‘Gunsmoke’ star Roger Ewing dead at 83

Roger Ewing, best known for his role as Deputy Marshal Thad Greenwood on “Gunsmoke,” has died.

He was 83.

The actor’s loved ones announced in an obituary that Ewing passed away in Morro Bay, Calif., on Dec. 18, 2025. No cause of death was given.

“Roger was a kind and decent man who never let his fame or station in life go to his head,” Ewing’s close friend, Mark Ashworth, wrote in a message following the sad news. “Surely he’s in Heaven, because if anyone was meant to be there, it’s him.”

Linda Brady, another of Ewing’s close friends, remembered the late actor as a “good and gentle man” whose life and acting career “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 started acting when he starred in a satirized adaptation of “Gunsmoke” while a senior in high school.

“I watched [the show] every Saturday night,” he later said regarding the CBS classic, which famously included James Arness as Matt Dillon and Ken Curtis as Festus.

However, Ewing’s onscreen debut didn’t come until a few years later, when he appeared in an uncredited role in the movie “Ensign Pulver” in 1964, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Following several guest appearances on classic shows like “Bewitched,” “The Bing Crosby Show” and “Rawhide,” Ewing joined “Gunsmoke” as Ben Lukens in 1965.

Later that same year, he returned to the show as handyman-turned-deputy marshal Thad Greenwood following the departure of Burt Reynolds as Quint Asper.

Ewing joined as Thad Greenwood during the third installment of Season 11, and he stuck around for 50 episodes until departing the beloved series in 1967.

“With Thad’s family gone, Matt, Kitty, Doc and Festus sort of adopted him,” the actor once said of his role, 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.”

After leaving “Gunsmoke,” Ewing went on to appear in other shows like “The Mothers-In-Law” in 1967 and “Death Valley Days” in 1970.

His final film roles, meanwhile, were the Glenn Ford film “Smith!” in 1969 and the Anthony Perkins-led flick “Play It As It Lays” in 1972.

Ewing ultimately quit acting to pursue photography, which allowed him to travel around Europe, Russia and Mexico.

He later became active in local politics around Morro Bay, and even ran for a city council seat there in 2003.

“We were all very proud of his success in the acting world,” Ewing’s friend Patrick Hall wrote following the actor’s death. “He will be truly missed by all.”