Remembering Dennis Weaver

This past week James Arness died and that got me thinking a little about his co-star for a while on Gunsmoke, Dennis Weaver. He was an awesome actor, but he was one of the first famous environmentalist. He built his solar powered home back before anyone was talking about it.

I have never heard of either of them, but if he was an actor he could afford to build a solar powered home, most of us could not afford to do it even now.

James Arness was Marshall Dillon in Gunsmoke and Dennis Weaver was the cowboy cop in McCloud. One in the 50s/60s and the other in the late 70s… roughly…

you’d probably recognise them if you saw them justontime… anyway, Weaver was no multi millionaire celebrity like they are nowadays, so the comment about him being an actor and so therefore being able to afford it. is not really valid… I know dozens of actors who haven’t got a bean bless ‘em…

I have not heard of them either and I am not familiar with Gunsmoke or McCloud, maybe we didn’t get them in UK. I think it is a reasonable point from Justontime, even now most ordinary people find that the cost of being environmentally friendly is prohibitive.

The solar-powered home sounds nice. I like hearing about people making an effort like this.

I haven’t seen either Gunsmoke or McCloud though. Both were before my time!

Gunsmoke is the longest running TV series of all time in America. Recently, Law and Order tied it but then went off the air before breaking the record, which some folks criticized and western fans loved. Arness starred in that show in the role that many people wanted John Wayne for. For a few years, Dennis Weaver appeared on Gunsmoke as the deputy. When he left the show, he was cast in Gentle Ben, about a black bear. Clint Howard played his son. Clint is the younger brother of Ron Howard, who should need no identifying remarks. lol Later, Weaver hit it big again with McCloud. He had a few less successful series after that. Anyway, Weaver talked a lot about his home and the environment when he could. I vividly remember him talking to Johnny Carson about it, for example. Yes, he could afford it, but he built it himself. He didn’t hire anyone to do it, which was part of the mystique about it all.

I’m in the UK and I remember both series. Gunsmoke was very late on re-runs on a Sunday(?) morning, but McCloud was prime time Saturday evening TV…

I never knew that about Dennis Weaver. That is great that he did this. Awesome:)

It was one of the things that stood out about him. I liked his acting but I loved his convictions.