Gunsmoke Season 14: The Twisted Heritage cast and character guide – Who plays whom in the 1955 western series?

Gunsmoke | Image via CBS Productions
Gunsmoke | Image via CBS Productions

Gunsmoke Season 14 premiered on September 23, 1968. The series narrates the story of how Marshall Matt Dillon takes care of law and order in a Kansas City called Dodge City.

One of the popular episodes of Gunsmoke Season 14 is Episode 15 titled, The Twisted Heritage. The episode focuses on Kitty Russell’s shocking adventure, which she finds herself in while saving a fellow passenger's life. Other than Amanda Blake, veteran actress Virginia Gregg also shines through with her performance as the matriarch of the Copperton family.

Let’s explore more about the cast and characters of Gunsmoke Season 14: The Twisted Heritage.


Gunsmoke Season 14: The Twisted Heritage cast and character guide

Gunsmoke | Image via CBS Productions
Gunsmoke | Image via CBS Productions

In the episode titled, The Twisted Heritage of Gunsmoke Season 14, Dodge City’s resident, Kitty Russell, gets entangled in the animosity between the Coppertons and Daggets while she tends to the injured Blaine Copperton. The episode largely focuses on Amanda Blake’s Kitty, rather than the other main cast, such as Ken Curtis and James Arness.

Here is a look at the cast and character guide of Gunsmoke Season 14: The Twisted Heritage:

1) Amanda Blake as Kitty

Blake’s Kitty works at a saloon in Dodge City at the beginning of the popular series. She later becomes the owner of the Long Branch Saloon. In episode 15 of Gunsmoke Season 14, Kitty and her fellow passenger, Blaine Copperton, encounter bandits while they ride their stagecoach, resulting in Blaine getting injured.

She then takes him to the Copperton home and tends to his wounds, while his feisty mother, Jessie Copperton, treats her as a subordinate. She gets so entangled between the Daggets and Copperton that the former even kidnap her with Baline’s sister.

Blake has appeared in several popular Hollywood movies, such as Cattle Town and A Star is Born.


2) Virginia Gregg as Jessie Copperton

Gregg’s Jessie Copperon was reportedly the last character she played in the series. Her character, the mother of Blaine and the assertive matriarch of teh family, was loved by many. From the beginning of her appearance in the episode, she appeared as the spirited character she was. She even escalated the fight between the Daggets and the Coppertons by attacking their ranch with guns and injuring a young Dagget boy.

Apart from appearing in several Gunsmoke episodes, Gregg has also appeared in Perry Mason, The Twilight Zone, and Bewitched, among numerous others.


3) John Ericson as Blaine Copperton

Ericson’s Blaine is the fellow passenger in teh Stagecoach with Kitty at the beginning of the episode of Gunsmoke Season 14. He gets into a fight with the two bandits after they force him to give up his wallet, and he also kills them both. However, he gets injured in the process, due to which Kitty has to drive the Stagecoach to get him to his home and get him treated.

The popular Hollywood actor has appeared in various acclaimed TV shows such as Murder, She Wrote, Honey West, and Schlitz Playhouse, among many others.


4) James Arness as Matt Dillon

Arness’s character, Marshall Matt Dillon, was one of the main characters of the TV show. He was the one who made the city follow rules and regulations. However, he did not appear much in Episode 15 of Season 14, as it largely focused on Kitty’s story.

Other than playing the protagonist in Gunsmoke, the American actor also appeared in The Lone Ranger and How the West Was Won, among several others.


5) Ken Curtis as Festus

Curtis’s Festus was the Deputy of Dodge City in Gusnsmoke. The series, apart from depicting the lives of the residents of the city, also focused on the relationships that they shared with each other, specifically the friendship between Festus and Matt. Like Arness, Cutis’s appearance is also brief in the episode.

The actor has also appeared in TV shows such as Sea Hunt, The Aquanauts, and Ripcord, among several others.


Supporting cast and character guide of Gunsmoke Season 14: The Twisted Heritage

Gunsmoke | Image via CBS Productions
Gunsmoke | Image via CBS Productions

The supporting cast and character guide of Gunsmoke Season 14: The Twisted Heritage are as follows:

  • David McLean as Webb
  • Lisa Gerritsen as Tracey Copperton
  • Nora Marlowe as Ma Dagget
  • Richard O'Brien as Simpson
  • Conlan Carter as Logan Dagget
  • Joshua Bryant as Young
  • James Nusser as Louie Pheeters

Keep reading Soap Central for more such stories.

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Edited by Debashri Roy