well, i say i am. now, you came across as a tv john wayne. and you knew john wayne. you guys were buds, right? yes, actually i was under contract to his company for three years. prior to gun smoke you see. did several movies with him. you were both tall big guys. little iconic. didn t mock a lot. just beat up the bad guys. whack! believe me, he was a great man. one-of-a-kind. there will never be another guy like him. when i first heard the show gun smoke , i knew there was loin one man to play in it, james arness. he is a young fella. but i ve worked with him an i predict you ll be a big star. did you model your character after the john wayne characters that he played in the movies? not consciously. i just played what was written
and they said don t mess with me fat stuff or i ll break your ice. he had a reputation of being a tough guy. oh, absolutely. was he a tough guy? no, he wasn t. he was the sweetest man in the world. john wayne, you were never in a movie with john wayne, but you knew him, right? absolutely. did he own hollywood, wayne? when he said jump, people said how high. he was that he was that big. you will have a belly ache. we were in the lounge together one night and he looked at me and said, damn it, earnie, how come we never worked together. and i was feeling good and i said, because you re afraid to work with good actors. oh, man. did he shoot you? how did he respond to that? oh, he laughed. he laughed like crazy.
welcome back to this special edition of the factor. our most compelling segments. we end with earnest borgnine and james arnes. they were big actors in hollywood and were compelling indeed. you have known all of these titans and you re an honest guy. let s start with frank sinatra. you were in from here to eternity with him and his career was going nowhere. he was in between. he was well liked wherever we were. we did a scene together. i played the piano.
know better sleep with sleep number. welcome back to this special edition of the factor. our most compelling segments. we end with earnest borgnine and james arnes. they were big actors in hollywood and were compelling indeed. you have known all of these titans and you re an honest guy. let s start with frank sinatra. you were in from here to eternity with him and his career was going nowhere. he was in between. he was well liked wherever we were. we did a scene together. i played the piano.
get into that character. i m an important citizen, i run things my way. but you don t run the united states government, jake. you don t run me. not too many people know this but you were a war hero. how did that change your life? i wasn t a war hero. i was an infantry rifleman there on the beach head for three weeks. and got shot down. they hauled me out of there. 18 months rehab? that s right. i consider that a hero, mr. arness. i know you re modest. but i consider that a hero. you re a hero on screen and as a real guy is fighting for your country. people know that. that s why you re a tv icon. that s why you re sitting here on the factor. we appreciate you coming in. i m a law man. i ve got no choice. i understand. let s go. no.