. Prizefighter Steve Davis, a former army intelligence man, is hired to track down the gang and save the Territorial Mail Service. Steve goes undercover in territorial prison, leans Morse Code from a fellow prisoner, breaks jail, infiltrates the gang...and finds time to romance dance-hall singer Mary, who proves to have hidden depths...
Big Jim McLainBig Jim McLain · 1952
Big Jim McLain
★ 5.01952
MovieActionAdventure
House Un-American Activities Committee investigators Jim McLain and Mal Baxter come to post war Hawaii to track Communist Party activities even though belonging to the party was legal at the time. They are interested in everything from insurance fraud to the sabotage of a U.S. naval vessel.
Stars in My CrownStars in My Crown · 1950
Stars in My Crown
★ 7.11950
MovieWestern
An orphaned man recalls his upbringing with his aunt and her husband, the parson, in a small Western town during the Reconstruction.
Them!Them! · 1954
Them!
★ 6.81954
MovieScience FictionHorror
As a result of nuclear testing, gigantic, ferocious mutant ants appear in the American desert southwest, and a father-daughter team of entomologists join forces with the state police officer who first discovers their existence, an FBI agent and, eventually, the US Army to eradicate the menace, before it spreads across the continent — and the world.
Alias Jesse JamesAlias Jesse James · 1959
Alias Jesse James
★ 6.11959
MovieComedyWestern
Insurance salesman Milford Farnsworth sells a man a life policy only to discover that the man in question is the outlaw Jesse James. Milford is sent to buy back the policy, but is robbed by Jesse. And when Jesse learns that Milford's boss is on the way out with more cash, he plans to rob him too and have Milford get killed in the robbery while dressed as Jesse, and collect on the policy.

Filmography

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