... PS: James Arness had a bum leg from a previous accident.
Slight correction. Jim Arness received his "bum leg" [and hip], from being shot by a German machine gun during the invasion of Anzio, WW II.
Speaking of Jim's role in
The Thing, a humorous anecdote about that. Years ago, CBS was filming one of my
Gunsmoke scripts in which I'd written a scene I was curious to see how the director and stage manager set it up.
Gunsmoke was filmed at CBS Studio City. I called John Mantley, Exec. Producer and told him I'd like to see them film that scene. Mantley said, "Sure, I'll let you know when we're going to shoot it and I'll leave you a pass at the gate."
So on the day they were shooting it, I was on the
Gunsmoke sound stage set. During a break when the lighting crew was setting up lights for the scene, I was over to the side, talking with Arness. During our conversation I mentioned to him that when I was a kid, he'd scared the living bejesus out of me. He said, "Really? How's that?"
I said, "Well, in the tiny Arkansas town in which I grew up there was one streetlight between the theater and my home. That day and night it had snowed and there were several inches of snow on the ground. I watched
The Thing that night by myself. Walking home, plodding through the snow, I was scared you were going to jump out from behind a tree and eat me."
Jim laughed and then said, "That was my favorite role."I said, "You're kidding."
He said, "No. it was my favorite role because I did not have to learn any lines."
I got a laugh from that.
Anyway, long ago and far away.
L.W.
