Tall men in the saddle

James Arness of Gunsmoke fame died June 3 of natural causes, in his sleep, at home in Los Angeles.

Arness was one of two big men I grew up watching on television, the other, Chuck Conners, The Rifleman. Arness was 88 years old, while Connors passed away in 1992. He was just 71 when he died of lung cancer. Arness, a towering 6-foot-7, played Sheriff Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke, while Conners, a 6-foot-5 former baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs, portrayed the likable Lucas McCain, the single parent of Mark McCain.

Johnny Crawford, who portrayed Mark, is my age now. It's hard to believe he's 65, and since 1992, Crawford has headed up the California-based Johnny Crawford Orchestra, which specializes in vintage dance music.