Ken Curtis (born July 2, 1916; died April 29, 1991), Singer-Actor, best known as "Festus" of Gunsmoke fame. Jump to: navigation, search July 2 is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 182 days remaining. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1916 is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January-February January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ... April 29 is the 119th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (120th in leap years). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Gunsmoke was a long-running old-time radio and television Western drama program set in Dodge City, Kansas during the settlement of the American West. ...

Born Curtis Wain Gates and raised in Las Animas, Colorado, his father, Dan Gates, was the sheriff in Las Animas. The family lived above the jail and his mother, Nellie (Sneed) Gates, cooked for the prisoners. Las Animas is a city located in Bent County, Colorado. ...

Ken Curtis, who was a singer before he moved into acting, sang with the Sons of the Pioneers and Tommy Dorsey's band. Movie audiences will hear his voice from the introduction of the western standard: "Tumbling Tumbleweeds". The Sons of the Pioneers was a cowboy singing group founded in 1933 by Leonard Slye (better known by his later screen name Roy Rogers), with Tim Spencer and Bob Nolan. ... Tommy Dorsey (November 19, 1905–November 26, 1956) was a jazz trombonist in the Big Band era. ...

This son-in-law of director John Ford teamed up with father-in-law and also John Wayne in Rio Grande, The Quiet Man, The Wings of Eagles, The Searchers, The Horse Soldiers, and How The West Was Won. Curtis also teamed up with Ford, along with Henry Fonda, James Cagney, Jack Lemmon, and William Powell in the comedy Navy classic Mister Roberts. In the 1950's Curtis even tried his hand at producing with two extremely low-budget monster films, The Killer Shrews and The Giant Gila Monster. John Ford (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973) was one of the most accomplished American film directors of the 1930s to 1960s, known particularly as a director of the Westerns, although his tributes to the veterans of World War II and Americana are also equally effective. ... Jump to: navigation, search John Wayne (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), nicknamed Duke, was an American film actor whose career began in silent movies in the 1920s. ... Rio Grande (1950) is the third installment of John Fords cavalry trilogy, following Fort Apache (1948) and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949). ... The Quiet Man was a 1952 American film starring John Wayne, Maureen OHara and Barry Fitzgerald, and directed by John Ford. ... The Wings of Eagles is a 1957 film about Frank Spig Wead and US Naval Aviation from its inception through World War II. The film is a tribute to Wead from his friend, director John Ford. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Horse Soldiers (1959) (set in the American Civil War), directed by John Ford, is a film about a Union Cavalry detachment, lead by Colonel John Marlowe (John Wayne), which is sent behind the Confederate enemy lines in strength to destroy a railroad and supply depot (Newton Station). ... Movie poster of 1962s How the West Was Won. ... Fonda in the 1957 classic, 12 Angry Men. ... Jump to: navigation, search Jimmy Cagney was part of the Legends of Hollywood USPS stamp series. ... Jack Lemmon Jack Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was a consummate Hollywood actor. ... William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 - March 5, 1984) was an American actor, noted for his sophisticated, cynical roles. ... Movie poster of 1955s Mister Roberts. ...

Ken is best known for his long-running role as Festus Haggen, the scrofulous, cantankerous deputy in the TV series Gunsmoke. Festus is patterned after "Cedar Jack", a man from Curtis' Las Animas childhood. Cedar Jack, who lived about 40 miles out of town in the hills and made a living cutting cedar fence posts, gave Curtis plenty of opportunity to observe him when Jack would come to Las Animas where he would usually end up drunk and in jail. Gunsmoke was a long-running old-time radio and television Western drama program set in Dodge City, Kansas during the settlement of the American West. ...

In 1981, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Hall of Great Western Performers is a Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. ... The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum was established in 1955 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. ... Downtown Oklahoma City The State Capitol of Oklahoma From The South Founded Incorporated   County Oklahoma County Mayor Mick Cornett Area  - Total  - Water 1,608. ...

His last role was as cattle rancher "Seaborn Tay" in the TV production Conagher (1991), by famed Western author Louis L'Amour, starring Sam Elliot in the lead role. Cover Louis LAmour book, Showdown at Yellow Butte. ...

In 1991 Curtis died in his sleep of natural causes in Fresno, California. Fresno is the county seat of Fresno County, California. ...

External links

• Ken Curtis at the Internet Movie Database
• The Old Corral
• Ken Curtis Appreciation Site