fans... >> "gunsmoke". >> reporter: ...james arness was matt dillon.he brave upstanding marshal of dodge city on the hit t.v. series "gunsmoke." it ran from 1955 to 1975, one of the longest-running prime time dramas in t.v. history. john wayne was offered the role, but recommended his young friend arness. >> he said "i have a young man here under contract who i think would maybe fit the bill." >> and now i'm proud to present my friend jim arness in "gunsmoke." >> reporter: raised in minneapolis, the older brother of actor peter graves, he made his way to hollywood where within four months the 6'7" arness was sharing the screen with academy award winner loretta young. he made more than 30 movies, including sci-fi classics "them," and "the thing." but it was on t.v. where he made his name as the fast-drawing marshal who only shot when he had to. >> he's a gunman, doc. he has to be eliminated. >> reporter: number one for many years, "gunsmoke" was almost always in the top ten, with james arness in the saddle the entire 20-year run. >> i never had a time w

best remembered for role as marshall matt dillon on gun smoke.t flowers on his star on the hollywood walk of fame. it's the longest running drama series. we have more. >>reporter: 2 generation he was america second most famous cowboy. >> when i first heard about the show gun smokey knew there was only one man to play in it. james arness. >>reporter: james arness took the role john wayne turned down. u.s. marshall matt dillon. >> you ain't throwing nobody in jail law man. >> put the gun away. >>reporter: tv version of an ideal american man. hard to leave bee. >>reporter: marshall dillon never shirked his duties but drew the 6 shooter only as last resort. l arness says his wounds from world war ii made it painful to mount a horse. he made dozens of movies but will best be remembered as the modest marshall who for 20 tv seasons always got his man. l this is abc news. >>> what a great picture that is. >> still ahead tonight. over weight lug annual can cost you big bucks these days. michael investigates the accuracy of big bucks these days. michael in

he played matt dillon in a tv western series begunsmoke.e was 32 when his friend john wayne declined the lead role in begunsmoke and recommended arness instead. >> dr. death has also died. jason cazares rose to fame after becoming a death advocate. he helped 138 people to end their lives. he had been in the hospital with kidney problems. he was released from a michigan prison in 2007 after serving eight years for second-degree murder in connection with an assisted suicide. jason cazares was 84. >> john edwards is about to make his first court appearance in north carolina facing federal criminal charges that he illegal gave campaign contributions to his mistress. >> its stunning fall from grace, a vice presidential nominee and now indicted on criminal charges. it's the culmination after two year federal investigation into whether hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations were illegally used to cover up edwards piaf with his mistress. >> his attorneys said they gave them as gifts that wanted to keep it affair. in an interview, ed

. >>> "gunsmoke "starring james arnott as matt dillon. >> he was good with a gun. and while he didn't ever really inhabit the wild west, we sure thought he did. james arnott died today. he was a hollywood giant. the real life brother of peter graves, by the way. he starred in "gun smoke" for 20 years. 1955 to 1975, the longest tv running drama. he was a big norwegianer, he stood 6'7". he was infantry in world war ii and was hit by machine gun fire in an invasion. his leg was shot up. with a purple heart and a bronze star on his chest, he thought his life was just about over when he came home from the war a shy, wounded veteran. then he pinned a badge on his chest. acting saved him. "gunsmoke" launched so many other careers. his career had 50 films, and a good life, although he suffered chronic pain. james arnott was 88 years old. >>> we'll take a break now, and up next, the stuff from this past week's news that you had to be looking so closely to catch. >>> two days back when we launched our new ipad app and told you it contains material beyond was airs here every

he played matt dillon in a tv western series begunsmoke.was 32 when his friend john wayne declined the lead role in begunsmoke and recommended arness instead. >> dr. death has also died. jason cazares rose to fame after becoming a death advocate. he helped 138 people to end their lives. he had been in the hospital with kidney problems. he was released from a michigan prison in 2007 after serving eight years for second-degree murder in connection with an assisted suicide. jason cazares was 84. >> john edwards is about to make his first court appearance in north carolina facing federal criminal charges that he illegal gave campaign contributions to his mistress. >> its stunning fall from grace, a vice presidential nominee and now indicted on criminal charges. it's the culmination after two year federal investigation into whether hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations were illegally used to cover up edwards piaf with his mistress. >> his attorneys said they gave them as gifts that wanted to keep it affair. in an interview, edwa

the man who played marshal matt dillon on "gunsmoke" has died. james arness passed away today at his home in brentwood, california. "gunsmoke" went on the air in 1955 with arness as the marshal of dodge city. when the show ended its run in 1975, it was the longest-lasting series in television history. that record finally was tied by "law and order" last year. james arness was 88 years old. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to jim. >> lehrer: governments in three middle eastern nations try to put down popular uprisings. jeffrey brown has our update. >> brown: it was a major escalation of the fighting in sanaa. rockets blasted the presidential compound in the yemeni capital, wounding president ali abdullah saleh and killing at least six guards. saleh was reportedly moved to a military hospital for treatment. but a government spokesman said the injuries were light. >> ( translated ): his excellency is in good health. he will be well, god willing, in the near future, and he will appear in front of the people. >> brown: saleh was he

arness played marshal matt dillon in "gunsmoke" from 1955 to 1975. he worked with hundreds of actors, some of whom you certainly recognize, harrison ford, charles bronson. he died of natural causes. arness was 88 years old. >>> say good morning to my man reynolds wolf. good morning. i was saying right before we went into that story, you remember arness? everybody remembers that show even though it was before our time, if you will. >> my memories on james arness are fair to partly cloudy. reruns but certainly a great american. across there great country we're going to be dealing with incredibly warm temperatures not all over the nails, but in the southeast, southern plains, it will be roasting out there. we'll show you how high the temperatures will go and how long the heat wave will last. more in just a few seconds. >> reynolds see you in just a few. >>> we have found a link between ellen degeneres and al qaeda. and the link, would you believe, is a cupcake? i'll explain in 60 seconds. >>> 11 minutes past the hour now. renltds joining me for this. th

. >>> marshall matt dillon, a lot know that name from "gunsmoke," has died. actor james arness, you may not know the name, but your parents know it, he played the marshall in "gunsmoke" from 1955 to 1975, worked with hundreds of ac it tors over the year, among them harrison ford, burt reynolds, to name a few. he died of natural causes. james arness dead at the age of 88. again, reynolds, that was kind of before our time. we weren't necessarily watching the show but we're certainly aware of some of the reruns and the name and certainly know the story. >> what a great american he was. he was a big guy, about 6'7" and he was also a veteran. he served in the ansio campaign, landed in italy. wonderful veteran, good man. pretty good horse rider too. pretty good equestrian there. what a guy. >> to another story that will have people scratching their heads, one of the insult to injury stories. everybody is concerned out there about identity theft. can you imagine someone stealing your credit card? stealing your identity. using it to buy up something and then sending

. >> they should view him as not just a sheriff but matt dillon, u.s.istory, he's keeping the financial world on its toes. >> he threw a bomb on wall street. >> reporter: in less than two years 49 people charged with insider trading and 44 convicting. >> he is using the insider trading cases not just to prosecute the guilty but to use as a warning to all of wall street that this behavior will not be tolerated. it's aggressive tactics that have people talking. >> the use of wire taps is something rather new in the securities area, but frankly, snatching hard drives is too. when the hedge fund guys act like mobsters, they get treated like that, too. >> what was that? >> you have heard anything along that line? >> that's the sound of somebody breaking the law, all from wire tabs ordered by this man. >> people are afraid to talk on their phones now or to text messages. it has the desired affect. >> reporter: he took down the man that ran this hedge fund. this man was found guilty on 14 counts of insider trading. but bharara is taking on more than wall stree