Gunsmoke featured a ton of actors during its epic 20-year run. The TV series started out as a radio program before making the leap to television in the mid-1950s. From 1955 to 1975, the show kept the adventures of U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) alive and well, much to the delight of fans. As for his co-star Buck Taylor, his journey to the show meant other dreams couldn’t be realized

Although Taylor wasn’t one of the original cast members of Gunsmoke, he played a prominent role in the latter half of the show’s original run. In 1967, Taylor joined the show as Newly O’Brien. The character was among the characters to step in as acting deputies at various points. Burt Reynolds’ Quint Asper and Roger Ewing’s Thad Greenwood preceded Taylor in that regard.

As for Newly O’Brien, the character served as both a backup deputy and a doctor-in-training. Thanks to his uncle, he had some medical training. Taylor remained on the show from his introduction until the show finally came to a close in 1975. But before he became an actor, he was in pursuit of a very different passion: participating in the Olympic Games.

In an old interview, Taylor explained a bit about how he ended up getting the role on Gunsmoke. At the start of his career, he wasn’t yet an actor but a gymnast with ambitions of competing in the Olympics.
“I tried out for the Olympics, but I didn’t make the team. I think I worked out every day for about 12 years, very hard,” he explained in his interview with Bette Rogge for The University of Dayton. “Then when I started acting, I did a couple of saddle falls – stunt work – and I chipped my shoulder. So I had to give up the gymnastics.”
Thankfully, it all worked out in the end, as Taylor found great success in Hollywood. Gunsmoke was an integral part of what would become a very prolific career. Over the years, he particularly held great esteem in the Western genre on both television and in the movies.
Most recently, Taylor had a popular recurring role on the Paramount Network series Yellowstone. That show – which follows a family based out of the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch – stars Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, and Kelly O’Reilly. Taylor played Emmett Walsh from 2018 to 2022, appearing in a total of eight episodes across the show’s first five seasons.
Yellowstone notably has helped reinvigorate the modern Western. The show has become such a runaway hit that it has expanded into a franchise for Paramount. With two spin-offs already behind it and another two on the way, Yellowstone is only the latest Western project to receive Taylor’s stamp of approval.
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Movie actor John Wayne had an undeniable fervor for America and the values he aligned with it. As a result, he defended them the best that he could on the silver screen and with his interactions with those who served. Wayne earned an award for “paying his dues” to America in his own way, as the U.S. government and his peers celebrated him for the same distinction given to George Washington and Thomas Edison.

Wayne had an image that was always associated with America, although it aligned with the conservative end of the political spectrum. Therefore, he alienated other moviegoing audiences who disagreed with his values and politics. However, the movie star earned an abundance of criticism after he didn’t follow his fellow Hollywood stars into the fray of World War II. Rather, Wayne stayed in America and continued to boost his career with a noticeable lack of male movie stars available to star in motion pictures.

Several different stories circulated as to why the actor didn’t serve, but he was the sole supporter of his family, which granted him an exemption. Even so, the damage was already done, and it harmed his image for the rest of his career and beyond.

Wayne doubled down on his fight for America when it came to defending its honor in other ways. According to 1979 U.S. Government Printing Office documentation, he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, which is Congress’ highest honor for achieving something substantial for the country. Congress bestowed this honor on very few people, with the list including Washington, Edison, and the Wright brothers.
While many members of the American public didn’t necessarily agree with this, there were some outspoken supporters across Hollywood.
Frank Sinatra honored him, writing that “No man’s lifetime or work has given more proof to the world that our flag is still there John Wayne is in truth a star-spangled man whom so proudly we hail.”
The Dirty Dozen filmmaker Robert Aldrich emphasized that he was a Democrat and didn’t share any political views with Wayne. Nevertheless, he honored the actor’s “courage, his dignity, his integrity … his strength as a leader, his warmth as a human being … he is entitled to a unique spot in our hearts and minds.”
Four-time Oscar-winning actor Katharine Hepburn said, “With a heart full of love for all concerned: ‘About time.’”
Oscar-winning actor Gregory Peck also voiced his support, even after earning the Top Western Star of the Year award, which left Wayne feeling upset. He called his fellow actor an “authentic folk hero” who has contributed “inestimable value to American culture.”
Wayne didn’t serve in WWII, but he did feel that he served America in his own way. He went on tours to visit soldiers serving, and he represented the U.S. itself on the silver screen. In his mind, this acted as a form of entertainment, but it was also a source of morale and built a sense of love for one’s country.
However, Wayne’s sense of nationalism also got him into trouble. He took great pride in making The Green Berets, which acted as a piece of war propaganda surrounding the Vietnam War. Famous film critic Roger Ebert tore the film apart for how it approached the war and represented soldiers overseas.
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Rebel, seductress, writer, producer and sexual icon.

In a PEOPLE exclusive look at the trailer for the documentary on her life, Mae West: Dirty Blonde, the actress can hardly be summarized in just a few words — but the new PBS film aims to shed light into the life of the subversive star.

Mary Jane West, best known by her stage name Mae West, left an indelible mark on Hollywood, notably for her unapologetic embrace of her sex appeal and femininity.

“Mae West crafted this image, she was a sexual gangster,” a voiceover says in the trailer.
Fashion icon André Leon Talley says, “Mae West was a pioneer for all those women who dare to be sexy: Cher, Madonna, Rihanna, Beyoncé.”
West, who died in 1980 at the age of 87, achieved critical acclaim in every artistic medium that existed during her lifetime after beginning a career at the age of 14 as a vaudeville dancer.
The actress, who starred in films such as She Done Him Wrong, I’m No Angel, Sextette and My Little Chickadee, pushed the envelope of social change and become one of Hollywood’s most controversial stars.
“She goes from being sent to jail for what she wants to say in 1926, to being the toast of Broadway in 1928 to being the highest-paid actress in America by the 1930s,” the voiceover says.
In an exclusive statement, Bette Midler, who executive produced the documentary, recalls a memorable interaction with the legend.
“I used to sing a Mae West song when I first started working solo. I actually did not know she was still alive; there was no internet…She sent me a cease-and-desist letter telling me to stop imitating her,” she recalls. “Of course I did, and I still have the letter! But truly, there will never be anyone like her. Her diamonds and feathers, her strict adherence to the clothes of the 1890s…were all part of the package. How could you not love her? She believed in her creation, and she lived it every day of her life. Now, that’s commitment!”
Candice Bergen also sings her praises in the trailer, saying, “Nothing could intimidate her, she just was not afraid to go out and poke a bear with a stick.”
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