James Arness Autographs
James Arness (born James King Aurness; May 26, 1923 – June 3, 2011) was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon for 20 years in the series Gunsmoke. He has the distinction of having played the role of Dillon in five decades: 1955 to 1975 in the weekly series, then in Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987) and four more made-for-television Gunsmoke films in the 1990s. In Europe, Arness reached cult status for his role as Zeb Macahan in the Western series How the West Was Won. He was the older brother of actor Peter Graves.
James Arness was born in Minneapolis. His parents were businessman Rolf Cirkler Aurness and journalist Ruth Duesler. His father's ancestry was Norwegian; his mother's was German. The family name had been Aursnes, but when Rolf's father, Peter Aursnes, emigrated from Norway in 1887, he changed it to Aurness. James Arness and his family were Methodists. Arness' younger brother was actor Peter Graves. Peter used the stage name "Graves", a maternal family name.
Arness attended John Burroughs Grade School, Washburn High School, and West High School in Minneapolis. During that time, Arness worked as a courier for a jewelry wholesaler, loading and unloading railway boxcars at the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad freight yards in Minneapolis and logging in Pierce, Idaho. Despite "being a poor student and skipping many classes," he graduated from high school in June 1942.
Read more about James Arness on Wikipedia
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Current items with a signature of James Arness
These are the most current items with a signature of James Arness that were listed on eBay and on other online stores - click here for more items.
Traded items with a signature of James Arness
The most expensive item with a signature of James Arness (JAMES ARNESS,&THE ENTIRE CAST (GUNSMOKE) HAND SIGN AUTOGRAPH CARD) was sold in March 2026 for $2,027.99 while the cheapest item (James Arness autographed photo, Gunsmoke) found a new owner for $2.47 in May 2010. The month with the most items sold (20) was March 2019 with an average selling price of $47.50 for an autographed item of James Arness. Sold items reached their highest average selling price in April 2023 with $632.53 and the month that saw the lowest prices with $2.47 was May 2010. In average, an autographed item from James Arness is worth $85.00.
Most recently, these items with a signature of James Arness were sold on eBay - click here for more items.
