Ken Curtis

Acting · Born 1916-07-02 in Lamar, Colorado, USA

Biography

Ken Curtis (born Curtis Wain Gates; July 2, 1916 – April 28, 1991) was an American actor and singer best known for his role as Festus Haggen on the Western television series Gunsmoke. Early years Born on July 2, 1916 as the youngest of three boys in Lamar in Prowers County in southeastern Colorado, Curtis lived his first 10 years on a ranch on Muddy Creek in eastern Bent County. In 1926, the family moved to Las Animas, the county seat of Bent County, so that his father, Dan Sullivan Gates, could run for sheriff. The campaign was successful, and Gates served from 1926 to 1931 as Bent County sheriff. Curtis was the quarterback of his Bent County High School football team and played clarinet in the school band. He graduated in 1935. During World War II, Curtis served in the U.S. Army from…

Filmography

• The Searchers as Charlie McCorry
• The Alamo as Capt. Almeron Dickinson
• Robin Hood as Nutsy - A Vulture (voice)
• The Horse Soldiers as Cpl. Wilkie
• How the West Was Won as Corporal Ben (uncredited)
• The Quiet Man as Dermot Fahy (uncredited)
• Cheyenne Autumn as Joe
• Conagher as Seaborn Tay, Cattle Rancher
• The Killer Shrews as Jerry Farrell
• The Long Gray Line as Specialty (uncredited)

TV

• Perry Mason as Tim Durant
• Airwolf as Cecil Carnes Sr.
• Gunsmoke as Festus
• How the West Was Won
• Sea Hunt
• Ripcord as Jim Buckley
• Rawhide as Vic Slade
• Vega$
• The Yellow Rose as Hoyt Coryell
• Have Gun, Will Travel