Quick Wiki
- Full Name Janet Surtees Arness
- Nickname Janet Surtees
- Occupation Clothing Saleswoman
- Nationality American
- Birthplace (Not Disclosed)
- Birth Date (Not Disclosed)
Janet Surtees | Biography
Surtees married her husband, James Arness, on 16 December 1978. James is an actor best known for the TV series and TV movie franchise 'Gunsmoke.' The pair had first met while Surtees was an employee at a clothing store. After working together for several years, she and the store owner had become good friends. Moreover, James’s personal make-up artist married the store owner, leading to Surtees and James’s first meeting.
Janet Surtees is an American personality. She is also recognized as the late American actor James Arness's second wife.
Who is Janet Surtees?
Janet Surtees is a famous family member best known as veteran actor James Arness's second wife. Although her birth details and her mother's information are not reliable sources, her father was a pilot. She has at least one brother (name unknown) who was also a pilot. Surtees is a social worker and humanitarian. She is associated with the charitable research organization named United Cerebral Palsy Foundation.
Is Janet Surtees Arness Still Alive?
According to an article published on 6 March 2021 in outsider.com, Surtees is alive irrespective of the speculations. At present, she resides at her house in Los Angeles. It is the same place where she and her late husband James lived together before his death.
James Arness' Second Wife
Surtees married her husband, James Arness, on 16 December 1978. James is an actor best known for the TV series and TV movie franchise Gunsmoke.
The pair had first met while Surtees was an employee at a clothing store. After working together for several years, she and the store owner had become good friends. Moreover, James's personal make-up artist married the store owner, leading to Surtees and James's first meeting. Remembering the night of her first encounter with James, she told outsider.com in March 2021,
“One night she [her friend] said, Well, Jim is coming over for dinner. Why don’t you come over and meet him? ‘And I thought, ‘Eew, an actor I don’t know.
However, she went on with the invitation and met James for dinner. She initially thought of meeting him for the sake of telling her son about it as he was a huge Gunsmoke (TV Movie) fan.
A couple of days later, the pair met at Red Ridge Meadows in Mammoth Lakes, where James rented horses for them. After spending some time together, they came home, and James informed her that he was leaving for Alaska and would call her only when he returned.
On the other hand, Surtees said that James hadn't called her in several months. Finally, James called her three months later, and the two went out on a date again. Soon, they began a relationship and dated for almost four years before marrying.
The two bonded and later met for several other dates before finally exchanging wedding vows in 1978. They stayed together for 33 years until James's demise in 2011.
James Arness Short Bio
James Arness, aka James King Aurness, was a television and film actor and producer. Moreover, he was a former US Army personnel who served his country as a rifleman during World War II. James was born in Minnesota, USA, on 26 May 1923. He graduated high school in 1942 from the West High School, Minneapolis. He got drafted into the US Army the following year and was later honorably discharged from the service in 1945.
He began his acting career in 1947 with a minor role as Peter Holstrom in the film The Farmer's Daughter. The same year he also played Ray in the film Roses Are Red. He then appeared in several other TV movies, films, and TV series before finally landing his career's most prominent role in 1955. CBS channel hired him as the lead cast of the action drama series Gunsmoke. He portrayed Matt Dillon in around 635 episodes from 1955 to 1975.
Furthermore, James also had a notable presence in How The West Was Won (1976-1979 TV series), McClain's Law (1981-1982), Gunsmoke: The Last Apache (1990 TV movie), Gunsmoke: The Long Ride (1993 TV movie), etc. He had 47 acting credits and three production credits in his 47 years entertainment career.
Also Read 'Gunsmoke' Actor - Buck Taylor - Net Worth, Wife & Age
Death
In 2011, James died of natural causes on 3 June 2011, at the age of 88, in his Brentwood home in Los Angeles. His casket was placed to rest in the Sanctuary of Abiding Hope alcove of Forest Lawn Memorial Park's Great Mausoleum in Glendale, California.
Children
Surtees has two marriages to date. Valid internet sources have not published any information about her first husband. However, she has one son from her first marriage. Following the end of her first relationship, she tied knots with James Arness. While the pair did not have any children from their marriage, James had three children from his previous relationship with actress Virginia Chapman.
In 1948, James married Virginia and adopted her son Craig, who died on 14 December 2004. They also had two biological children: Rolf (born 18 February 1952) and Jenny Lee Arness (born 23 May 1950).
Craig Arness started the stock photography agency Westlight and worked for National Geographic as a photographer before his death on 14 December 2004. Similarly, Rolf Arness is a professional surfer who won the World Surfing Championship in 1970.
Arness was given legal custody of the children after the couple divorced in 1963. Jenny, their daughter, died of a heroin overdose in 1975. Two years later, his first wife, Virginia, passed away from a heroin overdose in 1977.
