Leonard Nimoy Played an ‘Enigmatic’ Character on ‘Gunsmoke’ 

Plenty of notable actors appeared on Gunsmoke over its 20 years on the air, including Bette Davis, Bruce Dern, Angie Dickinson, and Sam Elliott. Also on the list is Leonard Nimoy, who appeared in the 1966 episode “The Treasure of John Walking Fox.” Though Nimoy’s time on the popular Western series was brief, it was memorable, he recalled in interviews later in his life. 

Leonard Nimoy appeared on ‘Gunsmoke’ shortly before ‘Star Trek’ premiered

In a conversation with the Television Academy Foundation about his long career in TV, Nimoy recalled his last role on Gunsmoke, a show on which he appeared multiple times. 

“What was particularly interesting was that Gunsmoke was the last job I did just before I started shooting Star Trek,” he said. “I had already done the Star Trek pilot, and I was hired for this story, playing an Indian.”

In his early days as an actor, Nimoy, who was Jewish, appeared frequently on TV Westerns, including Bonanza, Rawhide, Broken Arrow, The Virginian, and Wagon Train. He often played Native American characters, despite not being indigenous himself, a common practice at the time.   

“We were in a period where actors like myself could be hired to play ethnic characters, unlike what’s going on today,” he said. “I think today, most of the ethnic characters are being played by ethnic actors. Fair enough.”

The Spock actor reflected on his ‘clever’ ‘Gunsmoke’ character 

Nimoy played the title role in “The Treasure of John Walking Fox.” His character was a Native American fur trapper whose friend was murdered by a man in Dodge City. John Walking Fox then set out to make the killer pay for his crime. 

“The character was designed to be enigmatic,” Nimoy said in an interview for the PBS series Pioneers of Television. 

“He works out a plan where the killers would reveal themselves,” he explained. “It was a very clever plan that he had worked out. He claimed that he had a treasure hidden away, and he got these people out looking for this non-existent treasure. And they were all killing each other, killing themselves. So he was achieving justice through this very clever plan that he had.” 

“And then at the end, he has a scene with Marshall Dillon (James Arness) where Dillon kind of senses what’s been going on here,” he said. “And Walking Fox doesn’t give it away.” 

Leonard Nimoy already knew James Arness 

In addition to playing an interesting character, Nimoy’s Gunsmoke role gave him a chance to work with Arness, an actor he’d known for years. 

“I knew Jim before Gunsmoke,” he told the Television Academy Foundation, explaining that in the early ’50s, both had been involved in the same acting company in Los Angeles. Nimoy wasn’t involved in the group for long because he left to serve in the military. But he reconnected with Arness when he visited Atlanta, where Nimoy was stationed. 

“I said, ‘What are you up to?’ And he said, ‘Well, I just agreed to do this television series called Gunsmoke.’”

Nimoy was familiar with the Gunsmoke radio program from listening to it with his fellow soldiers. He assured Arness that he’d made a smart career move. 

“I said, ‘Boy, if it’s as good as the radio show, you’re in for a ride,’” he said. “‘Because the radio show is very well done and very popular here.’”

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