Why Burt Reynolds Left Gunsmoke

Before Burt Reynolds went on to have a legendary and illustrious career on the silver screen, he first made his reputation doing television. He appeared in a myriad of shows between 1959 and 1972. He had one-episode roles in such classic shows as "The Twilight Zone," Erle Stanley Gardner's "Perry Mason," and Lee Marvin's "M Squad." Yet one of his most memorable recurring roles was arguably in Charles Marquis Warren's western drama, "Gunsmoke" (based on John Meston and Norman Macdonnell's radio series of the same name), which ran on CBS for an outstanding 20 (!) years between 1955 and 1975. Compared to today's TV Westerns, which are lucky if they last more than two seasons, that's an astonishing accomplishment for the unapologetically honest series.

Out of those 20 seasons, Reynolds starred in three (season 8, 9, and 10), from 1962 to 1965, as Quint Asper, a half-white and half-Comanche blacksmith, introduced as the member of Angela Clarke's Topsanah's tribe — who played Quint's mother — that was infamous for killing white people. But Quint's character truly turned much more intriguing after meeting the series' protagonist, U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness), who ultimately became his friend and helped him fit into white society, as well as getting him a job as a part-time Deputy Marshal in town.

During his time on "Gunsmoke," it became more and more evident that Reynold's film career was about to take off. He was still more than a few years away from the stardom that eventually found him in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but he got a leading role in Christian Nyby's spy thriller "Operation C.I.A." and renowned director Sergio Corbucci's spaghetti western "Navajo Joe," which was released in 1966. Besides "Gunsmoke," he continued doing a few episodes of TV here and there (like "Flipper" and "Branded"), but even his co-stars noticed that he was likely destined to be a bigger deal in Hollywood than someone stuck on the small screen.

One of those was Milburn Stone, who played Doc Adams in the western series alongside Reynolds. In an interview with Cowboys and Indians, the actor fondly remembered what Stone told him when he returned to shoot his last season on "Gunsmoke." He said, "When I came back after doing a movie [during the summer hiatus], Milburn said, 'Your movies are taking off — get out of here.'" Then Reynolds said, "Don't you like me?" to which Stone replied, "I love your work. But it's time to think about your movie career." Then Reynolds continued praising Stone, claiming he was "the smartest guy on set, a total gentleman." As we now know, he didn't hesitate to take his co-star's advice and quit "Gunsmoke" despite loving it to start making the pictures that ultimately became the pillars of his legacy as a movie star.