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No, Milburn, unfortunately, passed away 40 years ago. Despite getting the bypass surgery in 1971 (the time when he had to exit Gunsmoke for a bit), nine years later in 1980, he died of a heart attack at age 75. His death came just five years after Gunsmoke ended.

But on TV’s ‘Gunsmoke’, it was Milburn Stone that assumed the role of Doc in 1955, and he was ‘Doc’ until the historic western ended in 1975. It was in March of 1971 that Stone had heart bypass surgery and he passed away in 1980 from a heart attack at the age of 75.

Jane Garrisonm. 1946–1980Jane Garrisonm. 1939–1940Ellen Morrisonm. 1925–1937

So the general stores and saloons and hardware stores and whatnot would have wanted to street-level spaces for their customers’ convenience. Professionals — lawyers or doctors or dentists or whatever — wouldn’t have had a much walk-in traffic, so they might have tended to take the upstairs rooms.

During his time as Dodge City’s Marshal on “Gunsmoke,” Arness did quite well for himself. He earned $1,200 an episode. Although later, when the show won awards and continued to be a hit with critics and fans, he renegotiated his contract. As a result, he later got a whopping $20,000 an episode.

The reason why the three never shared more screen time together is that Chester was leaving “Gunsmoke” for greener pastures. Actor Dennis Weaver, who played Chester, wanted to pursue other opportunities. He had been on the show since the beginning. But he decided to leave during Season Nine.

Dennis Weaver came up with Chester’s limp He was told to distinguish his character from Dillon, so he decided that a limp would be a unique character trait to make Chester stand out. He ended up regretting this decision because it can’t be that easy limping week after week.