Remembering Roger Ewing, Gunsmoke’s Thad Greenwood

Key Takeaways

• Ewing first appeared in Season 10 as Ben Lukens
• He appeared in more than 50 episodes
• He played Chester in a high school satire based on Gunsmoke

Roger Ewing, known mostly for his role as Deputy Marshal Thad Greenwood on Gunsmoke, died quietly on Dec. 18, 2025. No cause of death was given.

He was born in Los Angeles on Jan. 12, 1942, and would’ve been 84 today.

In 1965, Ewing appeared in the Season 10, Episode 21 of Gunsmoke called “Song for Dying” where he portrayed Ben Lukens. His performance impressed producers so much that it led to him ultimately joining the long-running show as Clayton Thaddeus Greenwood in Season 11, which came just after Burt Reynolds (Quint Asper) left. Greenwood arrived in Dodge City in pursuit of four vandals who caused his father to have a fatal heart attack. Marshall Matt Dillon (James Arness) asked him to stay in town to become a deputy.

At the time, there was a contract dispute between Arness and CBS. It was widely reported that Ewing’s character was developed by the network to replace Arness if the dispute had not been solved. But it was, and two years later, by 1967, the character of Greenwood was written out of the show. He appeared in more than 50 episodes.

Years later, Ewing was interviewed by the Alameda (California) Times-Star and discussed his love for Gunsmoke long before he appeared as Greenwood.

“I watched it every Saturday night,” he told the paper. “Golly, I never thought that seven years later I’d be on the show. Why, I didn’t even have any ideas about being an actor.”

When Ewing was a high-school senior, he played Chester Goode in a variety show satire of Gunsmoke. According to the Hollywood Reporter, he worked as a lifeguard after a year in college and then turned to acting, making his onscreen debut in Ensign Pulver (1964), where his character stuck a beer bottle in a duck’s mouth. He also appeared in episodes of Bewitched, The Baileys of Balboa, The Bing Crosby Show, and Rawhide.

Ewing retired from acting in 1972, became a professional photographer. Years later, he became active in local politics in Morro Bay, CA (where he died), and even ran for a seat on the town’s city council in 2003.

INSP sends condolences to his family and friends, and will fondly remember his many contributions to Western entertainment.