Roger Lawrence Ewing (born January 12, 1942) is an American film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for playing Clayton Thaddeus Greenwood in the American

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

television series ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character ...

''.

Early life

Ewing was born in Los Angeles, California in 1942.

Career

Ewing began his career in 1964, appearing in the film ''

Ensign Pulver ''Ensign Pulver'' is a 1964 American Technicolor film in Panavision and a sequel to the 1955 film '' Mister Roberts''. The film stars Robert Walker Jr., Burl Ives, Walter Matthau and Tommy Sands and features Millie Perkins, Larry Hagman, K ...

'', playing Jackson. He also guest-starred in television programs including '' Rawhide'', '' The Farmer's Daughter'', ''

Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typic ...

'', '' The Eleventh Hour'' and ''

Room 222 ''Room 222'' is an American comedy-drama television series produced by 20th Century Fox Television that aired on ABC for 112 episodes, from September 17, 1969 until January 11, 1974. The show was broadcast on Wednesday evenings at 8:30 ( EST) fo ...

''. In 1965, Ewing guest-starred in the

television series ''

'', first appearing in the episode "Song for Dying". Ewing's performance in ''Gunsmoke'' impressed the

producers Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

. They offered him the role of Clayton Thaddeus Greenwood, and he joined the regular cast. His character went by the name Thad Greenwood. Ewing was originally a ''Gunsmoke'' fan, whilst attending

Los Angeles High School Los Angeles High School is the oldest Public education#United States, public high school in the Southern California, Southern California Region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are royal blue and white and the teams are ...

in Los Angeles, California. He watched the show every Saturday night. Ewing played the role of

Marshal Matt Dillon Matt Dillon is a fictional character featured on both the radio and television versions of ''Gunsmoke''. He is the U.S. Marshal of Dodge City, Kansas, who works to preserve law and order in the western frontier of the 1870s. The character wa ...

's trusty partner, Clayton “Thad” Greenwood, in his senior year of high school. When Ewing joined the cast of ''Gunsmoke'', there were serious disagreements between star

James Arness James Arness (born James King Aurness; May 26, 1923 – June 3, 2011) was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon for 20 years in the CBS television series '' Gunsmoke''. Arness has the distinction of having played the ...

and

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

about Arness' salary and part-ownership of the television series. Ewing's character was created by CBS with a view to replacing Arness should they deem it necessary. Ewing's first appearance as Greenwood was in the episode "Clayton Thaddeus Greenwood". He portrayed the son of a

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

from

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, traveling to

Dodge City Dodge City is the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States, named after nearby Fort Dodge. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. The city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town ...

, to find his father's killers. His final appearance on ''Gunsmoke'' was in the episode "The Prodigal". He enjoyed his time appearing in ''Gunsmoke'', After leaving ''Gunsmoke'', Ewing was replaced by

Buck Taylor Buck Taylor (born May 13, 1938) is an American actor and artist, best known for his role as gunsmith-turned-deputy Newly O'Brian in the CBS television series ''Gunsmoke''. He is the son of Florence Gertrude Heffernan and character actor Dub Tayl ...

who played as gunsmith-turned-deputy Newly O'Brian. Ewing retired in 1972, last appearing in the film ''

Play It as It Lays ''Play It as It Lays'' is a 1970 novel by the American writer Joan Didion. ''Time'' magazine included the novel in its " 100 Best English-Language Novels from 1923 to 2005". About the book, Joan Didion said, "I didn’t think it was going to mak ...

''.

Personal life

After retiring, Ewing became a photographer, for which he had a passion. Ewing resided in

Morro Bay, California Morro Bay (''Morro'', Spanish language, Spanish for "Hill") is a seaside city in San Luis Obispo County, California. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, the city population was 10,757 as of the 2020 United St ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

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Rotten Tomatoes profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ewing, Roger 1942 births Living people People from Los Angeles Male actors from Los Angeles American male film actors American male television actors 20th-century American male actors American photographers 20th-century American photographers Western (genre) television actors