Norman MacDonnell

Other radio series that Macdonnell either produced, directed, or at various times wrote scripts for include Suspense, Escape, The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, Fort Laramie, Rogers of the Gazette, and Have Gun—Will Travel. He was also a long-time executive producer for the NBC television series The Virginian.

Not all of Macdonnell's production work was limited to radio and television series. For Universal Pictures in 1967 he produced the comedy feature film The Ballad of Josie starring Doris Day in the title role. Two years later he produced for Universal's television division the made-for-television movie This Savage Land; and then in 1974, five years before his death, he completed production of another television Western movie, McMasters of Sweetwater.

Wanting to capitalize further on the popularity of Have Gun—Will Travel, CBS decided to duplicate the series on radio with veteran character actor John Dehner performing in the same role as Boone. Macdonnell, who reportedly had promoted the radio-adaptation idea inside the network, was assigned to organize and direct the episodes. The first episode, "Strange Vendetta", aired on November 23, 1958, a year and a half after its televised counterpart. At a time when radio dramas, adventure series, and comedies were increasingly being abandoned by sponsors and audiences in favor of televised programming, the "duplicate" of Have Gun—Will Travel proved successful, continuing for over two years with 106 episodes being broadcast.

Along with his ongoing responsibilities with the radio broadcasts of Gunsmoke from 1952 through the rest of that decade, Macdonnell managed to direct for CBS several other well-established and new series during the 1950s. He continued to direct episodes of Suspense and Escape; and prior to the premiere of Gunsmoke he directed the short-lived comedy series The Harold Peary Show, which aired between 1950 and 1951 and was presented in an unusual format, as "a radio show within a radio show". Then, in 1956, Macdonnell produced and directed another 30-minute radio "Old West" drama, Fort Laramie That series' lead character is a cavalry officer, Captain Lee Quince, performed by Raymond Burr, who a year later would move to television and star on Perry Mason. Collaborating with Macdonnell on Fort Laramie was his Gunsmoke colleague John Meston, who wrote many episodes for the new series, including the one for its initial broadcast from Hollywood on Sunday afternoon, January 22, 1956. In its review of that premiere episode for Fort Laramie, Variety once again focused special attention on Macdonnell's directorial "touches":

Initially passed over as producer when "Gunsmoke" was turned into TV series (Gunsmoke (1955)) in favor of Charles Marquis Warren, Macdonnell took over as producer in 1956, guiding the series to four straight seasons (1957-1961) as the #1-rated program in network television before being replaced in 1964 when the ratings started to slip.

Once given permission to proceed with Gunsmoke, Macdonnell began developing a detailed production schedule for the new series' 30-minute episodes and arranging auditions to cast its recurring characters. His and Meston's "Jeff Spain" soon became United States Marshal Matt Dillon, and veteran voice actor William Conrad was chosen by Macdonnell, Meston, and two other CBS screeners to portray that lead character. Other seasoned actors soon filled the needed regular supporting roles, including Parley Baer as Marshal Dillon's trusty assistant Chester Proudfoot, Howard McNear as Dr. Charles "Doc" Adams, and Georgia Ellis, whose initial role in the series would quickly evolve into the saloon "hostess" Kitty Russell. Gunsmoke was broadcast for the first time from radio station KNX in Hollywood on Saturday, April 26, 1952. The premiere episode, "Billy the Kid", was well received by both critics and the general public; and in the weeks that followed the ratings for Gunsmoke steadily grew. The critic for the influential trade paper Variety praised the first episode's story and acting, and he commended Macdonnell's direction in particular, describing the new series as "a blazing radioater...with top thesping and scripting values that pull it way ahead of the pack of AM westerns." The growing number of fan letters received by CBS appeared to confirm Variety's assessment and to reflect the type of audience that Macdonnell and Meston intended to attract, for much of the complimentary mail arriving at the network "came from a highly educated section of the population".

Following the successful premiere of Gunsmoke, Macdonnell's work as producer and director and Meston's scripts would dominate for years the radio series' weekly episodes, which were often complimented in reviews in trade publications for their voice acting, dialogue, pacing, music, and sound effects. Macdonnell's contributions to the now-classic Western were numerous and profound. He not only produced and directed many radio episodes of Gunsmoke, he also wrote and co-wrote some broadcasts during the series' nine-year run on radio. Yet, in interviews he was quick to express his admiration for the stories produced on "Meston's 'grubby little typewriter'" and to credit Meston for establishing very high, consistent standards for the content of Gunsmoke's episodes throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s.

In 1949 executives and programmers at CBS Radio began planning a new weekly Western for the network, one inspired by Straight Arrow, which was then being broadcast nationally by another company, Mutual Broadcasting System. That series had proven to be very popular among juvenile listeners; however, due to contractual complications the proposed CBS series was shelved. Two years later Macdonnell and Meston discovered the proposal while developing their own concept for a Western, although one they envisioned—unlike Straight Arrow—to be targeted at a much more mature audience, a series that Macdonnell referred to as an "'adult Western'". Adapting elements from the 1949 proposal, the two men expanded on the background narratives relating to their series' general chronology and specific location. Set in the 1870s, stories were situated in southwestern Kansas, centered principally in the rowdy, "hard-drinking" cattle town of Dodge City. Originally, Macdonnell and Meston planned to name their new Western Jeff Spain, after a character they created and used earlier in several episodes of an anthology series they had done. Their boss at CBS, Harry Ackerman, and other network executives dismissed that title, preferring Gunsmoke, a program heading that Ackerman himself was credited with conceiving.

With writer John Meston, producer Norman Macdonnell created "Gunsmoke," the preeminent (and first) adult western on both radio and television. His contribution cannot be overestimated--his genius was in his ability as a producer to assemble a cohesive and highly creative team of writers, actors and production personnel, a hallmark of both the radio and television versions of "Gunsmoke. "Macdonnell served in the military during World War II and took part in the D-Day landings at Normandy. He started work for CBS Radio as an assistant director in 1946, worked on several radio series and eventually became director of the critically acclaimed radio series "Escape" before launching "Gunsmoke" on CBS Radio in 1952.

Norman Scarth Macdonnell was born in California in 1916. Named in honor of his paternal grandfather, he was the youngest of four children of Alice L. (née Talcott) and James S. Macdonnell. James had immigrated to the United States from Canada in 1902 and by 1920 was a bank president in Pasadena. With regard to Norman's education, after high school he completed three years of college before joining the military just prior to the United States' formal involvement in World War II. On December 2, 1941—only five days before Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor—he enlisted in the United States Army. Later in the war, in 1944, he was among the first divisions of American soldiers that invaded Nazi-occupied France on D-Day.

Norman Scarth Macdonnell (November 8, 1916 – November 28, 1979) was an American producer, director, and scriptwriter for radio, television, and feature films. He is best known for co-creating with writer John Meston the Western series Gunsmoke, which was broadcast on CBS Radio from 1952–61, and on television from 1955-75.