Gunsmoke star Roger Ewing dead at 83…
Roger Ewing, best recognized for his position as Deputy Marshal Thad Greenwood on “Gunsmoke,” has died.
He was 83.
The actor’s family members announced in an obituary that Ewing handed away in Morro Bay, Calif., on Dec. 18, 2025. No trigger of death was given.
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“Roger was a kind and decent man who never let his fame or station in life go to his head,” Ewing’s close pal, Mark Ashworth, wrote in a message following the unhappy news. “Surely he’s in Heaven, because if anyone was meant to be there, it’s him.”
Linda Brady, another of Ewing’s close buddies, remembered the late actor as a “good and gentle man” whose life and appearing profession “touched so many people in different ways.”
“Roger brought many of his own characteristics to the role of Thad Greenwood on the epic western ‘Gunsmoke,’” she wrote. “Shy, quiet, funny, and endearingly optimistic, Roger, as Thad Greenwood, will live on, forever young, in ‘Gunsmoke’ reruns throughout the world.”
Born in Los Angeles, Calif., on Jan. 12, 1942, Ewing began appearing when he starred in a satirized adaptation of “Gunsmoke” while a senior in high college.
“I watched [the show] every Saturday night,” he later said concerning the CBS traditional, which famously included James Arness as Matt Dillon and Ken Curtis as Festus.
The “Gunsmoke” star died in Morro Bay, Calif., on Dec. 18, 2025. Neptune Society
However, Ewing’s onscreen debut didn’t come until a few years later, when he appeared in an uncredited position in the film “Ensign Pulver” in 1964, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Following a number of visitor appearances on traditional exhibits like “Bewitched,” “The Bing Crosby Show” and “Rawhide,” Ewing joined “Gunsmoke” as Ben Lukens in 1965.
Later that same 12 months, he returned to the show as handyman-turned-deputy marshal Thad Greenwood following the departure of Burt Reynolds as Quint Asper.
Roger Ewing as Deputy Marshal Thad Greenwood in “Gunsmoke.” Courtesy Everett Collection
Ewing joined as Thad Greenwood during the third installment of Season 11, and he caught around for 50 episodes until departing the beloved sequence in 1967.
“With Thad’s family gone, Matt, Kitty, Doc and Festus sort of adopted him,” the actor once said of his position, per THR. “Anything that needed to be done, you know, an extra hand here, and extra hand there, Thad was always around. He fit in whenever necessary.”
(*83*) leaving “Gunsmoke,” Ewing went on to seem in other exhibits like “The Mothers-In-Law” in 1967 and “Death Valley Days” in 1970.
Roger Ewing in “Bewitched” in 1964. Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
Roger Ewing and Elizabeth Montgomery in “Bewitched” in 1964. Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
His last movie roles, meanwhile, have been the Glenn Ford movie “Smith!” in 1969 and the Anthony Perkins-led flick “Play It As It Lays” in 1972.
Ewing in the end give up appearing to pursue images, which allowed him to journey around Europe, Russia and Mexico.
He later turned lively in local politics around Morro Bay, and even ran for a metropolis council seat there in 2003.
“We were all very proud of his success in the acting world,” Ewing’s pal Patrick Hall wrote following the actor’s death. “He will be truly missed by all.”
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