Parley Baer
Recorded March 22nd, 1984 - 51 min
Supporting actor who appeared as Chester Proudfoot on Gunsmoke for nine years and on hundreds of other programs including Suspense, Tales of the Texas Rangers, Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, The Railroad Hour and Lux Radio Theatre. He was born in 1914 and was 70 when we talked with him in Beverly Hills, California. He died November 22, 2002 at age 88.
Gunsmoke - 1/15/55 - Chester's Murder
Did you enjoy the interview? Listen to Parley Baer star as Chester Proudfoot on Gunsmoke, January 15th, 1955.
July 9, 2011 at 7:18 pm
Thank you for sharing this. I was lucky to meet Parley at the Friends of OTR convention in Newark one year. What a delightful gentleman.
August 20, 2011 at 6:13 pm
This is one interview I really treasure because I met Parley Baer at two of the Cincinnati OTR Conventions. It is hard to believe what a funny & nice person he was…he is greatly missed…John C. Edwards
October 2, 2011 at 6:24 pm
Everything Parley Baer was in is always enjoyable. Thanks for making the interview available.
June 26, 2014 at 6:07 pm
Entertainment programming doesn’t get any better than the radio cast of Gunsmoke. Nice interview. Thanks.
June 26, 2014 at 6:31 pm
PS I think Parley was confused about Willard Waterman originating the Gildersleeve character. I can find no corroboration on-line. There are Fibber McGee episodes from the late ’30s with Peary, well before the Great Gildersleeve program. I think he was mistaken about this. What do you know?
June 27, 2014 at 12:53 pm
Parley misspoke. Harold Peary was the first Gildy and played the role in several movies. Willard Waterman followed him in the character on radio and then played the role on television.
August 5, 2015 at 2:06 pm
I thought that this interview was really great. Enjoyed Parley’s recollections about the Lux Radio Theater which I have always considered one of the best old
time radio programs. Your interviews with these radio personalities are very special. Gunsmoke may be the best OTR western series ever produced. Its sound
effects are also incredible.
August 16, 2015 at 6:47 pm
Supporting actors like Baer were essential to the enjoyment of listening to the shows like Gunsmoke. Thanks to all of those who made the shows live with various personalities.
October 29, 2022 at 12:50 am
I’ve become a huge fan of Parley Baer, William Conrad and others who made Gunsmoke Radio such a delicious diversion. After a while I started to notice that Parley played many other characters on the show in addition to Chester. A very talented gentleman.