If you’re into Westerns you’re familiar with Milburn Stone, best known for playing Dr. Galen Adams (Doc) on the TV show “Gunsmoke.”

He starred in “Gunsmoke” through its entire television run, except for seven episodes in 1971 when Stone required heart surgery and Pat Hingle replaced him as Dr. Chapman. Stone appeared in 604 episodes through 1976, often shown in a friendly manner with co-stars Dennis Weaver and Ken Curtis, who played, Chester Goode and Festus Haggen.

Stone also appeared in many films throughout the 1950s before retiring due to health issues. The famous actor died in 1980 in La Jolla at the age of 75 from a heart attack.

KANSAS RAISED

Stone was born Hugh Milburn Stone in Burrton, Kan., on July 5, 1904, in Harvey County where the Milburn Stone Theatre was later erected in his name.

According to Beverly Schmitz Glass, Ph.D., and president of the alumni association for the now defunct Saint Mary of the Plains College, “All I can remember from my time as college relations director is that Milburn Stone was born in Burrton, Kan. in Harvey County.”

After high school, he became a traveling actor and appeared in about 150 movies until he landed the role of the crusty Doc Adams in “Gunsmoke,” she said.

“He said he drew his inspiration from Dr. Samuel Crumbine who was a real early doctor and health advocate who practiced in Dodge City, Kan.,” she said.

For his portrayal of Doc, Stone won an Emmy in 1965 and received an honorary membership in the Kansas Medical Society before receiving his honorary doctorate from St. Mary’s in 1974. He was on hand for the opening and dedication of the Milburn Stone Theater on the bottom floor of Hennessy Hall, she added.
“Dr. Michael McCarthy, president at the time, thought we needed to recognize him mainly because he was from Kansas, grew up in nearby Larned, and because of the Boot Hill/Gunsmoke/Dodge City connection,” she said.
At the time, Stone also donated several items from the Gunsmoke set including scripts, the prop gun he wore, a medical bag, and other items, Glass recalled.

After Stone died and when the college closed in 1992, his trust wanted the items back from the theater department to put with the rest of his memorabilia in La Jolla, Glass said.
EARLY DAYS

Stone began his long career in Vaudeville alongside his brother Joe as part of the song-and-dance team “Stone and Strain.” He was also the nephew of famous Broadway comedian Fred Stone, who is said to have inspired the young Milburn to become an actor.

Joe Stone later went on to become a columnist for the San Diego Evening Tribune and the San Diego Union until retiring in 1977. He was also said to have written a few episodes of “Gunsmoke.”

After moving to Hollywood in 1935, Milburn became a contract player for Universal Studios and appeared in films such as “The Atomic City” (1952) and “Invaders From Mars” (1953). Many other films would follow in his long career.

Stone was a “Gunsmoke” cast member from 1955 through 1972 and retired from the show because of poor health. In 1968, Stone received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Drama for his work on “Gunsmoke.”

Stone moved to San Diego with his wife Jane Garrison Stone, where he retired in La Jolla.

ONWARD AND A LEGACY TO BEHOLD

Stone was inducted posthumously in 1981 into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

Glass added Milburn Stone left other legacy materials from St. Mary’s  (scripts, costume vest and glasses he wore in “Gunsmoke,” bowties, fountain pen, cowboy hat, and autographed pictures of himself and the cast) to the Milburn Stone Theater for the Performing Arts at Cecil College in North East, Md.

“He, his wife, and daughter were big benefactors to that theater as his wife was from that area,” Glass said.

MARYLAND THEATER

While there is the Milburn Stone Theater for Performing Arts at Cecil College, a spokesperson for the theater mentioned, “No one associated with the theatre or the college we work at has an association with Milburn Stone Theatre.”

According to Dann Combs, director of Milburn Stone Theatre at Cecil College, “This theatre was named after him due to his family relocating to this area well after he passed away. His family donated money to have the building named after him when it was built in 1992, so there was never any physical connection with him, and the people involved here at the college back then.”

There are two painted portraits in the theater lobby of actor Milburn Stone for patrons to see and admire.

COWBOY CONNECTIONS

As mentioned, Stone was inducted posthumously into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

Michael Grauer, McCasland chair of cowboy culture and curator of Cowboy Collections and Western Art Museum said, “I don’t think Milburn Stone is terribly well known today. ‘Gunsmoke’ has largely faded from national consciousness in the last couple of decades, sadly.”

Grauer said Stone, actors James Arness, and Curtis were all inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame together in 1981. Amanda Blake (“Miss Kitty”) had been inducted in 1968. The museum recognized the cultural importance of “Gunsmoke” to the international community, he said.

“All the cast of ‘Gunsmoke’ were cultural icons during the run of the show,” Grauer said. “Being a native Kansan myself, I was thrilled to learn we shared that heritage. As a ‘Gunsmoke’ fan growing up, I knew him as Doc of course. My first horse was named ‘Gunsmoke.’”

Grauer added that Stone played villains in B westerns, but his contributions to “Gunsmoke” make him a “cowboy” in the rest of the world’s eyes. “He donated his entire ‘Gunsmoke’ collection to the museum and his widow donated a few things after his death.”

DEATH IN LA JOLLA

In March 1971, Stone had heart bypass surgery at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Ala. On June 12, 1980, he died of a heart attack in La Jolla. He is buried at the El Camino Memorial Park in Sorrento Valley, San Diego. His headstone reads, “Lord I Am With You Above” (Vista del Lago section, lot 401-D).

Stone had a surviving daughter, Shirley Stone Gleason (born circa 1926) of Costa Mesa from his first marriage of 12 years to Ellen Morrison, formerly of Delphos, Kan., who died in 1937. His second wife, the former Garrison, a native of Hutchinson, Kan., died in 2002. Stone had married, divorced, and remarried Garrison.

For his contribution to the television industry, Stone has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard.