John Mantley

Canadian actor, writer, director and producer of television programs, most notably, the long-running"Gunsmoke." Mantley always wanted to work in show business like his parents and older sister. In school he started a dramaatic society. While a fighter pilot during WWII, he contacted his famous second cousin, Mary Pickford. From their correspondence, he wrote his first novel, "The 27th Day." After the war, he continued his education and began performing in the US on stage. Ever enterprising, he dealt in a heroin business and unlicensed barbershops during the early 1950s. He found his way to radio, working mainly as a producer. He produced the first foreign language television show in the US as well and continued his writing career, both scripts and another novel, "The Snow Birch." Perhaps his most famous undertaking was as producer of "Gunsmoke." He began his affiliation with the show as a free-lance script-writer and quickly became producer, an assignment that lasted for ten years. He and his wife had three children. Suffering from Alzheimer's disease, Mantley died in Sherman Oaks, CA on January 14, 2003. Link to Wikipedia biography