Arvo ojala biography books

Stuntman, marksman, technical advisor

Arvo Oswald Ojala (February 21, 1920 – July 1, 2005) was a Hollywood technical advisor on the subject of quick-draw with a revolver.^[1] He also worked as an actor; his most famous role was that of the unnamed man shot by Marshal Matt Dillon in the opening sequences of the long-running television series Gunsmoke.

As a joke on the producers, James Arness and Arvo actually did the opener once with Dillon falling to the ground.

Biography

Born to Finnish immigrant parents^[2] as a young man, Ojala taught himself marksmanship and how to quick-draw a handgun while living on his father's ranch near Yakima, Washington.

He said he sharpened his marksmanship skill by shooting the heads off rattlesnakes.^[3]

During the early 1950s, Ojala was living in Los Angeles, and working for the Hollywood film studios.^[4] "I watched these guys in Westerns," he told a reporter in 1957, "and realized that the Arvo Ojala - Biography - IMDb FOCAT