Although Taylor has continued to act straight into the 2000s, appearing in 2004’s “Tombstone”, he’s shifted his focus back to art.
The actor can still be seen on film and TV from time to time, but he spends most of his days working on his paintings, which he sells on his website, bucktaylor.com. His work can also be seen displayed in several places throughout Texas.
Committed to the Role
If you have a job for two decades, you’re bound to miss at least a few workdays over the years. Things happen. People get sick, there are family emergencies, weather issues, etc. But James Arness was wholly committed to his role as Matt Dillon. In 20 years of filming, he was the only actor to appear in each and every episode of the show.
It is possible that, because he was the star of the show, producers and the rest of the cast worked around his sick days. But, it’s also possible that he simply pushed through and showed up no matter what the circumstances were.
Turning to Art
Buck Taylor is most well-known for his eight-year stint as Newly O’Brien. But the actor is also a multi-talented man. Before he even went into acting, Taylor pursued a path as an Olympic gymnast.
At the same time, he was studying art at the University of Southern California. Then, he landed his breakthrough role and his entire life changed. Plus, the show wouldn’t be quite the same without him.
(Not) Letting Go
After you’ve become so invested in playing a character over the span of several decades, it can’t be easy to just walk away from it. After all, James Arness was Matt Dillon for 20 years. So when the time came to film the follow-up films, of course, he was all in. He wasn’t the only one of the original cast members who was excited about the reunions, either.
Buck Taylor and Amanda Blake both appeared with Arness in the made-for-television film, '"Gunsmoke": Return to Dodge', alongside Arness.
Dirty Sally
The reunion films weren’t the only productions made to try and bring the world of Dodge back to life. In 1974, a year before the original series’ ultimate cancellation, a spinoff show called 'Dirty Sally' was released. It follows a junk collector from Dodge (Jeanette Nolan) who heads west to California in search of gold.
In the series, Nolan plays the title role, an older woman who chews tobacco and meddles in the lives of everyone she encounters on her way west. The show was only on the air for a single season, though Nolan received an Emmy nomination for her work on it.