Dennis Weaver

At 81 years old, Dennis Weaver has this physical status:

William Dennis Weaver, 1924-1924-1924 – February 24, 2006), an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild, best known for his television and film work from the 1950s to not long before his death in 2006.

Weaver's two most notable roles included Marshal Matt Dillon's trusty companion Chester Goode on CBS western Gunsmoke and Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud on the NBC police drama McCloud.

He appeared in Duel, the first film directed Steven Spielberg's first film.

He's also known for his role as the twitchy motel attendant in Orson Welles' film Touch of Evil (1958).

Early life

Weaver was born in Joplin, Missouri, the son of Walter Leon "Doc" Weaver and his partner Lenna Leora (née Prather). His father was of English, Irish, Scottish, Cherokee, Cherokee, and Osage roots. Weaver wanted to be an actor from the start. He lived in Shreveport, Louisiana, for many years and briefly in Manteca, California. He attended Joplin Junior College and later moved to Norman, Oklahoma, where he studied drama and was a track star, establishing records in numerous activities. He served as a pilot in the US Navy during World War II, flying a Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter aircraft. After the war, he married Gerry Stowell (his childhood sweetheart), with whom he had three children. Billy D. Weaver, he debuted for the 1948 US Olympic team in the decathlon, finishing sixth behind 17-year-old high school track star Bob Mathias. However, only the top three finishers were chosen. "I did so badly [in the Olympic trials], I decided to... stay in New York and try acting," Weaver wrote later.

Personal life

Weaver married Gerry Stowell after World War II, and they had three children: Richard, Robert, and Rustin Weaver. Dennis Weaver, a vegetarian who practiced yoga and meditation since the 1960s, has been devoted fan of Paramahansa Yogananda, India's guru who founded the Self-Realization Fellowship in the United States. Gerry died on April 26, 2016, at the age of 90.

Weaver's own home in Ridgway, Colorado, exemplified his contribution to protecting the climate. In the late 1980s, he commissioned architect Michael Reynolds to plan and build his new house, which mixed recycled materials, such as old car tires and discarded cans, with modern solar power and other ecotechnologies. Weaver's house was named "Earthship," the same term used to describe the design concept invented by Reynolds and advanced by him as part of what was then a growing interest in "sustainable architecture" by environmentalists. Weaver and his family lived in Earthship for more than 14 years until 2004.

Lynne Ann Weaver, the wife of son Robby Weaver, plowed through shoppers at the Santa Monica Farmers Market in July 2003. She was one of ten people wounded in the shooting.

Weaver, a lifelong Democrat, was a Democrat from Colorado.

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Career

In Come Back, Little Sheba, weaver's first appearance on Broadway came as an understudy to Lonny Chapman as Turk Fisher. He took over Chapman's role in the national touring company later in life. Weaver, who wished to be an actor, joined the Actors Studio, where he met Shelley Winters. In the beginning of his acting career, he helped his family by doing odd jobs, including selling vacuum cleaners, tricycles, and women's hosiery.

Shelley Winters, a 1952 undergraduate, assisted him in obtaining a Universal Studios deal. In the film The Redhead from Wyoming, he made his film debut the same year. He was involved in a series of movies over the next three years, but he was still had to work odd hours to help his family. On the new television show Gunsmoke, when giving flowers, he discovered Chester Goode, the stumbling, faithful servant of Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness). It was his first appearance on television, and the show went on to become the country's highest-rated and longest-running live action series (1955 to 1975). In 1959, he received an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series.

According to the Archive of American Television interview with Weaver, the producer had him in mind for Chester but was delighted when he appeared at the audition. Weaver, who had never seen the radio show, provided Chester with his "inane" dialogue, his best "method" delivery. The producer was dissatisfied with his work, but Weaver nailed it. The stiff leg came about after the producer pointed out that sidekicks almost always have some failing or weakness that makes them less able than the actor. Weaver decided that a stiff leg would be just the right thing.

Weaver appeared as Commander B.D. in 1957. "Two Davids and Goliath" was the claimant in a single episode of the television series The Silent Service. "I'm the night man" was the first actor in a 1958 Orson Welles film Touch of Evil, in which he played a face-twisting, body-contorting eccentric employee of a remote motel who tensely repeated, "I'm the night man." He appeared in "Insomnia," a 1960 Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode in which his character suffers from sleeplessness as a result of his wife's tragic death. In addition, he appeared in "Shadow Play," a 1961 episode of The Twilight Zone. Weaver's character is trapped inside his own revolving nightmare, convicted, and finally executed in the electric chair in the episode. In NBC's comedy comedy Kentucky Jones, he portrayed a compassionate veterinary physician raising an adopted Chinese boy as a single father from 1964 to 1965. He was instrumental in the 1966 western Duel at Diablo, with James Garner and Sidney Poitier. Tom Wedloe, co-star Clint Howard, appeared on CBS family drama Gentle Ben from 1967 to 1969.

Weaver received two Emmy Award nominations in 1970 for his role in McCloud, NBC's McCloud. He was selected in 1974 for Best Lead Actor in a Limited Series (McCloud) and 1975 for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series. The show, which revolves around a young Western lawman who winds up in New York City, was loosely based on Clint Eastwood's Bluff, which was loosely based on Coogan's Bluff. "There you go," the show's regular use of the affirming Southernism became a catchphrase. Weaver appeared in Duel, a Steven Spielberg-directed television film, during the series. Based on the ferocity of his earlier appearance in Touch of Evil, Spielberg selected Weaver based on the severity of his previous appearance.

Weaver was also a recording performer, with the majority of his albums being spoken-word recordings with musical accompaniment. Between 1959 and 1984, he released a number of singles and albums, the most notable of which was his eponymous Impress Records LP in 1972, which featured a portrait of Weaver in character as McCloud; it was the first of seven albums he released.

Weaver, president of the Screen Actors Guild, from 1973 to 1975.

Weaver, a Joseph Wambaugh-esque police sergeant turned crime author and Buck James' second film in which he played a Texas-based surgeon and rancher, were two of his later series in which he appeared in only one season. (Buck James was loosely based on real-life Texas doctor James "Red" Duke.) Emerald Point, N.A., portrayed a Navy rear admiral for 22 episodes of the 1983-1984 series.

In 1977, he portrayed a husband who physically assaulted his wife (portrayed by Sally Struthers) in Intimate Strangers, one of the first television shows to depict domestic violence. In the film "The Longhorns," Weaver played trail boss R. J. Poteet in 1978. Weaver has appeared in numerous famous television films, including Amber Waves (1980) with Kurt Russell. In 1980, he portrayed Dr. Samuel Mudd, who was jailed for his involvement in the Lincoln assassination, as well as in the short-lived NBC police drama Stone. In 1983, he worked as a cocaine addict in Cocaine: One Man's Seduction. When Weaver appeared in the 1987 film Bluffing It, in which he played a man who is illiterate, he received some of his best reviews of his career. He appeared on the animated film The Simpsons ("The Lastest Gun in the West") in February 2002 as the voice of aging Hollywood cowboy legend Buck McCoy.

Dennis Weaver, a celebrity on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6822 Hollywood Boulevard and the Dodge City (KS) Trail of Fame, was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6822 Hollywood Blvd. He was inducted into the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1981, and was named in the Hall of Great Western Performers with the Bronze Wrangler Award.

Weaver as McCloud was used in the 1980s and 1990s to advertise a rock show in New York City. In the late 1990s and 2000s, he also hosted segments for Encore Westerns' top cable network.

Weaver's last work on ABC Family's cable television show Wildfire starred Henry Ritter, Jean Ritter's father, and co-owner of Raintree Ranch. Due to his death, his participation on the show was cut short.

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