Gunsmoke had a cast of characters that audiences grew to love over the course of its respective radio and television show runs. Only two characters starred in the screen adaptation for the entire duration of the 20-season run between 1955-1975. However, many of them still had a very long presence over the course of the Western television series. Here’s a look at the cast of Gunsmoke characters that audiences couldn’t get enough of.

Matt Dillon

James Arness played Gunsmoke lead Matt Dillon for the entire 20 seasons that the show was on the air. The character was the U.S. Marshal of Dodge City, Kansas, who worked to keep the city safe from the high crime rate. The earlier episodes followed the radio adaptation version of the character a bit closer, but he deviated more as the show went along.

Arness’ Matt increasingly accepted the violent side of his career and spoke less about the dangers of the job. The older he got, the more he used other tactics to bring criminals to justice outside of violence. Nevertheless, Matt never hesitated to use force when necessary.

He kept only a few close friends in his company because he knew that he could trust them in any situation he found himself in.

Kitty Russell

Amanda Blake’s Kitty Russell was one of the main Gunsmoke characters on the show, who was also called Miss Kitty. She starred in the first 19 seasons of the show before making her exit. Kitty worked as the operator of the Long Branch Saloon, although early episodes hinted that it was a brothel.

She was one of Matt’s closest friends and Gunsmoke had a running gag that they had a potential romance looming over their friendship. However, the show intentionally never allowed them to get together. Rather, Kitty and Matt had frequent close calls and flirty chemistry, but it never became anything serious.