Norman MacDonnell Biography

Fast Facts

• Served in the U․S․ military during World War II and was involved in the invasion of Normandy
• Won a Western Heritage Bronze Wrangler Award for Fictional Television Drama for "The Virginian" in 1966
• Created "Gunsmoke" with writer John Meston as a radio program which originally aired on CBS Radio in 1952
• Started out as an assistant director at CBS Radio in 1946, where he worked on several different radio series before becoming the director of "Escape․"
• Best known as the co-creator and producer of "Gunsmoke" and as the executive producer of "The Virginian․"
• Wrote five episodes of "Gunsmoke" in 1960 and 1961
• Was initially not selected as a producer for "Gunsmoke" when the series went to television in 1955, but later joined the show in 1956