Photo Source: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Arness passed away of natural causes Friday, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Arness's death comes a year after his brother, "Mission Impossible" actor Peter Graves, died of a heart attack at age 83.
Arness was born May 26, 1923, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, starting out as a radio announcer in Minnesota in 1945.
He eventually moved to Los Angeles, where he landed his big break in 1947, starring opposite Loretta Young in the film "The Farmer's Daughter."
During his career, Arness befriended John Wayne who was instrumental in helping him score the role of Marshal Matt Dillon in "Gunsmoke." (CBS originally wanted Wayne for the part; he declined and suggested Arness.) During his 20 years on the show, he was nominated for three Emmys.
"Matt is very human and has all the failings and drives common to anyone who is trying to do a difficult job the best he knows how," he once said, notes the Times.
The show, one of the longest running dramatic series ever produced, was cancelled in 1975. Arness made four "Gunsmoke" movies for TV.
From 1976 through 1979 he starred in the television miniseries "How the West Was Won." His last TV series, the police drama "Big Jim McLain," aired in the early 1980s.
He is survived by his wife Janet, three sons and three grandchildren.
– The Hollywood Reporter
