Burt Reynolds said that Milburn Stone and Amanda Blake had ''some resentment'' towards him after he joined the ''Gunsmoke'' cast

All wasn't well in Dodge...at first.

CBS Television Distribution

Winning a role on Gunsmoke can feel like achieving the dream of a lifetime, but for Burt Reynolds, it was anything but smooth sailing. Reynolds made a name for himself when he joined the Gunsmoke cast in 1962 as blacksmith Quint Asper, and it was a role that Reynolds certainly fought for, as he was chosen out of three hundred other actors, according to an interview with Associated Press. In fact, Reynolds narrowly beat out one other actor during the final rounds of auditions, cinching his victory after he appeared in his first episode.

However, not all of the cast was thrilled with the outcome, as some actors in the Gunsmoke cast had their hearts set another another Quint Asper. Reynolds stated, "With Milburn [Stone] and Amanda [Blake], it was another matter. They had been pulling for the other actor to win, so there was some resentment."

Luckily, Reynolds not only had the support of Gunsmoke producers, but he had Marshal Matt Dillon on his side as well. The actor said that, while James Arness had a more reserved personality, he gave Reynolds his undivided support.

Reynolds stated, "Jim was for me from the start, so that was no worry. I don't mean we are close friends, because nobody gets close to Jim. That's the way he is."

Luckily, the bad blood between Milburn, Blake, and Reynolds didn't last long. Reynolds confessed, "In time we became the closest of friends, as people often do after an initial antagonism. I have dinner with one of them at least once a week."

In fact, in an interview with the Red Deer Advocate, Reynolds called Milburn Stone, "a surrogate father to me." and added, "He was an extraordinary man. So it looks like after the castmates put their differences aside, they were able to become more than just friends. They became a family.

Watch Gunsmoke on MeTV!

Monday - Saturday at 1 PM & 1:30 PM

*available in most MeTV markets
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
Close

16 Comments

JohnnyBoyohBoy 5 months ago
I read once that Brando hated an episode of The Twilight Zone that Reynolds appeared in where Reynolds was clearly impersonating him. It's called The Bard. Brando also said he disliked Reynolds because of a scene he did in the film, "The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing." He claimed that Reynolds was using kids to make himself look better.

Sparky63 6 months ago
I just read an article on colider.com, which said that Burt Reynolds was cast as Michael Corleone in "The Godfather", but Marlon Brando threatened to quit, so they cast Al Pacino instead. When asked why, Brando said; because Reynolds was a narcissist, which is obviously a joke, but the writer didn't get it.
Early in Burt Reynolds career, there was an article in Variety or some other industry publication about up & coming stars, which referred to Reynolds as "a poor man's Marlon Brando", because of their facial resemblance. When Brando read that, he immediately resented Burt Reynolds, even though he'd never met or known of him at the time which would have likely been in the late 1950's. Brando probably felt less unique or otherwise felt Reynolds was a threat to his career.
I saw an interview with Reynolds, where he said, that he saw Marlon Brando in a restaurant & tried to meet him, but Marlon Brando who recognized who Reynolds was as by this time, Reynolds had already "made it", was curt, replying to Burt's "Nice to meet you" with, "Well, it's not nice to meet you" or some similar exchange, followed by Brando turning his back on Reynolds, ignoring him.
Too bad, as I think, that they were both terrific actors, but I believe, that Brando was being his peculiar self in this case, & it wasn't Burt's fault, that there's a facial resemblance between him & Marlon Brando.
Ironically, that's probably the main reason, that he was originally cast as Michael Corleone in the first place! Their builds were certainly dissimilar. Burt never mentioned in the interview, that he'd been cast as Michael Corleone, but he speculated, that Brando read, that early reference to him & could never let go of the resentment, he may have felt.
McGillahooala Sparky63 6 months ago
Marlon Brando was a nut.
GOOSEYGOOSE9 6 months ago
I don’t like Burt reynolds I like Robert urich better than Burt reynolds and Michael landon I do.
Allegedly, Burt hated clowns who kept repeating themselves.
GOOSEYGOOSE9 6 months ago
I liked gunsmoke,Dan august and deliverance those were the only tv shows and movies.
GOOSEYGOOSE9 6 months ago
The only Burt reynolds movie I liked was deliverance. The only tv show of Burt reynolds I liked was Dan august.
KJExpress 6 months ago
I wonder who it was they preferred over Reynolds?
SeattleNative KJExpress 6 months ago
I wonder too!
KJExpress SeattleNative 6 months ago
It would have been interesting to know, but I guess that answer is lost in time.
McGillahooala KJExpress 6 months ago
Yes. Wonder if he made it.
CannonsMustache KJExpress 5 months ago
They probably didn't like the fact that someone new was added to an already successful TV show. It's no different when someone new gets hired in an office etc... and the existing workers often take awhile in accepting the new guy.
Runeshaper 6 months ago
Glad to read that the group did eventually get along (-:
GOOSEYGOOSE9 6 months ago
Burt reynolds I like deliverance then.
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?