William Dennis Weaver (June 4, 1924 – February 24, 2006) was an American actor, best known for his work in television, including his role as Matt Dillon's trusty helper Chester Goode on the long-running western series Gunsmoke. He later played Marshal Sam McCloud on the NBC police drama McCloud, and appeared in the 1971 TV movie Duel, the first film of director Steven Spielberg. He is also remembered for his role as the twitchy motel attendant in Orson Welles' film Touch of Evil (1958).
| Full Name | Dennis Weaver |
| Net Worth | $1.1 Million |
| Date Of Birth | June 4, 1924 |
| Died | February 24, 2006, Ridgway, Colorado, United States |
| Place Of Birth | Joplin, Missouri, USA |
| Height | 1.88 m |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Profession | Actor, Pilot, Television Director |
| Education | Missouri Southern State University, University of Oklahoma |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse | Geraldine Stowell |
| Children | Robby Weaver, Rusty Weaver, Rick Weaver |
| Parents | Walter Weaver, Lena Prather |
| Nicknames | William Dennis Weaver, Dennis Weaver, Weaver, Dennis, Weaver, William Dennis, Billy Dennis Weaver, Weaver, Billy Dennis |
| IMDB | http://imdb.com/name/nm0915840 |
| Awards | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series |
| Nominations | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie, Primetime Emmy Award for Best Continuing Supporting Performance by an Actor - Dramatic or Comedy Series |
| Movies | Duel, Touch of Evil, Duel at Diablo, A Man Called Sledge, The Gallant Hours, What's the Matter with Helen?, Don't Go to Sleep, Column South, The Redhead from Wyoming, Gentle Giant, Home on the Range, Cocaine: One Man's Seduction, War Arrow, Stolen Women: Captured Hearts, The Lawless Breed, Terror on... |
| TV Shows | Kentucky Jones, Gunsmoke, McCloud, The NBC Mystery Movie, Centennial, Emerald Point N.A.S., Buck James, Wildfire, Lonesome Dove: The Series, Gentle Ben, Pearl, Stone |
| Star Sign | Gemini |
| # | Fact |
|---|
| 1 | Introducing movies on the Encore Westerns channel. Telling a little about the films before they are shown. [2005] |
| 2 | Served as a pilot in the U.S. Navy during World War II. |
| 3 | He was of part-American Indian background, being a 'registered Cherokee', as well as Osage. |
| 4 | In 1948, he graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in Fine Arts and Theater. |
| 5 | Signed to a contract at Universal in 1952. |
| 6 | Good friend of Robert Brubaker. Their sons went to school together. |
| 7 | He was a staunch supporter of the Democratic Party and a vocal opponent of the Iraq war. |
| 8 | Built an Earthship environmental home in Ridgway, Colorado. |
| 9 | Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Actors Branch). |
| 10 | Died on the same day and at the same age as Don Knotts. |
| 11 | He was a struggling actor in Hollywood in 1955, earning $60 a week delivering flowers when he was offered $300 a week for a role in a new CBS television series, Gunsmoke (1955). After nine years as Chester, who he played with a stiff-legged gait, he was earning $9,000 a week. |
| 12 | Served as the president of "Love Is Feeding Everyone" (LIFE), which fed 150,000 needy people a week in Los Angeles County. Also, founded the Institute of Ecolonomics, which sought solutions to economic and environmental problems. |
| 13 | Almost didn't get the part of "Chester Goode" on Gunsmoke (1955) until he asked for a second chance to read the lines in a humorous, countrified accent and won the role. |
| 14 | Inducted (as a cast member of Gunsmoke (1955)) into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1981. |
| 15 | Lost a daughter-in-law, Lynne Ann Weaver (who was married to his son, Robert Weaver), to a July 2003 Santa Monica, California, car accident that killed more than eight people. |
| 16 | Father of actor Robert Weaver, actor/producer/director Rick Weaver and Rusty Weaver. |
| 17 | Was a committed environmentalist; Weaver's home near Santa Fe, NM, is constructed almost entirely out of recycled materials. |
| 18 | Vegetarian. |
| 19 | Had three grandchildren: Jennifer Weaver, Travis Weaver and Jesse Weaver. |
| 20 | (1973-1975) President of Screen Actors Guild (SAG). |
| 21 | In 1958, he formed a singing trio with Milburn Stone and Amanda Blake. In 1960, the trio broke the house record for the Albuquerque Arena during the New Mexico State Fair. |
| 22 | Shelley Winters gave him one of his first real breaks by helping him get a part in a stage production of "Come Back, Little Sheba." |
| 23 | Born at 8:00am-CDT. |
| 24 | Placed 6th in the 1948 Olympic Trials in the Decathlon. Bob Mathias placed first; Weaver won the final event, the 1500 meter run. |
| 25 | Was a track and field athlete from the University of Oklahoma. |
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|
| Gentle Giant | 1967 | | Tom Wedloe |
| Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color | 1966 | TV Series | George Tucker, the Sundown Kid |
| Way... Way Out | 1966 | | Hoffman |
| Duel at Diablo | 1966 | | Willard Grange |
| Combat! | 1965 | TV Series | Noah |
| Dr. Kildare | 1965 | TV Series | Wayne Wandemeir |
| Kentucky Jones | 1964-1965 | TV Series | Kentucky Jones |
| Gunsmoke | 1955-1964 | TV Series | Chester |
| The Twilight Zone | 1961 | TV Series | Adam Grant |
| The Gallant Hours | 1960 | | Lt. Cmdr. Andy Lowe |
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents | 1960 | TV Series | Charles Cavender |
| Playhouse 90 | 1958 | TV Series | Karl Ohringer |
| Touch of Evil | 1958 | | Mirador Motel Night Manager |
| Climax! | 1958 | TV Series | Steve Maclyn |
| The Silent Service | 1957 | TV Series | Lt. Cmdr. Bladen D. Claggett |
| Navy Wife | 1956 | | |
| Big Town | 1956 | TV Series | |
| Storm Fear | 1955 | | Hank |
| Chief Crazy Horse | 1955 | | Maj. Carlisle |
| The Lone Ranger | 1955 | TV Series | Jeb Sullivan |
| Seven Angry Men | 1955 | | John Brown Jr. |
| Ten Wanted Men | 1955 | | Sheriff Clyde Gibbons |
| Dragnet | 1954-1955 | TV Series | Sergeant Jay Allen / Dave Rotbart / Lt. Dick Whitley / ... |
| Schlitz Playhouse | 1955 | TV Series | Ben |
| The Bridges at Toko-Ri | 1954 | | Air Intelligence Officer (uncredited) |
| Dragnet | 1954 | | Police Capt. R.A. Lohrman |
| Dangerous Mission | 1954 | | Ranger Clerk |
| Cavalcade of America | 1954 | TV Series | |
| War Arrow | 1953 | | Pino |
| The Nebraskan | 1953 | | Capt. De Witt (uncredited) |
| The Golden Blade | 1953 | | Rabble Rouser (uncredited) |
| The Man from the Alamo | 1953 | | Reb (uncredited) |
| Column South | 1953 | | Menguito |
| Law and Order | 1953 | | Frank Durling |
| It Happens Every Thursday | 1953 | | Al -sChamber of Commerce President (uncredited) |
| The Mississippi Gambler | 1953 | | Julian Conant (uncredited) |
| The Redhead from Wyoming | 1953 | | Matt Jessup |
| The Raiders | 1952 | | Dick Logan (uncredited) |
| Horizons West | 1952 | | Dandy Taylor |
| The Lawless Breed | 1952 | | Jim Clements |
| Wildfire | 2005 | TV Series | Henry |
| Home on the Range | 2004 | | Abner (voice) |
| Touched by an Angel | 2003 | TV Series | Emmett Rivers |
| The Simpsons | 2002 | TV Series | Buck McCoy |
| Family Law | 2001 | TV Series | Judge Richard Lloyd |
| The Beast | 2001 | TV Series | Walter McFadden |
| Submerged | 2000 | | Buck Stevens |
| High Noon | 2000 | TV Movie | Mart Howe |
| The Virginian | 2000 | TV Movie | Sam Balaam |
| Escape from Wildcat Canyon | 1998 | | Grandpa Flint |
| Stolen Women, Captured Hearts | 1997 | TV Movie | Captain Farnsworth |
| Seduction in a Small Town | 1997 | TV Movie | Sam Jenks |
| Telluride: Time Crosses Over | 1997 | | Cameo appearance |
| Wolf Pack | 1996 | TV Movie | |
| Voyeur II | 1996 | Video Game | Sheriff |
| Two-Bits & Pepper | 1995 | | Sheriff Pratt |
| Lonesome Dove: The Series | 1994-1995 | TV Series | Buffalo Bill Cody |
| The Great Battles of the Civil War | 1994 | TV Mini-Series documentary | R. E Lee (voice) |
| Greyhounds | 1994 | TV Movie | Chance Wayne |
| Captain Planet and the Planeteers | 1991-1994 | TV Series | Dusty / Josh |
| Mastergate | 1992 | TV Movie | Dale Burden |
| The Return of Sam McCloud | 1989 | TV Movie | Sam McCloud |
| Disaster at Silo 7 | 1988 | TV Movie | Sheriff Ben Harlen |
| Buck James | 1987-1988 | TV Series | Dr. Buck James |
| Bluffing It | 1987 | TV Movie | Jack Duggan |
| A Winner Never Quits | 1986 | TV Movie | Mr. Wyshner |
| Going for the Gold: The Bill Johnson Story | 1985 | TV Movie | Wally Johnson |
| Magnum, P.I. | 1985 | TV Series | Lacy Fletcher - Present Day |
| Emerald Point N.A.S. | 1983-1984 | TV Series | Rear Adm. Thomas Mallory |
| Cocaine: One Man's Seduction | 1983 | TV Movie | Eddie Gant |
| Don't Go to Sleep | 1982 | TV Movie | Phillip |
| The Day the Loving Stopped | 1981 | TV Movie | Aaron Danner |
| Stone | 1979-1980 | TV Series | Det. Sgt. Daniel Stone Daniel Ellis Stone |
| The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd | 1980 | TV Movie | Dr. Samuel A. Mudd |
| Amber Waves | 1980 | TV Movie | Elroy 'Bud' Burkhardt |
| Stone | 1979 | TV Movie | Daniel Ellis Stone |
| Police Story | 1979 | TV Series | Sgt. Ted Bentley |
| The Ordeal of Patty Hearst | 1979 | TV Movie | Charles Bates |
| Centennial | 1978-1979 | TV Mini-Series | R.J. Poteet |
| Ishi: The Last of His Tribe | 1978 | TV Movie | Prof. Benjamin Fuller |
| Pearl | 1978 | TV Mini-Series | Col. Jason Forrest |
| The Islander | 1978 | TV Movie | Gable McQueen |
| Intimate Strangers | 1977 | TV Movie | Donald Halston |
| McCloud | 1970-1977 | TV Series | Sam McCloud |
| The John Denver Special | 1976 | TV Movie | |
| Terror on the Beach | 1973 | TV Movie | Neil Glynn |
| Female Artillery | 1973 | TV Movie | Deke Chambers |
| Rolling Man | 1972 | TV Movie | Lonnie McAfee |
| The Great Man's Whiskers | 1972 | TV Movie | Abraham Lincoln |
| Duel | 1971 | TV Movie | David Mann |
| The Forgotten Man | 1971 | TV Movie | Lt. Joe Hardy |
| What's the Matter with Helen? | 1971 | | Linc Palmer |
| Swing Out, Sweet Land | 1970 | TV Movie | Tom Lincoln |
| A Man Called Sledge | 1970 | | Erwin Ward |
| The Virginian | 1970 | TV Series | Jed Haines |
| That Girl | 1970 | TV Series | Lewis M. Franks |
| The Name of the Game | 1969 | TV Series | Walter Grayson |
| Gentle Ben | 1967-1969 | TV Series | Tom Wedloe |
| Judd for the Defense | 1969 | TV Series | Professor Robert Beardsley |
| Mission Batangas | 1968 | | Chip Corbett |
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|
| Mama Mae: The Life and Music of Mae Boren Axton | 2015 | Documentary | Himself |
| Hollywood Squares | 2004 | TV Series | Himself |
| CBS at 75 | 2003 | TV Special documentary | Himself |
| Weakest Link | 2002 | TV Series | Himself |
| Peace Pilgrim: An American Sage Who Walked Her Talk | 2002 | Documentary | Himself |
| Intimate Portrait | 2000-2002 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| Hopalong Cassidy: Public Hero #1 | 2001 | TV Movie documentary | Host |
| Politically Incorrect | 2001 | TV Series | Himself |
| 7th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards | 2001 | TV Special | Himself |
| Entertainment Tonight | 2000 | TV Series | Himself |
| Subdivide and Conquer: A Modern Western | 1999 | TV Movie documentary | Narrator |
| Television: The First Fifty Years | 1999 | Video documentary | Himself - Interviewee / Chester Goode |
| CBS: The First 50 Years | 1998 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| 50 Years of Television: A Celebration of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Golden Anniversary | 1997 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Steven Spielberg | 1996 | TV Special documentary | Himself |
| Visions of a New World | 1995 | Video documentary | Himself |
| 1993 Environmental Media Awards | 1993 | TV Special | Himself |
| Music of the West: A Tribute to America's Singing Cowboys | 1993 | TV Movie | Himself - Host |
| Ancient Secrets of the Bible, Part II | 1993 | TV Movie documentary | Host / Narrator |
| Earth and the American Dream | 1992 | Documentary | Reader (voice) |
| What About Me? I'm Only 3! | 1992 | TV Movie | Himself |
| One on One with John Tesh | 1991 | TV Series | Himself - Guest |
| The Global Forum | 1990 | | Himself |
| Dennis Weaver's Earthship | 1990 | Video documentary short | Himself - Presenter |
| Walking After Midnight | 1988 | Documentary | Himself |
| Memories Then and Now | 1988 | TV Movie documentary | Himself - Host |
| Citizen Steve | 1987 | Documentary short | Himself |
| Sex Symbols; Past, Present and Future | 1987 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Common Ground: Farming and Wildlife | 1987 | TV Movie documentary | Himself - Host |
| Headin' Home for the Holidays | 1986 | TV Movie | Himself |
| Super Password | 1986 | TV Series | Himself - Celebrity Contestant |
| The 38th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards | 1986 | TV Special | Himself |
| Star's Table | 1986 | TV Series | Himself |
| The Wildest West Show of the Stars | 1986 | TV Movie | Himself / Host |
| All Star Blitz | 1985 | TV Series | Himself |
| The 19th Academy of Country Music Awards | 1984 | TV Special | Himself |
| CBS Tournament of Roses Parade | 1984 | TV Special | Himself |
| Family Feud | 1984 | TV Series | Himself |
| Tom Cottle: Up Close | 1982 | TV Series | Himself |
| Hee Haw | 1977-1981 | TV Series | Himself / Himself - Guest |
| Where Have All the Children Gone | 1980 | TV Special | |
| The Big Show | 1980 | TV Series | Himself - Host |
| The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson | 1962-1979 | TV Series | Himself - Guest |
| The Mike Douglas Show | 1964-1979 | TV Series | Himself - Guest / Himself - Actor |
| Dinah! | 1975-1979 | TV Series | Himself |
| The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries | 1977 | TV Series | Himself |
| The Hollywood Squares | 1969-1977 | TV Series | Himself - Panelist |
| The Val Doonican Music Show | 1977 | TV Series | Himself |
| Larry Grayson | 1977 | TV Series | Himself - Special Guest Star |
| Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Dennis Weaver | 1976 | TV Special | Himself |
| Lola! | 1976 | TV Series | Himself |
| AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Orson Welles | 1975 | TV Special | Himself |
| 10th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards | 1974 | TV Special | Himself - Presenter |
| Flip | 1974 | TV Series | Himself |
| The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour | 1973 | TV Series | Himself / Various Characters |
| Jerry Visits | 1971 | TV Series | Himself |
| The Dean Martin Show | 1968-1971 | TV Series | Himself |
| The Movie Game | 1971 | TV Series | Himself |
| The Don Knotts Show | 1970 | TV Series | Himself |
| The Linkletter Show | 1970 | TV Series | Himself |
| The Everly Brothers Show | 1970 | TV Series | Himself |
| The Joey Bishop Show | 1968 | TV Series | Himself |
| You Don't Say | 1964 | TV Series | Himself |
| Today | 1964 | TV Series | Himself - Guest |
| The Match Game | 1963 | TV Series | Himself - Team Captain |
| Stump the Stars | 1963 | TV Series | Himself - Guest Panelist |
| The Garry Moore Show | 1962 | TV Series | Himself |
| The Merv Griffin Show | 1962 | TV Series | Himself |
| Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall | 1962 | TV Series | Himself - Guest |
| What's My Line? | 1962 | TV Series | Himself - Panelist |
| The Juke Box Jury | 1959 | TV Series | Himself |
| The 11th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards | 1959 | TV Special | Himself - Presenter |
| The Ed Sullivan Show | 1959 | TV Series | Himself |
| This Is Your Life | 1957 | TV Series | Himself |
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$1.1 Million
