How Chester Got His Limp
Dennis Weaver, who brought Chester to life, told us why his character did not have a gun on him in the DVD commentary. The star revealed that Gunsmoke execs wanted to portray him as a non-violent man. Not only that, but he was also given a characteristic that would distinguish him from Matt Dillon and the rest of the crew. In the end, the actor decided to give Chester a limp. The rest is history!
How Chester Got His Limp
It Was Hard To Act It Out
Let us talk some more about that limp, shall we? Dennis Weaver said that he ended up regretting his decision to give the character a limp. When he first came up with this idea, he failed to realize that it was going to be hard to act out a limp when he was doing it in each and every episode. He was in 290 episodes overall! This ended up having a negative impact on his experience on the set.
It Was Hard To Act It Out